Edinburgh may have had the upper hand in recent derby matches, winning four of the last five, but Glasgow Warriors unstoppable early season form in the Pro14 has placed today’s clash at BT Murrayfield in a different context.
The Scotstoun-based side can match the tournament record of victories in the first 11 matches of a league campaign if they defeat their Inter-City rivals, but that only provides their opponents with added incentive to derail them.
““Any victory against a team that has gone ten from ten would be amazing for us. It would still be a big game even if they hadn’t been on that run but it shows how big a test it is going to be,” said Grant Gilchrist, the former Edinburgh and Scotland captain.
Those recent clashes between the teams have not yet brought about an obvious shift in the balance of power, Glasgow still generally considered favourites going into derby matches, but for tomorrow’s home side a succession of psychological barriers have been overcome.
Lifting the 1872 Challenge Cup for the first time in six years in 2014/15 was important, as was defeating their rivals in both games for the first time under this competition with a competition’s current format the following season, but perhaps most important of all was the first victory for this generation of players in Glasgow earlier this year, something no Edinburgh side had done since 2003.
“That was a good monkey to get off our backs for when we go there next week,” said Gilchrist.
“We knew what it took, it was a massive performance and probably our best of the whole season. That’s the kind of levels you need to get to.”
He acknowledged, however, that it was a result that will probably make life even harder for them when they head along the M8 next weekend and probably means they will need to try to give themselves something of a points cushion to give themselves a good chance of reclaiming the trophy.
“I’m sure they’d be hurting losing at home at the end of the season, although league wise it was insignificant. I’m pretty sure they were gutted,” he observed.
While he admits to having a losing record in the fixture overall, honour has been satisfied sufficiently that for all the importance they have in their own right as contests, Gilchrist maintains that the important thing for Edinburgh is to use these festive derbies as a gauge following a run that has seen them win eight of their last nine matches, including all four of their European Challenge Cup ties.
“Now it’s more about us just building on the performances of the past eight to 10 weeks,” he said. “We’re progressing quite nicely but we understand this weekend is a massive step up with the calibre of opposition. It’s a really good test.”
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