THE late switch of venue for today’s second leg of the 1872 Cup has caused significant disruption to the plans of many fans, and it would be no surprise if the atmosphere at BT Murrayfield, at least to begin with, were one of bemusement.

The whole point of the festive double-header is that it is a home-and-away contest in which the aggregate score determines the destination of the trophy. The whole point of the PRO12 league is that teams play the same number of home and away games - something that will now not happen for the Warriors, who were due to be at home at Scotstoun this afternoon, or for Edinburgh, who have this unexpected extra match at their home ground because the Glasgow venue was waterlogged.

The best that could be said about the decision to move the game but play it at the same time is that it is the least bad option. Already two league games behind schedule because of the postponement of their fixtures against Leinster and Zebre, Glasgow are better off avoiding any further backlog. Still, no matter the rights and wrongs of the change and any inconvenience it has caused to their own preparations, neither team can afford to dwell on such issues once the action starts.

For Edinburgh, the biggest temptation to result from the move may well be over-confidence. They were due to play in a city where they have not won for a dozen years: instead, they are at a ground where they beat this afternoon’s opponents just six days ago.

Alan Solomons’ side would have gone into the game in a confident frame of mind in any case, having got the better of Glasgow in most departments of the match last Sunday to take a 23-11 advantage into the return. But they cannot allow themselves to think that merely more of the same will do the job today against opponents who are capable of playing far better than they did then.

The Warriors would have had a point to prove because of that result, and perhaps being forced to travel back to the capital will heighten their determination to put things right. Certainly, with eight changes to the team there is a very different look to the team selected by Gregor Townsend, especially in the tight five, where only Fraser Brown, the hooker, retains his place.

But Edinburgh did more than achieve dominance up front in the first game. Apart from the one occasion when Mark Bennett managed to score Glasgow’s only try, they also shackled the Warriors’ most dangerous attackers. On one wing, Tommy Seymour saw little of the ball, and has been replaced by Sean Lamont. On the other, Taqele Naiyaravoro received a fair bit of possession, but was thwarted by some determined defending.

John Hardie, Edinburgh’s openside flanker, was named man of the match after bossing the breakdown and scoring the decisive try of the game. But Tom Brown cannot have been far behind him, having played the leading role in denying Naiyaravoro - above all in the closing minutes, when he forced the Wallabies winger into touch just a couple of metres short of the try line.

Brown damaged a shoulder in the process, an injury which rules him out today. His replacement is Damien Hoyland, who knows he has big shoes to fill - and even bigger shoes to stop, in the shape of the 6ft 4in, 19-stone Naiyaravoro.

Hoyland is the fastest member of the Edinburgh squad and at his best going forward. But he is giving away around six inches and six stone to his immediate opponent, and knows he could be targeted early on.

So how does he intend to halt Naiyaravoro, who was all but unstoppable when scoring a hat-trick against the Scarlets last month? “I haven’t looked into it too much to be honest,” the 21-year-old said. “I’ve just focused on my own game, and I’ll tackle like I would normally tackle. Tom did very well against him, he put in a brilliant try-saving tackle, smashed him into touch. Hopefully I can try to do something similar.

“To some degree there’s pressure on me, because it’s a game I’ve got to perform in because of the competition here. Tom’s been playing exceptionally well, Dougie [Fife, who keeps his place on the other wing] has been playing well, and there are others as well, so there’s pressure on everyone right now because we all want to be in the squad.”

Hoyland, who was speaking before the change of venue was announced, has a neat line in self-deprecation. “I like to tell people I’m 6ft 2in but I’m probably closer to 5ft 9in or something,” he said - although on the team website he is credited with 5ft 10in. He could have the hardest job on the pitch, but he will go about his task with unmistakable pride.

“There’s a few, especially the younger guys, all Edinburgh boys and we all feel a massive affiliation with the club,” he said. “Me, living here my whole life, there’s definitely some kind of emotional attachment, certainly going into this week.

“It’s always been a massive rivalry and I always used to watch when I was younger. It’s pretty surreal to be involved in it.”

And surely never more surreal than when both legs are played at the same venue.