WHAT a start to 2015 - and while I remember, A Guid New Year to all my readers. Who'd have thunked it, Edinburgh winning the 1872 Cup, convincingly too. Many congratulations to Alan Solomons and his squad.
Of course, as everyone knows, when it comes to sporting local derbies, form quite often goes out of the window and the perceived underdogs win; the grail for Solomons and Edinburgh will be to turn this one win into a consistent run in the Pro12, get into the top six and clinch a spot in the European Cup for next season.
Glasgow has gone, hopefully temporarily, off the boil; and with important games against Montpellier and Bath to come, plus getting that all-important top two spot in the Pro12 sorted-out, they need to re-discover it soon.
The Scotstoun squad is deeper than that at Murrayfield, but, if Edinburgh can build on their 1872 Cup success, all the better for Scottish rugby. Thisyear of 2015 promises to be a very-interesting one.
ONE of the keys to success in the Pro12 is having the depth to cover for international absences. On recent evidence, some of Glasgow's fringe players are not quite ready yet, ditto Edinburgh's. However, I thought the unlucky with injury Phil Burleigh was a quietly-effective presence for Edinburgh on Friday night, shutting down's Glasgow's midfield threat, and he and skipper Mike Coman, a pair of hard-nosed Kiwis, could emerge as key men for the capital side over the remainder of the season.
Burleigh has had his fitness problems this season, but, he showed what a terrific acquisition he has been.
ANOTHER Edinburgh player to have upped his game this season is loose-head Alistair Dickinson. I reckon he is now our number one Number One, ahead of the Glasgow duo of Gordy Reid and British Lion Ryan Grant.
Dickinson's authoratitive displays in the Autumn Tests and since have made me a lot more confident about Scotland's ability to get a decent break in the lottery of the scrums which will be a feature of the Six Nations.
I am convinced the English and Welsh props all cheat outrageously, and their referees - with the obvious exception of the great Nigel Owens, tend to let them away with it.
If Dickinson and Ewan Murray or Jon Welsh, whoever is on the tight-head side of our scrum, can keep the cheats honest, and IF the referees don't go onto the park with the wrong preconception that Scotland's scrum is weak - we could shock a few in the Six Nations.
WAS anyone surprised that Dylan Hartley got off with a light suspension for his elbowing of Northampton's Matt Smith? I certainly wasn't, when it comes to their forward thugs - the RFU has a long history of talking tough, but sentencing soft.
Hartley is a thug, pure and simple. This soft sentence will surely come back and bite Twickenham on the bum, since he is serial offender.
BACK to the purritch and auld claes - almost, today, with the resumption of club rugby, and the BT Scottish Cup.
It is difficult to see a major shock anywhere today. I am looking forward to one of the few all-Premiership ties. I will be at Old Anniesland for Hawks v Melrose, and I expect this to be a belter; these clubs have a history of producing close and entertaining matches. Here's hoping.
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