Bragging Rights Up For Grabs Tonight

IN ANY sport – you cannot beat a local derby for getting the most-important people – the fans – engaged and excited. Bragging rights over the season and year are important to the players, but, more-spo to the guys who pay them, by turning-up and cheering them on.

So, there will be a wee bit of an extra buzz around Scotstoun, when Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh lock horns for part one of this season's battle for the expensively, and beautifully refurbished 1872 Cup.

To celebrate 150 years of inter-city rugby rivalry, the trophy, according to legend rescued from the obscurity of an estate agent's broom cupboard, has been refettled by the silversmith craftsmen at Hamilton and Inches and is now a thing of beauty and historical significance.

The realities of the need for squad rotation, given the physicality of elite rugby, shows in the two sides selected, both of which show five changes from last weekend's European squads.

Glasgow's match-day 23, as always in 1-23 order, is:

Jamie Bhatti, Fraser Brown, Murphy Walker, Sintu Manjezi, Richie Gray, Matt Fagerson, Sioone Vailanu, Jack Dempsey; George Horne, Tom Jordan, Kyle Steyn (Captain), Stafford McDowall, Sione Tuipulotu, Sebastian Cancilleri, Josh McKay. Replacements: George Turner, Nathan McBeth, Simon Berghan, JP du Preez, Lewis Bean, Cameron Neild, Ali Price, Diego Miotti.

Edinburgh's 23 also shows a number of changes from last week and is:

Pierre Schoeman, Tom Cruse, Wilem Nel, Grant Young, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Connor Boyle, Bill Mata; Ben Vellacott, Charlie Savala, Duhan van der Merwe, Chris Dean, James Lang, Wes Goosen, Emiliano Boffelli. Replacements: Patrick Harrison, Boan Venter, Angus Williams, Marshall Sykes, Ben Muncaster; Henry Pyrgos, Jaco van der Walt, Cameron Scott.

If Santa was capable of granting Christmas wishes to people such as Gregor Townsend, then different squads would be taking to the field. We have a large number of potential Scotland players missing from both camps. I dare say in an ideal world, Toony might have been hoping for a few more head-to-heads to help him settle outstanding issues around his Six Nations squad.

As things stand, almost a full team of potential internationalists from the two clubs are listed as injured, again in 1-23 order: Allan Dell Dave Cherry, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Alex Samuel, Rory Darge, Hamish Watson, Nick Haining; Ross Thompson, Damien Hoyland, Matthew Currie, Mark Bennett, Darcy Graham, Blair Kinghorn. Replacements: Stuart McInally, Oli Kebble, Adam McBurney, Ryan Wilson, Cammy Hutchison.

OK, there is the obvious lack of an injured scrum-half, but, 19 injured Scotland-qualified players, 15 of them already capped. It's a hard life being a modern-day player, right enough.

Obviously, with my Ayrshire bias and Marko Bennett injured, I'm hoping for a Glasgow win, but, more-importantly, for a brilliant game of running rugby.

AS A barometer of what is happening in Scottish Rugby, you cannot beat the BTL (below the line) readers' comments on the various items on David Barnes' excellent The Offside Line website.

Take yesterday's (Thursday's) home page topics. The lead story is about this plan for cross-borders development games for the Irish, Scottish and Welsh Women's squads – The Celtic Challenge. No btl comments, the subject may be exercising the great minds inside Murrayfield, but, in the country at large – nothing.

Similarly, the announcement of the first two 'Custodian' appointments to the new SRU Board – a definite case of “Aye Right” (in its alternative meaning of “So What” - the move having left the natives unbothered.

The most-commented-on piece is about Finn Russell's move to Bath, only just pipping comments about Edinburgh's and Glasgow's European performances. It's great what gets a Scottish constituency wound-up.

I fear it will take a great deal to move the body of the kirk on in terms of governance, or is it – we've been through a period of turmoil, now we want to let things settle down, see what happens before any more squabbling?

FINALLY – I spotted a twitter exchange this week, between Harlequins' scrum-half Danny Care and the club's scrummaging guru – Welsh legend Adam Jones.

Care, having had to go onto the flank position for one scrum in the game against Racing'92 tweeted that he didn't get what this scrumming lark was all about, only for Jones to reply: “See me later.”

That reminded me of a tale by the late Scotland back-rower (the original) Gordon Strachan. Back in 1971, when Strachan was first called into the Scotland team, he was one of just two forward replacements on the bench, so, there was a chance, if any forward went off – he was going on.

At the first team training session, 'Adviser to the Captain' Bill Dickinson thought it might be a good idea for Strachan to find-out about front row play, so he was told to pack down against Ian McLauchlan.

“Down we went, and I thought: 'Aye, this OK' – the Wee Fudd put the squeeze on and I was in all sorts of bother, with my nose just about up my own bum,” Strachan recalled. He had no wish to ever go into the front row again.