Bragging Rights - Part Two

WELL, WE KEN NOO: the teams for tonight's second leg, 1872 Cup match at Scotstoun have been announced. As expected, Warriors gaffer Dave Rennie has rung the changes, making no less than six to his starting XV. Richard Cockerill, across at Murrayfield has been much-more conservative, bringing back the fit-again Jamie Ritchie for Luke Hamilton being his only change – well, why change a winning team?

The recall of co-captain Ryan Wilson is one of six Glasgow changes

This second leg will naturally be a whole different ball game from last week's part one – and in writing that, old Aristotle is not merely clutching at sporting cliché straws. For a start, a wounded Weegie is a very dangerous animal, while Edinburgh, for all the advances they have made since Cockerill took charge, still travel with only slightly more assurance than Belgian wine.

The teams, as announced yesterday, are, as always in 1-23 order:

GLASGOW WARRIORS: Oli Kebble, Grant Stewart, D’Arcy Rae, Tim Swinson, Jonny Gray, Ryan Wilson (Co-Captain), Callum Gibbins (Co-Captain), Matt Fagerson; Ali Price, Adam Hastings; Niko Matawalu, Pete Horne, Alex Dunbar, Tommy Seymour; Stuart Hogg.

Replacements: Kevin Bryce, Jamie Bhatti, Siua Halanukonuka, Rob Harley, Chris Fusaro; George Horne, Sam Johnson, DTH van der Merwe.

EDNBURGH: Pierre Schoeman, Stuart McInally (Captain), WP Nel, Ben Toolis, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Viliame Mata; Henry Pyrgos, Jaco van der Walt; Duhan van der Merwe, Chris Dean, James Johnstone, Darcy Graham; Blair Kinghorn.

Replacements: David Cherry, Allan Dell, Simon Berghan, Callum Hunter-Hill, Luke Crosbie; Nathan Fowles, Simon Hickey, Juan Pablo Socino.

MATCH OFFICIALS: Referee: George Clancy; Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Gaffikin; Assistant Referee 2: David Sutherland; TMO: Neil Paterson.

Watching the highlights on Free Sports (well, if you were a Glasgow supporter, there weren't many of these), it was fairly clear, Edinburgh won the battle up front, and denied the dangerous Glasgow backs the front foot ball then needed to get, in order to play their normal high-tempo game.

Changing things around will be Dave Rennie's principal concern and the return of co-captain Ryan Wilson and switching Tim Swinson for Rob Harley in the starting line-up will, hopefully for the Warrior Nation, make a difference. There is also a lot of pressure on the relatively unsung D'Arcy Rae, to anchor the Glasgow scrum better than Siua Halanukonuka did at Murrayfield.

I believe, having had a kick up the bahookie last week, and with home advantage, Glasgow can win this one, but, perhaps not by enough to overturn Edinburgh's positive points advantage from last week.

And Adam Hastings also has to demonstrate his two catastrophic errors of last week, which each cost his side a try, will not prevent him from being positive and attacking. It ought to be quite a game.

ONE MAN who will be missing from Scotstoun today is big Greg Peterson. The Australian-born USA Eagles lock has left Warriors to join Bordeaux Begles in the French Top 14, after making 33 appearances for the Scotstoun outfit since joining-up in 2015.

 Greg Peterson - wapping Garden Shed Gin for a fine Bordeaux

To be fair, big Greg was never more than a squad player with the club, while he missed a lot of potential game time to injury. However, he did make a huge contribution when drafted to various Premiership clubs.

Last season, with Marr, the other drafted Warriors would shoot the craw back to Glasgow as quickly as they could after each game. Greg, however, admitted, being at Marr was like being back playing in his native Sydney. He loved the social ambiance of the Fullarton club room – and the Marr boys loved him back.

It was the same when he played for Ayr, and, I gather has been the same this year with Currie. Perhaps not a great Warrior, but, still a great rugby man – he will be missed.

Greg's departure does leave Warriors somewhat lacking in the boiler-house department. Yes, they still have first-choice pairing Tim Swinson and Jonny Gray, and the regular second choices: Scott Cummings and Kieran McDonald-Seran, while of course Rob Harley can switch easily between the boiler-house and the flank.

Still, Greg's departure creates a space, hopefully for a young and promising Scottish lock. Good luck in France big man.

YESTERDAY, I mentioned the New Zealand Herald's series of “Big Read” sports stories. Well, today they put up a cracker – the story of 1956 All Black's half-back and captain Pat Vincent, a man whose legacy is the wonderful effect he had in promoting rugby in San Francisco during many years in the city by the bay, work which got him into the US Rugby Hall of Fame.

Pat Vincent

It's a terrific, albeit tragic story. However, it might well cause ructions back in the Land of the Long White Cloud, since it alludes to the presumption, fairly well-known, but rarely if ever discussed, either in California or back in Canterbury, the province he captained as well as the All Blacks – that Vincent was Gay.

I mean, the All Blacks are widely-recognised as the epitome of macho masculinity – a gay All Black, far-less a gay AB's captain – unthinkable - there will be a few ABs birlin' in their graves. While none has yet done a Gareth Thomas or a Nigel Owens and come out openly, there must have been more than one gay All Black. Certainly, the way one or two have pranced around during the production number which the haka has become, was camper than a Boy Scouts Jamboree.

LIKE a lot of people within the Independence movement, I have grave reservations about the UK's Honours system. Of course, particular excellence in any field deserves recognition, but, it's the whole apartheid part of the UK's system which gets to me.

The 2019 New Year Honours recipients have just been announced. I have no complaint about Bill Beaumont getting his “K” and becoming Sir Bill – well-deserved. However, that Willie-John McBride, ridiculously late, only gets a CBE, is a disgrace – but not quite as bad as Jim Telfer still being Mr, he should have had the tap on the shoulders with the big sword years ago. Well done too, to Louise Martin, the “Queen” of Commonwealth Games sport, on her Damehood.

However, that it is now Sir Alistair Cook, Essex boy, former chorister, but still only Mr Geoffrey Boycott professional Yorkshireman, rather grates. And poor Gareth Southgate, manages England to fourth in football's World Cup, had they won it, he too would have got his K. And, penultimately in my list of gripes, Dame Twiggy – FFS!!!

 A richly-deserved OBE - well done Big Yin

But finally, well done Doddie Weir, for getting an OBE for his marvellous efforts to raise awareness of and cash for research into MND, the dreadful illness which has afflicted him. But, for me, he, like Willie-John, should have been up alongside Bill Beaumont in the ranks of the newly knighted.