Glasgow’s victory over Edinburgh at Scotstoun last Friday night was their fourth win on the bounce in all competitions, which is a feat they last achieved in May 2019, and if they manage to back that up with a fifth consecutive triumph in this Friday’s 1872 Cup second-leg clash then that will equal a run they last achieved in March 2019.
The men from the west have not beaten Edinburgh at the national stadium since December 2016, so history is not on their side, but Warriors playmaker Tom Jordan believes that his team will feel like they have home advantage on this occasion because they have played at Murrayfield more recently than their opponents.
Edinburgh haven’t played there since last season’s 1872 Cup clash in May, while Glasgow had their Challenge Cup fixture against Perpignan moved there two weekends ago due to a frozen pitch at Scotstoun – and the fact that they won that game 26-18 provides further confidence.
The game is being hosted at Murrayfield instead of the DAM Health Stadium so as to accommodate a bumper crowd which is expected to be in excess of 25,000.
“Winning away from home is so tough in this competition because you’ve got some great teams there,” said Jordan.
“To go to someone else's home patch is always tough, but we are probably lucky that we played at Edinburgh last week and learnt about the environment and just got an idea of what it is like to play at a stadium which is very different from both Scotstoun and the DAM Health.
“We'll be a bit more familiar with it than going somewhere completely new, so it was good to have that practice run because the pitch seems a lot more open and bigger than it really is – but we know that now. It is a great pitch and a lot of historic games have been played there.
“Taking all that on board, I think we will be a bit more comfortable going back there because we have experienced the pre-match there and know where everything is.
“It definitely was a positive to play there and now the guys are really excited about having the chance to keep this winning run we have built up going for another week.”
On a personal level, Jordan insists that he is taking this season one week at a time, having established himself as a key man in the squad since his professional debut in this season’s opener against Benetton.
“Obviously, it is a positive for me to get that time in the saddle,” said the New Zealander, who arrived in Scotland to play Super6 for Ayrshire Bulls just before lockdown. “This is my first professional experience so just to be able to stack up minutes and get experience is great.
“There are a lot of experienced players here who have played international rugby so hopefully I'm just catching up with them and that makes us better as a collective.”
