RaboDirect PRO12: Glasgow clinch first leg victory

Piers Francis: Scored a try for Edinburgh

Two tries: DTH Van Der Merwe

A first-half brace of tries from DTH Van Der Merwe set up Glasgow's 23-14 victory in the first leg of the 1872 Cup against Edinburgh.

The result saw the Warriors end a four-match losing streak and extend their impressive home run, while it is now nine years since Edinburgh have won in Glasgow and more than two since the capital side won three RaboDirect PRO12 matches in a row.

The 1872 Cup is awarded to the aggregate winners of the derby double header and Edinburgh on December 29 face a Herculean task to wrest the trophy from Glaswegian hands for the first time since the 2008-09 season.

The hosts were dominant in all aspects in an impressive first half.

They got off to a fast start as the ball was spread swiftly from right to left, Peter Murchie came into the line to create the overlap and Van der Merwe raced into the corner to touch down.

The momentum was with Glasgow and Edinburgh wing Lee Jones held Van der Merwe on the line, but the ball was quickly recycled and Robert Harley dotted down in the corner.

Glasgow then took the direct approach and marauded forward up front and released the ball for scrum-half Niko Matawalu, who chipped over for Van der Merwe to touch down unopposed.

Greg Laidlaw responded with a penalty from in front of the posts after 32 minutes and another five minutes into the second half to reduce the deficit.

The visitors then finally breached the Warriors defence with a good move after David Denton took the ball into contact.

A fine miss pass from James King put Matt Scott through a gap and Piers Francis was inside him.

The fly-half held off the covering tackle to score, but Laidlaw could not add the conversion.

Duncan Weir, who replaced Ruaridh Jackson, missed a penalty attempt for Glasgow before a successful second attempt when Edinburgh strayed offside as the hosts exerted pressure.

Laidlaw kicked his third penalty to leave Edinburgh a converted try behind with 11 minutes remaining, but another Weir penalty restored the nine-point advantage with eight minutes to go.

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