Edinburgh 'decimated' by injuries ahead of 1872 Cup decider

Edinburgh’s already lengthy injury list worsened at the weekend when hooker Ewan Ashman and centre Piers O’Conor went off with head injuries in the 24-12 defeat to Glasgow at Hampden Park.

Head coach Sean Everitt was hopeful that Duhan van der Merwe would overcome a hip issue that forced him off at Hampden in this weekend’s return leg at Murrayfield, but he admitted that they’ve been ‘decimated’ by injuries in midfield.

“We’re running short of backs now,” said Everitt. “There won’t be anyone rested this week, put it that way. Obviously we’ve got quite a lot of injuries in the midfield and sometimes injuries hit you in the same place.

“That’s been the case since I’ve been here, whether it be in the back three or the midfield or in the second row. We’ve obviously got Piers O’Conor out now, Piers has been involved in every game that we’ve played, whether it be at 13 or 12.

“We’ve had Charlie McCaig that played five minutes in the warm-up game against Ulster (before getting injured). We’ve got Mosese Tuipulotu who’s been out. We’ve got James Lang that’s out and Matt Currie, who is returning.

“We’ve been decimated in the midfield, but we do have options so we’re not dead and buried.”

Meanwhile, George Horne has called on Glasgow to improve their away record against Edinburgh as they bid to secure the 1872 Cup on Saturday.

Warriors have won just one of their last nine derbies at Murrayfield and have lost on their last two visits to the national stadium, despite generally holding the upper hand over their rivals in the United Rugby Championship table.

They return east on Saturday bidding to protect a 12-point advantage after last weekend’s hard-fought victory.

“It’ll probably be another arm wrestle, it usually is,” scrum-half Horne said. “Hopefully we can create as many opportunities as we did at Hampden and go one step better and convert a few more of them.

“We know how tough it is going to Murrayfield. We’ve not won there very often the last number of years, so we’ll have to be at our best.”

The inter-city derby has tended to be won by the home team in recent seasons, with Glasgow the last team to buck that trend when they won at Murrayfield three years ago.

“I guess you’ve got an advantage playing at home,” said Horne. “You look at most games and that’s where teams do their best, when they’re playing at home. But we know Murrayfield well. A lot of our guys have played there for Scotland.

“I guess we’ve maybe not been at our best when we play at Murrayfield.

“Quite often we’ve been winning at home in the first leg and then for whatever reason, that maybe makes them hungry and that makes them up their game.

“And if we don’t up ours, then that’s why they’ve got the better of us. But we’re determined to try and go out there next week and go two from two so we’ll have to be on it mentally and physically.”