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What Kyle Steyn expects from Scotland wing rivals DvdM and Graham
By PA
Captain Kyle Steyn is relishing the chance to help Glasgow put on another Hampden masterclass for their supporters in Saturday’s showdown with Edinburgh.
Warriors’ Scotstoun home has a capacity of less than 10,000 but staging the inter-city derby at Hampden means a crowd in the region of 20,000 will be able to attend.
Glasgow blitzed their rivals in their first 1872 Cup encounter at the national football stadium a year ago, when they opened up a 33-0 lead on their way to a 33-14 triumph, and Steyn is hoping for a similarly fruitful outing this weekend.
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“It was my first game back from injury last year and I had all my family over here for Christmas,” the Scotland wing recalled. “It was a great day out.
“Normally, when we get to play in front of bigger crowds, we’re away from home. That’s what makes the Hampden opportunity such a special one, that we get to play in front of a bigger crowd and they’re all our people.
“I loved it last year. There were definitely a few nerves around moving away from Scotstoun, because of what Scotstoun represents to us. But we really focused on the opportunity that going to Hampden creates. We’re looking to build on that this year.”
The derby pits Steyn against Edinburgh wings Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham, his two main rivals for a Scotland starting spot.
“I can’t wait for it,” he said. “We’ve come up against each other over a number of years now and it’s always good fun, we always tend to bring out the best in each other.
“When we’re training in (Scotland) camp together, even the levels of competition there, we tend to bring out the best in each other in training. It’s always a tough challenge – they’re good players, the two of them. I’m just really excited about it.”
Graham and Van der Merwe are among eight Edinburgh players restored to the starting line-up after head coach Sean Everitt opted to field a much-changed side for last weekend’s 33-0 defeat by Castres in the Champions Cup.
Glasgow have claimed the 1872 Cup – awarded to whoever has the highest aggregate score from the two legs – in each of the previous three seasons, but Everitt insisted that securing as many United Rugby Championship points as possible is of more importance than the silverware over the next two weekends.
“We need points and that comes before the bragging rights, the bragging rights are a bonus,” he said. “It’s a URC competition and we know how tight these logs are.
“So, any points that you pick up away from home are valuable to us. At the same time, we do want to win the 1872 Cup, there’s a lot of history behind it, as we know.
“And it would be great for the boys to go into camp for the Six Nations having the 1872 Cup in our team.”
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