On a day that all snow bound roads lead to Maryhill to see the grand old match-- a match that started 138 years ago but in some ways has not moved very far in fact only a few hundred yards up the Maryhill Road from its original home Burnbank to what the SRU marketeers now describe as the Firhill Arena--I suppose to avoid confusion with the Firhill Basin


IAIN MORRISON IN SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY
Firhill for thrills from old rivals

Published Date: 27 December 2009
By Iain Morrison
THE OLDEST rivalry in rugby outside the Test arena resumes this afternoon at Firhill when Glasgow take on Edinburgh, hoping that home advantage will help them claim the first leg of the Greaves 1872 Cup. It usually does. The home side has won the last 11 encounters.
The earliest newspaper reports of the inter-city match report a "rough game of rugby" and one of them goes on to talk about a tackle made by one player on another: "Who unfortunately so forgot himself as to catch him by the throat when on the ground

– a practice which cannot be too highly reprimanded." Rugby may have changed beyond all recognition from those earliest matches but some simple truths remain. It is still a game where physical strength and intimidation will prevail if allowed to and this afternoon will be no different.

These derby matches have developed a nice tousy edge in recent years, which will be a blessed relief after weeks of "goodwill to man" and enforced Christmas cheer. No quarter will be asked or expected and the game will be played out in front of what could be a record crowd. Those members of the public who haven't woken up to the fact that they have a humdinger of derby on their hands will be chased out the house by yet another repeat of Only Fools and Horses. Firhill may even have the "stadium full" signs out provided the weather doesn't create havoc with people's travel plans.

It was Sigmund Freud who talked about "the narcissism of small differences" leading us to take exception to people who resemble us closely by exaggerating the differences that do exist. The phrase is surely relevant to these to teams today.

Glasgow have always relished the role of underdog but their budget now matches that of Edinburgh's, or almost. Glasgow used to see themselves as second best but now they provide as many players to the Scotland squad as Edinburgh do, including skipper Chris Cusiter and Al Kellock, who took on the role when the scrumhalf was injured against Australia. It may suit Glasgow to adopt the role of challenger but it's no more than a myth these days.

Glasgow actually head their east-coast rivals in the Magners League although points difference is required to separate the two. As in the league, there is little to choose between the two teams on the field. The home side has the better set piece while Edinburgh's backs offer a little more creativity. The tricky conditions and recent history both suggest there is little reason to expect anything other than a Glasgow win today; not that Edinburgh's John Houston concedes the point.

"I've never run on to the field wearing an Edinburgh jersey without thinking that we can win the match," says the big winger. "I'm sure that Glasgow will be properly motivated for this match and we're expecting a tough game. I played in the last two games at Firhill so I know how hard it will be. It was a mixture of us playing badly and them playing well. We got bullied so we know what to expect this time round and hopefully we know how to counter it now.

"It's a horrible feeling losing at Firhill. Glasgow absolutely love beating us. It's a much tighter pitch than Murrayfield so it probably suits their type of game but that's something we have to deal with."

Houston is one of Scottish rugby's more cerebral, literary figures, after growing up in a house without a television, which must be like living on Mars for today's younger generation.

If he doesn't act like a typical Hawick rugby player neither does the big winger sound much like one. While he attended Hawick High School, where his father taught history, his dad is originally from Edinburgh while his mum comes from Glasgow – although he insists that there will be no mixed loyalties in the Houston household this afternoon. He was a latecomer to the professional game, not signing for Edinburgh until the age of 24, but he was determined to finish his degree before he looked for full-time rugby. He was an immediate success, winning Edinburgh's Newcomer of the Year Award, helped by his sheer size and strength which meant it wasn't long before he was doing what every successful player needs to do – winning the collisions. His problem this afternoon is not so much winning the collisions but making any at all.

Houston is a centre by inclination and training but he finds himself out on the wing this afternoon, tasked with the unenviable role of keeping a lid of Thom Evans. The younger of the two Evans brothers is as difficult to catch as a greased monkey in a maze but if the prospect of marking the quickest man in Scottish rugby fills Houston with panic, he presents an unflappable face to the outside world: "I think with Thom it's a matter of closing down his space quickly and cutting off the supply to his wing. But he is very quick and I'll need to be on my toes."

Local derbies tend to be tight, nervy affairs, without much merit except to establish local bragging rights. The fact that this match (and the return fixture next week) are both being shown live on STV makes it vital for the future health of Scottish rugby that they offer some edge-of-the-seat drama even of it may be too much to expect a Barbarian-style exhibition of champagne rugby.

"I think a lot will depend on discipline," said Houston, "because both sides have great goal kickers. Any penalty inside your own half is going to be three points to the opposition. Given the conditions, it's going to come down to a game of field position and discipline."

Houston, you have a solution. The two sides will be at each other's throats for 80 minutes. As our archives illustrate, that has been true for as long as this fixture has been played. In the heat that this derby generates the side that can keep their cool and their discipline may just come out on top.

This article was originally posted on 27-Dec-2009, 11:42 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 27-Dec-2009, 12:24.