​Edinburgh qualify for semi-finals and lift 1872 Cup

Duhan van der Merwe’s moment of magic helped Edinburgh overcome Danny Wilson’s side to book their place in the Guinness PRO14 semi-finals and seal the 1872 Cup for a third straight season, with a 30-15 victory.

Edinburgh trailed 15-13 with 20 minutes remaining but speedster Van der Merwe showed off his unstoppable sidestep and produced a one-handed offload that sent Nic Groom in for his second try of the day.

Groom’s first try sandwiched scores from Peter Horne and Adam Hastings that had given the Warriors a half-time advantage but once the scrum-half made the most of Van der Merwe’s brilliance, Charlie Shiel sealed the victory late on.

Having needed just one point to guarantee their place in the Final Series, Edinburgh have now booked a home semi-final with Ulster, having finish top of Conference B.

Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors will meet again at BT Murrayfield this Friday to round out the regular season in front of a limited number of spectators. Scottish Government has supported Scottish Rugby’s plans which will make the game the first professional rugby match in the UK to welcome spectators since the COVID-19 lockdown in March.

Player of the Match – Jaco van der Walt

Fly-half Jaco van der Walt kept the scoreboard ticking over from the tee and ended with 15 points to his name.

Perhaps even more importantly, he pulled the strings from the no.10 channel – dictating the pace of the game and his consistently correct decision-making enabled Edinburgh to get back in the game despite trailing with a little over 20 minutes remaining.

Highlights

The battle for the 1872 Cup was INTENSE ?@GlasgowWarriors held the lead at the break but an incredible comeback from @EdinburghRugby means they clinched a #GuinnessPRO14 Final Series spot ? https://t.co/niJc1u1d0k

All Round 14 highlights ? https://t.co/2lIuc64fpF pic.twitter.com/iUiNzG2mNL

— PRO14 RUGBY (@PRO14Official) August 22, 2020