Preview: Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh Rugby

What they said this week

Edinburgh Rugby Head Coach Mike Blair said: “We’ve spoken this week about how important this game is for the club. Firstly, in terms of the 1872 Cup – it’s an opportunity for silverware – but also in terms of the league. It’s incredibly tight between ourselves and Glasgow and we want to keep momentum going heading into the business end of the season.

“We’ve also talked about the emotion of the game. There is a huge amount of history in this fixture, so it’s important our players let that emotion drive them and motivate them. At the same time, we’ve got to stay cool under pressure, as we’ll be playing away from home in front of a really passionate crowd.

“We’ve had a great week of training and preparation and we’re delighted to see some of our younger guys get an opportunity to play in such an important fixture. They’ll be desperate to represent this club and city come Friday night.”

Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Danny Wilson said: “Edinburgh had a good win against Connacht two weeks ago and they’re a side who are playing a good brand of rugby and scoring a lot of tries.

“After a tough away game to Scarlets, we’re looking forward to being back at Scotstoun in front of a sold-out crowd and bouncing back with an improved performance.

“We’ve had a good week of training and were pleased to welcome back some of our Scotland players towards the end of the week.

“Both sides are tied on points in the league. Tomorrow’s game and the remaining league games are going to have a big bearing on league position and qualification for both Europe and the URC play-offs.”

The teams

Key stats

• The two teams are level on 39 points in the United Rugby Championship, with Glasgow sitting in fourth place, one above Edinburgh in fifth, because they have won more games.
• Warriors are the current 1872 Cup champions. Edinburgh won the first leg 10-7 at BT Murrayfield, before Glasgow took an enthralling second leg 23-22 at Scotstoun Stadium and the final encounter  29-19, again at Scotstoun.
• Glasgow prop Murphy Walker will make his first professional start, while Edinburgh prop Luan de Bruin could make his first appearance since January after recovering from injury and being named on the bench.
• Of the 42 league encounters between the two sides, Glasgow have won 22 and Edinburgh have won 19, with only one draw.

Where to watch and follow the game

Both edinburghrugby.org and glasgowwarriors.org will have live match centres, with insight and live text commentary from the match.

The game kicks off at 7.35pm and is being shown live on Premier Sports, with BBC Radio Scotland broadcasting it live too.