Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh: Hampden, sibling rivalry & the mental battle

Edinburgh players and coaches don’t like it when their mentality is questioned, which is fair enough.

There’s one way to make those questions redundant, though. And season after season they fail to answer them.

On paper, they can win this game, no question. You’d worry about them at 10 and whether Ross Thompson can get control of it in the way we know his counterpart, Tom Jordan, can.

But elsewhere, they have the artillery. Or should have.

The game within the game is the psychology, though. Time and again, Glasgow show their mental fortitude. Even when not playing well, they dig in and win or get a losing bonus or a four-try bonus or both, as they did in Toulon last weekend.

Glasgow are as resilient as hell – and murder to play against.

Edinburgh almost need the stars to be perfectly aligned in order to get over the line. They have won ugly in the past, but they don’t convince when a game becomes a battle of attrition.

It’s infuriating because they have the players. Surely all the praise that Glasgow have been getting for seasons now must drive them crazy. Surely that anger can be harnessed and turned against Glasgow. We’re still waiting. Maybe this time.