Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh in United Rugby Championship play-offs is the fixture we all need

A Scottish derby could on the cards as season reaches its climax

The prospect of Glasgow Warriors playing Edinburgh in United Rugby Championship play-offs is an exciting one and moved a step closer at the weekend as the capital club returned to the top eight with a win over the Scarlets.

Four rounds of fixtures remain but Glasgow are looking good for a top-two finish. True, they’ve still got to go to South Africa to play the Bulls and Lions, but two of their final four regular season games are against bottom club Zebre, beginning with this Saturday’s match in Parma.

The Warriors’ win over a second-string Sharks on Friday didn’t yield a bonus point but it did help close the gap on leaders Leinster to a single point after the Irish side went down heavily to the Lions in Johannesburg. Edinburgh’s home victory over the Scarlets moved them into eighth place but the clubs in mid-table are bunched together so tightly that the race for the play-offs looks set to go down to the wire. Only three points separate fifth and 11th and Edinburgh are one of four sides on 39 points but the only one currently in the top eight because they’ve won more games (nine) than the other three which is the first measure used to separate teams level on points.

The play-off quarter-finals will see first play eighth, second play seventh, third play sixth and fourth play fifth, with home advantage going to the sides in the top four. So Glasgow v Edinburgh at Scotstoun would be a goer if the former finish top and the latter hang on to eighth or any of the other three combinations. The Scottish rivals met twice over Christmas, with each side winning their home game, and a third clash would be something to savour.

The prospect of heading along the M8 again is not one that fazes Edinburgh forward Jamie Ritchie. “It would be really good fun,” said the former Scotland captain. “The good thing about that is that we know we beat them earlier on in the season, and it would be a one-off game – as play-offs tend to be – so we would be confident that we could go there and put in a good performance.”

Glasgow’s place in the June play-offs is all but guaranteed but Edinburgh face an altogether more hazardous journey to stay in the all-important top eight, with Connacht, Ulster and the Lions snapping at their heels.

They head to Wales this weekend to take on a Cardiff side nursing a major grievance from their narrow loss to Ulster on Friday. Winger Theo Cabango looked to have completed his hat-trick two minutes from time to seal Cardiff’s first win in Belfast for 14 years. But, after consulting with his TMO, Scottish referee Mike Adamson ruled there had been a deliberate knock-on in the build-up and awarded a penalty which John Cooney slotted to snatch a 19-17 victory for Ulster.

Duhan van der Merwe helped Edinburgh beat the Scarlets 43-18 at the Hive which lifted Sean Everitt's side into eighth place in the United Rugby Championship. (Photo by Ewan Bootman / SNS Group)

Matt Sherratt, the Cardiff coach, was decidedly miffed and wants his squad to channel their frustration in the right way this weekend.

“We have spoken about sticking together and making sure we take it out on Edinburgh in our last home game in a pretty special stadium at the Arms Park,” he said. “We have got a good group here who love and care about playing for Cardiff. We’ve got to make sure all our energy goes into beating Edinburgh.”

Sean Everitt and co have been warned.