Remember me
For Kyle Steyn, lifting the 1872 Cup is becoming somewhat of an annual tradition at this time of year.
After comfortably beating Edinburgh 21-3 at Murrayfield on Saturday, it marked the fourth successive season that Glasgow Warriors have won the trophy.
But this one was a little different. The game on Saturday marked Steyn’s 100th appearance for Glasgow — and it was he who hoisted the trophy aloft as captain.
Steyn’s Dad, Rory, had also flown in from South Africa and they will spend the next few days enjoying some quality time together.
After becoming a Warriors centurion, Steyn admitted that this latest derby triumph was just a little bit extra special for himself and his family.
‘Yeah, it was really special,’ said the 31-year-old Scotland star. ‘It was really cool to run out with Bella [his daughter], and my dad landed this morning.
Glasgow captain Kyle Steyn celebrates Warriors' 1872 Cup success with his daughter Bella
Glasgow maintained their stranglehold on the trophy by winning for a fourth straight season
Steyn and head coach Franco Smith lap up the post-match celebrations at Murrayfield
‘I’ve had some lengthy spells on the sidelines, so you kind of wonder if you’re ever going to get there [to 100 games]. But it was really special to be able to do it here and have my family present.
‘My mum jokes about the fact that I’ve got no inheritance left because my Dad has spent it all on flights. But it’s been worth it.
‘It’s been a mainstay across my career — no matter where I’ve played in the world, he’s been on the sidelines.
‘I’m obviously very thankful that we’re in the position that he can do that and it’s certainly something I’ll never take for granted.
‘He will be here for a couple of days. He goes on New Year’s Eve. I think because he booked so late and the way the flights were going, it was cheapest to fly on New Year’s Eve. So I’ve got him for a couple of days, which will be good.’
Steyn was excellent on Saturday as Glasgow got the job done with plenty to spare in the end.
Franco Smith’s men won by an aggregate margin of 30 points against a pitiful Edinburgh team who never fired a shot over both games.
Glasgow's all-time leading try-scorer George Horne sparked the second half into life with a try
Glasgow had the game’s outstanding player in Jamie Dobie, who scored two tries, with the other coming from George Horne.
Normally a scrum-half by trade, Dobie’s versatility, pace and finishing prowess means that he could well force his way into the Scotland reckoning for the Six Nations.
Duhan van der Merwe lost his place in the team during the autumn and Steyn has long proven himself to be a more complete player than the big winger.
If Dobie then joins the party as well, it would leave Gregor Townsend with a hell of a selection headache heading into the championship.
For the time being, Steyn is delighted that Glasgow have come through a tough period that saw them reel off four straight wins against Sale, Toulouse and Edinburgh.
‘We probably didn’t feel like we played very well, but we’re chuffed we got it done,’ he continued.
‘There’s obviously the derby factor. There’s an element of that. Edinburgh were really good at slowing down our ball and making sure we couldn’t get going. But, yeah, it did feel like we got dragged into the derby, the one-on-one battles and that kind of played into their hands a wee bit.
Dobie pressed his claims for a Six Nations opportunity with Scotland with two well-taken tries
‘It’s frustrating more than anything that we showed in the last ten minutes that we had the game to break them down.
‘I feel for our forwards more than anything, to be honest. Sale, Toulouse, then into these two games with Edinburgh, it’s been properly physical and big shifts for them.
‘But, I mean, how good? What a time to be involved when we’ve managed to notch up the wins we’ve had. I think everybody’s just kind of chomping at the bit to keep going.
‘Franco’s really good at bringing in fresh energy and making sure that we’ve got a lot of that on the park. So I’m sure over the next couple of weeks there’ll be a lot of rotation.
‘A lot of guys have played a lot of rugby but I back our squad to the hilt and I know that whoever comes in is going to bring a lot of energy and get the job done for us.’
Glasgow will face Zebre next weekend in the URC, before turning their attention back to the Champions Cup with games against Clermont and Saracens.
As for Edinburgh, they were utterly dreadful over both games. Serious questions need to be asked of where this team are heading under Sean Everitt.
The South African is out of contract at the end of the season and he is not showing anything that would warrant an extension.
For Edinburgh coach Sean Everitt, huge question marks remain over his future in the capital
Edinburgh spoke all week about coming out all guns blazing in their efforts to try and overturn a 12-point deficit from the first leg. But they never even looked remotely likely to do so. It was feeble.
It wasn’t just a glaring lack of ambition. They also lacked the basic fundamentals in their skillset, demonstrated by some woeful handling errors at times.
‘It was very frustrating,’ said inside centre James Lang. ‘There was a 12-point deficit. We knew what we needed to do.
‘First and foremost we needed the win for the league, and we didn’t get that. I felt we were pretty dominant for large parts of that game. We were getting into good positions, but we just weren’t accurate enough.
‘It was skill errors, individual errors, which let us down and really stopped our momentum.
‘We know how dangerous Glasgow are as a team, and they capitalised in the last 10 minutes and the game kind of went away, which was very tough to take.
‘I don’t think it’s a confidence thing with us. We just aren’t consistent enough.’
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