Pro12: Edinburgh 23-11 Glasgow Warriors

Matt Scott finished a brilliant Edinburgh attack

Edinburgh earned a surprise win over Glasgow at Murrayfield in the first leg of the 1872 Cup to leapfrog the Warriors in the Pro12.

The visitors scored first, through a Mark Bennett try, which was quickly cancelled out by one from Matt Scott.

Sam Hidalgo-Clyne added three penalties to Finn Russell's two to make it 16-11.

The outstanding John Hardie sealed the win from a devastating line-out maul, Hidalgo-Clyne converting in front of a record crowd for the fixture of 23,642.

Edinburgh will take a precious 12-point advantage into Saturday's rematch at Scotstoun for the second leg of the 1872 Cup, the silverware played for by the two sides every year, while the Murrayfield side are up to fifth in the Pro12 table, two places above champions Glasgow.

Forged in Fiji, finished in Scotland

The buzz around this game was unprecedented and the opening minutes lived up to the hype. Glasgow were ahead inside six minutes, a score that owed much to the breakdown work of Leone Nakarawa.

The Fijian turned over Edinburgh ball and away Glasgow went. Chris Fusaro did the initial damage, then Nakarawa joined the attack, his footwork drawing in the home defence.

Glasgow were patient and accurate in possession as they waited for the space to open. When it did, Bennett made the most of it. The centre darted in and the favourites were in front.

Russell missed an easy conversion and the soreness of that error was made worse soon after when Edinburgh scored a try of their own.

Leone Nakarawa was heavily involved in Glasgow's try but the Warriors struggled to utilise their game-breakers

Ruthless Edinburgh

Again, it was clinical stuff. Edinburgh attacked off crucially quick ruck ball. When it came out to Cornell du Preez on the right wing, the back row executed the opportunity wondrously.

He drew in the tacklers, showed awareness in spotting Scott running free beside him and delivered a sumptuous offload that made the centre's job a straightforward one.

When Hidalgo-Clyde added the extras, Edinburgh were in front. And they stayed in front. From a free-flowing and ambitious beginning the game settled into a war of attrition - precisely as Edinburgh would have planned for.

The home team's defence was brutally effective. The little attacking ball that Glasgow managed to get was snuffed out by a swarm of Edinburgh defenders - razor sharp and hunting in numbers.

Tactical triumph

Edinburgh singularly refused to allow Glasgow to impose themselves. Precious little was seen of the visitors' big attacking weapons.

With so little space out there, it became a kicking duel. Bennett missed from distance just before the half hour and Hidalgo-Clyne scored from closer range just after.

John Hardie scored Edinburgh's crucial late try

The tempo was established. Glasgow would try to unleash their runners and Edinburgh would hit them low and hard and stop them dead in their tracks. Meantime, the kickers went at it.

Russell made it 10-8, then Hidalgo-Clyne responded for 13-8. Russell edged Glasgow closer at 13-11 only for Hidalgo-Clyne to restore Edinburgh's lead, 16-11.

Edinburgh finished strongly. They had a couple of sniffs of tries before they finally put the game to bed with that unstoppable maul and the critical touchdown from Hardie.

Edinburgh: Jack Cuthbert, Dougie Fife, Michael Allen, Matt Scott, Tom Brown, Phil Burleigh, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Rory Sutherland, Ross Ford, WP Nel, Anton Bresler, Alex Toolis, Mike Coman (captain), John Hardie, Cornell Du Preez.

Replacements: Neil Cochrane, Allan Dell, John Andress, Ben Toolis, Jamie Ritchie, Sean Kennedy, Greig Tonks, Andries Strauss.

Glasgow Warriors: Stuart Hogg, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Mark Bennett, Peter Horne (captain), Tommy Seymour, Finn Russell, Grayson Hart, Ryan Grant, Fraser Brown, Sila Puafisi, Leone Nakarawa, Tim Swinson, Ryan Wilson, Chris Fusaro, Adam Ashe.

Replacements: James Malcolm, Gordon Reid, Zander Fagerson, Greg Peterson, Simone Favaro, Ali Price, Sam Johnson, Lee Jones.