'Proud' Mike Coman lauds Edinburgh defence

Mike Coman lifted the 1872 Cup for the second time

"Proud" Edinburgh captain Mike Coman hailed his team's defensive performance as they defeated Glasgow Warriors for the second time in as many weekends to retain the 1872 Cup.

Edinburgh withstood tremendous pressure on their own try-line well beyond 80 minutes as they triumphed 14-11.

"We didn't play that well tonight and we didn't have many opportunities, but defence kept us in it," said Coman.

"When we got to the 22, we managed to take what little opportunities we had."

The back-row conceded Edinburgh's breakdown and line-out were far from perfect but reiterated the importance of the back-to-back wins to the club.

"It wasn't a pretty performance, we didn't play awfully well," Coman told BBC Scotland. "But we were determined to get that second victory and I'm so rapt for the boys.

"It's great for us as a club; we needed that. I'm just really proud, especially in that 80th minute, it was a long period and we managed to hold them out, which was massive.

"I'm sure we'll hear on Monday how un-pretty it was, our ruck work wasn't great, our line-out wasn't great, but in the end, all that people will remember is the scoreboard."

Scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne kicked three penalties in torrential rain that made attacking rugby challenging.

"We obviously came out here wanting to attack, but that turned pretty quickly," he admitted. "We made the best of a bad situation and we did well defensively in that last five, 10 minutes."

The result lifts Edinburgh to fourth place on their quest to finish in the Pro12's top six and guarantee a berth in next season's European Rugby Champions Cup.

"We're definitely pushing, we're definitely moving," added Hidalgo-Clyne. "We were eighth the last two seasons and we're going in the right direction.

"We need to make sure we don't get complacent now, that we really push forward against the big teams as well, all the Irish teams, and get some points against them."