Stuart Hogg: 'Expansive and exciting' Edinburgh impress Glasgow full-back

Hogg says Glasgow need to build momentum going into the play-offs

Glasgow Warriors full-back Stuart Hogg says the current Edinburgh side are the best he has ever faced.

The rivals meet at Murrayfield on Saturday for the third and decisive 1872 Cup fixture, having both earned one derby victory apiece this season.

Edinburgh are close to a Pro14 play-off for the first time but may need to take something from the game to guarantee their knockout phase place.

"We're used to Edinburgh just punting the ball and defending," Hogg said.

"But, this year, they're playing a really expansive and exciting brand of rugby. Credit to them, they've worked incredibly hard on that and they've got some cracking players that have been causing teams some problems.

"You've got the big winger [Duhan] Van der Merwe - he's been on fire recently - and that's one player we're going to have to shut down and not give him a lot of time and space on the ball."

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Glasgow have sealed top spot in Conference A, and a home semi-final, largely due to their impressive form over the first half of the season, opening with 10 consecutive victories.

Recently, performances have been patchy and Dave Rennie's side have gone four away fixtures without a win.

As things stand, Edinburgh need a solitary point to guarantee third place in Conference B and a quarter-final berth, with head coach Richard Cockerill relishing the chance to pit his players against the Warriors to "decide Scotland's best team".

Hogg missed both of this season's previous derbies as he recovered from a hip injury

"We know if we perform really well we can beat any team," Hogg said. "We're not playing great, but I'd rather it was happening now than at the business end of the season.

"We know where we're going wrong and we're very much looking forward to making amends.

"We worked incredibly hard last week to get a good performance and a win, but we kind of let ourselves down [in a 36-15 defeat to Ulster].

"Edinburgh have been fantastic over the last year and they've performed really well over the last few weeks.

"We'll have to be on our A-game in defence and hopefully finish off our opportunities in attack.

"We want to make sure we get that vital win and build good momentum going into the play-offs. We'll see who's the best team on Saturday night."

Hogg is likely to line up opposite one of Scottish rugby's most exciting young talents at Murrayfield.

Blair Kinghorn has enjoyed a superb season with Edinburgh, earning his first Scotland caps

Blair Kinghorn only turned 21 in January, but the 6ft 5in full-back has made more metres with ball in hand (1,327) than any player in the league this season.

The Edinburgh man made his Scotland debut in the Calcutta Cup win over England and scored his first Test try from the wing against Ireland.

"I've been very impressed with Blair over the last couple of years," Hogg said.

"I was fortunate to spend some time with him over the Six Nations camp and he's a great boy, works incredibly hard on his game and seems to be getting better and better all the time.

"It's great to have that challenge against Blair and hopefully we can both get some good ball on the weekend."