This was Edinburgh’s first win of the season and their head coach Claire Cruikshank said:  “Glasgow really came at us early on and had a lot of possession, but we started to find our shape and the try that we scored just before the break to get us back to within a point really gave us a lift.

“In the second half we knew that we were starting against 14 with them having a yellow card and the players managed that period well. We then took things on from there and scored a few nice tries with Hannah Ramsay, Rachel Philipps and Lisa Brown freeing up space for our dangerous back three.

“Things then got a wee bit tighter than we would have liked towards the end, but I was pleased with the battling qualities and the connectivity the players showed against a good Glasgow side and we can build from here.”

It was clear from the opening exchanges that Glasgow were keen to put pressure on Edinburgh stand-off Hannah Ramsay and in particular her kicking game. They started off doing that well and, as a result, a lot of the first 10 minutes of the game were played in Edinburgh territory, but the score remained 0-0.

Three minutes later a Ramsay clearance kick from her own dead ball area was charged down and although the danger was averted that time, Warriors were on the charge.

And, in the 17th minute, scrum-half Rianna Darroch showed good awareness to take a quick tap and send centre Blacklock over for a try. She could not convert, but they were worthy of their 5-0 advantage.

Although Glasgow had dominated possession to this point, the Edinburgh scrum had looked good at set-piece time and, as the end of the first quarter came and went, both winger Cieron Bell and No.8 Merryn Gunderson had good breaks as the hosts started getting their attacking game going.

Back-row Alex Stewart then nearly managed to flip out a scoring pass to her skipper Hannah Walker, but the pass went forward under pressure.

On the half hour mark, Glasgow doubled their lead. After No.8 Emily Coubrough went close, the ball was shipped wide and winger Hannah Smyth bagged her third try of the campaign. Blacklock’s conversion attempt was timed out and it was 10-0.

Edinburgh had to get the next score and they did when hooker Aila Ronald went over after a well-worked lineout drive move. Ramsay converted and it was 10-7.

This game was really end-to-end now and being played at a rate of knots. That Edinburgh try came in the 33rd minute and, three minutes later, after some crisp back play, winger Sky Phimister scored her third try of the competition.

It was unconverted and, just before half-time, 15-7 became 15-14 when tight-head Molly Poolman, the Scotland cap just back from injury, powered over for a try which was converted by Ramsay. In the build up to the try, Glasgow co-captain Ceitidh Ainsworth was yellow-carded for a deliberate knock-on.

With the player advantage, Edinburgh took the lead for the first time in the match in the 45th minute when, after Stewart had gone close and then Glasgow had not cleared their lines, the ball was shipped wide and winger Walker scored. Ramsay converted and it was 21-15.

Glasgow then were back to 15 players with Briar McNamara coming on instead of Ainsworth, but the momentum of this game had completely swung.

And, in the 55th minute, centre Lisa Brown – who was becoming more and more influential – slipped a neat pass to Bell and she finished off. Ramsay could not convert, but Edinburgh had their bonus point try and were 26-15 to the good.

Full-back Poppy Mellanby and back-row Gemma Bell tried to spark Glasgow back into life with a good attack, but when the former was tackled well and knocked on it was a scrum to Edinburgh, from which Ramsay set replacement full-back Nicole Marlow away into space. Her and Walker then showed good pace, swapped passes and Marlow scored an unconverted try.

Glasgow were shellshocked, but got a lifeline in the 66th minute when co-captain Holland Bogan scored a five-pointer to give them a bonus point and make it 31-20.

With three minutes to go Glasgow’s fifth try made things really interesting. A quick tap from sub scrum-half Rebekah Douglas set up Bogan for her second try, but Blacklock could not convert with a drop kick.

That made it 31-25 and the Warriors still had a slim chance of claiming the win with another converted try, but Edinburgh held on and Ramsay thumped the ball into the stand to spark home celebrations.

Despite the loss, Glasgow have seven points from their first two matches in 2025-26 and their head coach Lindsey Smith said:  “We played some nice rugby and possibly could have been more than 10-0 up after the first half hour, but at that stage we were still pretty pleased with how things were going.

“Things then turned around a bit, but we still led at half-time. We then maybe just switched off a wee bit for a spell and that cost us. However, I was pleased that the players stuck to their task and kept going to get us two points out of the game.

“We have seven points from two games and we will take that.”

 

Teams –

Edinburgh: S Haddow (N Marlow 49); C Bell, L Brown (L Macrae 72), R Philipps, H Walker ©; H Ramsay, E Love ( T Rosie 72); T Tawake (A Wilson 49), A Ronald (M Whitehouse 72), M Poolman (F Sutherland 49), A Ferrie, N Logan (N Howat 72), C Russell (C Moody 49), A Stewart, M Gunderson.

Glasgow Warriors: P Mellanby; S Phimister, N Flynn, B Blacklock, H Smyth (E Norval 67); C Ainsworth co-© (B McNamara 49), R Darroch (R Douglas 67); F Gracie (A Sutcliffe 57), M Hyland (N Finlay 78), I Spence (K Lindsay 60), H Bogan co-©, S Murphy (G Thomson 22-27, F Walker 60), S Taganekurukuru (G Thomson 45), G Bell, E Coubrough.

Referee: Michael Todd.

 

Scorers –

Edinburgh: Tries: Ronald, Poolman, Walker, Bell, Marlow. Cons: Ramsay 3.

Glasgow Warriors: Tries: Blacklock, Smyth, Phimister, Bogan 2.

Scoring sequence (Edinburgh Rugby first): 0-5; 0-10; 5-10; 7-10; 7-15; 12-15; 14-15 (h-t) 19-15; 21-15; 26-15; 31-15; 31-20; 31-25.

 

Yellow card –

Glasgow Warriors: Ainsworth (39 mins)

 

Player-of-the-Match: For Glasgow tight-head Imogen Spence carried well in the first half and co-captain Holland Bogan led by example while, as Edinburgh turned this one around, hooker Aila Ronald and No.8 Merryn Gunderson got them on the front foot and stand-off Hannah Ramsay grew into things after a tricky start. The award though goes to young centre Lisa Brown from the hosts who set up a number of attacks, defended well and is a good prospect for the future.

Talking point: Glasgow may have lost this one, but they look much improved from what we saw over the last two years and that can only be good for the Celtic Challenge and Scottish rugby. Remember they lost this same fixture 63-15 just 12 months ago.