Glasgow Warriors retained the coveted 1872 Cup despite falling to a narrow 10-7 defeat to Edinburgh in front of 36,000 supporters at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Going into the game with a 19-point cushion from their first-leg victory at Hampden Park, the Warriors were heavy favourites to keep their hands on the trophy.

While it was far from an impressive performance from the Warriors – and spectacle for that matter – the visitors came out on top after this two-legged tussle.

Edinburgh led 3-0 at the break at the end of a disappointing first period, with only a Ross Thompson penalty troubling the scorers despite dominating the half.

The hosts also went close through Luke Crosbie who couldn’t keep hold of the ball when reaching out for the whitewash in what would have been a crucial score.

Glasgow were much-improved after the interval and finally enjoyed a healthy dose of possession in the ensuing quarter, however, they didn’t make the spell count.

A chance down the left saw Huw Jones grubber when keeping the ball in hand might have been the better option and Edinburgh survived and escaped soon after.

But with less than 12 minutes remaining finally Glasgow got their reward as they were awarded a penalty try after a maul was illegally pulled to ground by the hosts. Compounding that crossing for Edinburgh was that their repeated infringements meant replacement hooker Patrick Harrison was also shown a yellow card.

However, the hosts hit back almost immediately when prop Pierre Schoeman scored from close range to move his side back in front, with the extras making it 10-7.

And despite Glasgow knocking on the door late on, that was how the scoreline finished as Edinburgh secured the four points while Glasgow retained the 1872 Cup.

The Stormers sealed a priceless bonus-point win over South African rivals the Sharks as they came out on top at DHL Stadium, winning 24-20 in Saturday’s derby.

Scores from Seabelo Senatla, Deon Fourie, Manie Libbok and Jean-Luc du Plessis saw them to victory, with Libbok converting two of those crossings in Cape Town.

Yaw Penxe and Jordan Hendrikse got the Sharks’ tries while Hendrikse chipped in with a couple of conversions and penalties as they leave with a losing bonus point.

In Italy, the URC bragging rights went to 14-man Benetton, who recovered from 12-10 down to defeat Zebre Parma 24-12 with a last-minute bonus-point to boot.

Danilo Fischetti and Simone Gesi tries, the first converted by Giacomo Da Re, put Zebre in the box seat, especially with Mirco Spagnolo red-carded on 57 minutes.

However, an impressive late charge from Benetton saw them cross through Juan Ignacio Brex and Leonardo Marin to wrap up what seemed an unlikely maximum.

The visitors’ other tries came via a first-half double from hooker Siua Maile, with full-back Rhyno Smith converting the second-half crossings from Brex and Marin.

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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/edinburgh-bounce-back-against-glasgow-in-bittersweet-win-while-stormers-and-benetton-prevail