The Hogmanay weekend saw a reverse of the local derbies in Scotland and Italy, whilst in Ireland and Wales, the Interprovincial and Inter-regional festive series continued as each side played two matches in their home country.

Glasgow Warriors 17-12 Edinburgh Rugby

Glasgow retained the 1872 cup at a sold-out Firhill on Sunday in a tight encounter with an Edinburgh side missing several first team regulars in the second leg of the annual inter-city derby.

The hosts dominated the early exchanges and took an early lead through a Duncan Weir penalty after 2 minutes.

Edinburgh coach Michael Bradley had been criticised in some quarters for making sweeping changes to his lineup but his supposed “second stringers” gave Glasgow a fright when they had the ball, with runners such as Lee Jones, Stuart McInally and Simon Webster proving difficult to deal with.

Former Scotland stand off Phil Godman captained the visiting side but his first penalty attempt was badly hooked and Edinburgh struggled to get on the score sheet thanks to a combination of limited chances and a tough Glasgow defence.

Duncan Weir missed his second penalty attempt but was successful with two more efforts in the first half to open up a lead for the home side who were playing in front of a record crowd of almost 9,000.

Scottish referee Andrew Macpherson incurred the wrath of both sets of supporters for his persistent use of his whistle, not least when he sent Edinburgh centre Matt Scott to the sin bin with the scores locked at 9-9 with 10 minutes left to play for what seemed like an over enthusiastic tackle on Glasgow flanker Rob Harley.

That proved to be a turning point in the match as the Glasgow pack caught a short lineout in the Edinburgh 22 and steamrollered their way to the line with prop Moray Low emerging with the ball over the line. The decision was given by the TMO to award the try but replacement stand off Scott Wight’s kick was inches wide.

Wight’s next effort, however was on target as Glasgow began to pull away with time running out. Edinburgh, to their credit, never gave in and a series of forays into the Glasgow half ended with a sclaffed drop-goal attempt from Godman which was again referred to the TMO who awarded the tree points meaning Edinburgh earned a losing bonus point but the night belonged to Glasgow as they retained the 1872 Cup for the third successive year in the last derby to be staged at Firhill.


Ulster 33 - 17 Munster

Ulster produced an emphatic four-try victory over their Irish rivals Munster in front of 12,000 fans at a wet and windy Ravenhill on Friday night.

Due to the tight festive schedule, both sides made several changes to their line-ups but the home side could still call on the likes of South African duo Ruan Pienaar and Stefan Terblanche along with former All Black John Afoa who scored a try to help Ulster to a 20-10 halftime lead despite Luke O’Dea crossing early for the visitors from the south.

Ulster pulled away in the second half thanks to further tries from Pienaar and Ian Humphreys to add to the duos combined three penalties and two conversions, to ensure the Belfast side move up one place to seventh in the table, although their focus will surely now be on their crucial home Heineken up tie against Leicester Tigers in a fortnight’s time.

Munster scored a late consolation try after an Ulster mistake, to make the score line a little less flattering for the hosts, but the Irish giants still sit third in the Pro 12 standings and will call upon a full-strength squad for their home match against Treviso next Saturday before hosting Castres in their penultimate Heineken Cup group match the following week.

Newport-Gwent Dragons 6 - 10 Scarlets

In a low scoring but highly entertaining all-Welsh derby, the Scarlets, who made fourteen changes from Monday’s victory over Ospreys, overcame their native rivals at Rodney Parade.

The game’s only try was scored in the first half by Scarlets flanker Jonathan Edwards after a sustained period of pressure from the visitors. The try was converted by third-choice fullback Dan Newton after regular goal kicker Stephen Jones pulled out of the squad just before kick off.

The Dragons encountered their own kicking problems as stand off Jason Tovey, who had kicked two first half penalties, did not reappear for the second half due to injury, and another injury to goal-kicking centre Adam Hughes meant that the duties fell to 20 year-old Lewis Robling who missed three fairly kickable penalties leaving the hosts needing a try to win but despite a late period of pressure, the Scarlets held on to make it two wins from two over their neighbouring opponents over the holiday period.

Treviso 34 - 14 Aironi

Treviso gained revenge over their nearest rivals Aironi with a comfortable win at Stadio di Monigo on Saturday afternoon.

The boot of stand off Kris Burton kicked 17 points and they also ran in four tries from Franco Sbaraglini, Alessandro Zanni, Tobie Botes and a penalty try, to comfortably run out winners and continue to enjoy a fine season in both the Pro 12 and Heineken cup in which they are proving to be very tough to beat both home and away.

Connacht 13- 15 Leinster

Two second half tries from Tiernan O’Halloran and Ethienne Reynecke were not enough for a gutsy Connacht side in their New Year’s Day encounter with Leinster at the Galway Sportsground.

Five penalties from utility back Isa Nacewa were enough to see Leinster record yet another victory and extend their lead at the top of the Pro 12 table.

Despite Leinster having two players sent to the sin bin in the second half, Connacht could not find a way through and had to settle for a Mathew Jarvis penalty in front of another record crowd of 6,582 in Galway, and have now gone 13 games without a win in all competitions with a daunting trip to Toulouse on the horizon.

Ospreys 17-12 Cardiff Blues

It has been a long time since the Ospreys have gone into a home derby with Cardiff as underdogs, but that was the case on New Year’s Day when the Blues headed for the Liberty stadium looking to climb the Pro 12 table.

Gavin Henson made his long-awaited return to the Liberty stadium after Ospreys released him from his contract over a year ago, but the star Fullback could only look on as former team-mate Tommy Bowe stretched over the Blues’ line to score the only try of the game.

A second half Dab Parks drop goal ensured the Blues earned a losing bonus point but the day belonged to the men from Swansea who recorded their first win in four games and stay second in the Pro 12 table ahead of another all-Welsh fixture against the Dragons on Friday night.

You can follow Finlay Morrison on Twitter @FinMorrison