91Èȱ¬

Head coach Gregor Townsend and captain Chris Cusiter highlighted the strength of character shown by Glasgow Warriors as they fought back to beat Edinburgh.

Stuart Hogg's 68th-minute Warriors try at Murrayfield proved to be the difference in the first leg of the 1872 Cup match, which is also a Pro12 game.

"We have not lost a game in the league away from home so that shows the character in the squad," said Townsend.

"It's a huge boost. I was really proud of the guys in the second half."

Glasgow have had the upper hand in the inter-city derby Cup matches in recent years but Edinburgh came into the match on the better run of form and looked the stronger side for much of the play.

They led 16-9 at half-time thanks to three Greig Laidlaw penalties and a Dougie Fife try and could have been out of sight after the interval had they not made a handling error with the try line at their mercy.

"We weren't looking too good at half-time - just ill-discipline in the first half and probably playing the wrong style of game," Cusiter told 91Èȱ¬ Radio Scotland.

"But we played so much better in that second half. The physicality was there the whole game but we were a bit smarter and it was a cracking try by Hoggy to get us ahead.

"We were trying to take them on in an arm wrestle. They are big and strong and it didn't work for us so when we went a little bit wider at the end we managed to get the try.

"It shows a lot of character to come back after going down."

And Cusiter said of the return leg of the tie on New Year's Day: "We have to get a win at Scotstoun. It's three losses in a row and not acceptable so it's a big game.

"If we can get more league points it will set us up nicely going into the new year."

Townsend said the score was a "huge boost" but he is demanding a better display in the return match.

"I was really proud of the guys in the second half but we need to be better next week because we can't get away with that performance for the first 50-60 minutes," he warned.

"It will be a different game. They will have a lot of confidence because they played well, I thought; they kept the ball for a lot of phases, they scored a very good try in the first half and could have scored another on the short side.

"They will believe they can turn it round just like we believe we can get better and win next week.

"There were a lot of injuries. The guys who came on did really well. Chris Fusaro added energy, Leone (Nakarawa) looked good, Josh (Strauss) carried well and Ryan Wilson stood up well to so I was very pleased with the squad."