'Right now, we're the big brother': Jack Dempsey on Glasgow v Edinburgh and his 'strange' friend

The Glasgow Warriors No 8 has missed the last two inter-city series due to injury but is now at the peak of his powers again, as evidenced by his totemic performance in the stunning win over Toulouse last weekend.

There is little time to bask in the glory of the Champions Cup success as the first part of the double-header with Edinburgh takes place this Saturday at Hampden Park.

Dempsey is looking forward in particular to locking horns with Pierre Schoeman and Ewan Ashman but expects a rough ride against his Scotland team-mates, particularly Schoeman whom he describes as “strange”, but in the nicest possible way.

“I mean, me and Schoey have slowly built a strange relationship over the last few years in camp,” said Dempsey. “He's a pretty open guy in terms of social media and stuff. He's a funny guy, a strange guy, which I definitely like.

All South African meat and bone

“I like those kinds of characters. And he's great, he gives energy. He's one of those guys - kind of like an Adam Hastings or Blair Kinghorn - and you need those guys sprinkled in the environment who aren't afraid to be themselves and just give energy to the group.

“But again, I hate playing against him [Schoeman] and I hate training against him because he's just all South African meat and bone, constantly going hard, annoying to tackle. A bit like Ashy [Ashman] as well, who I've got to know a bit better over this last campaign.

“But, yeah, all that goes out the window at the end of the day. I mean, for me personally, I'm more looking forward to just getting back into this rivalry, having missed the last two.”

Glasgow have enjoyed the upper hand since Franco Smith took over as head coach in 2022, winning the 1872 Cup three years running. They did the double over their oldest rivals in 2022-23 but the games have gone with the home team across the last two seasons, with Glasgow coming out on top on aggregate despite narrow defeats at Murrayfield.

Dempsey’s first experience of the fixture was in the campaign before Smith’s arrival, and it was an unhappy one. Despite winning the first leg 30-17, the Warriors were beaten on aggregate after going down 28-11 in the second match at Murrayfield. The games had been postponed at Christmas due to a Covid outbreak in the Glasgow squad and were played in the spring.

“They weren’t played back-to-back,” said Dempsey. “We had to play them at Murrayfield in the last round and we were up 1-0 and they dished us up and got the aggregate. So that was my first experience with the rivalry.

“So I'm looking forward to just getting back into it and listening. I don't chat much on the field, but I'm sure Nonz [Sione Tuipulotu] will be lipping up a bit and I enjoy the spectacle of that.”

Although the fixture brings together so many of the Scotland squad, Dempsey says there is still a keen rivalry at play.

“There is that level of ferociousness and hatred, definitely, in the physicality of it all. It's just not personal, I would say. You make it personal in the 80 minutes you're on the field. But the cliché is you're just playing up against your little brother or your big brother, depending on who you are. And the way we are right now, we're the big brother.

“But the thing is, as a little brother myself, as the underdog, which Edinburgh will be calling themselves, they're going to want to come back and snatch the throne because they haven't had it for three, four years now. So we have to play the way we played and be consistent, just like last week, to not allow that to happen.”

‘They’re going to have to earn it’

The little brother, big brother analogy can be extended into the back row where Dempsey will be part of an all-star Glasgow trio alongside Matt Fagerson and Rory Darge, with the equally stellar Gregor Brown on the bench. They are very much the senior siblings.

Over at Edinburgh, young whipper snappers Liam McConnell and Freddy Douglas will be hoping to disrupt the supply of ball going to Glasgow’s talented backline.

“As a Scotland player I hope they take the opportunity,” said Dempsey. “It's games like these where you make your name for yourself and you've got to take that opportunity. So as a competitor and as a back-rower for Scotland, I want to see these young boys step up and play well.

“But the faith I have in Matt Ferguson, the faith I have in a Rory Darge and a Gregor Brown who are shoulder-to-shoulder with me, we don't worry about that. We just worry about what we do because what we do has got us to where we are now. And if someone wants to upset that apple cart, they're going to have to earn it. So, yeah, that's what it comes down to.”

The Warriors’ 28-21 comeback win over Toulouse on Saturday was a result that made people sit up and take notice. Edinburgh, by contrast, went down 33-0 to Castres away the following day. Having beaten Toulon so impressively the week before, the capital side made 11 changes, resting many of their big guns so they would be fresh for the Glasgow games.

“I saw the score,” said Dempsey. “It’s tough to go away to France. We've obviously got a Clermont game coming up on the other side of the window. So I can sympathise in terms of the decision to do that.

“And it comes down to what I said. They haven't had this trophy now for three years or so. So their priority is obviously to get it back, which as a competitor I can understand. So we know they'll be that extra bit of fresh in their group.

“But again, I mean, it's always the argument. We've just had the high of a win like that. So our energy is sky high as well.”

Franco Smith had spoken before the Toulouse game about the “need to win some of the big games”, mindful of the way Leinster had turfed Glasgow out of both competitions emphatically last season. Dempsey agrees with his coach. Having won the URC the year before by beating the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld in the final, the Warriors more than proved their minerals but Dempsey believes another statement win was overdue.

“I think when I look at last season, obviously I missed a lot of it [due to injury], but from the outside looking in, we kept referring back to the Bulls grand final. And you can't do that forever. You can't consistently refer back to big games, because it does have a time limit on it. And so what you have to do is put down lines in the sand, put down flags in the ground that you can refer to in the recent history.

“And that's what that [Toulouse] game has done for us. It's now become: right, that's a world-class team, on a world-class stage, down 21 points. And our processes have got us back into the game and ended up giving us the win.

“So, in terms of the key learnings, it's about what we're doing objectively works, especially as a forward pack and what we did to put points on the board and to, at times, dominate them, is the biggest thing we've taken yet.”