The Glasgow Warriors lifted the inaugural 1872 Challenge Cup in front of a passionate crowd at Firhill Arena to retain their crown as the top team in Scotland.
Now the task of overtaking rivals Edinburgh in the Magners League table is foremost in the minds of Sean Lineen and his charges.
The win over Edinburgh means that the Warriors have only been beaten once at home (either Hughenden or Firhill) since January last year. Other notable successes have been wins over French giants Biarritz and emerging Italian outfit Viadana in the Heineken Cup, in a campaign that saw the Warriors stay in contention for the knock-out stages for the first time in the club’s history.
Their Heineken Cup form continued on the road when they twice came close to recording big upsets. A single point separated Glasgow from Saracens at Vicarage Road and their visit to the French coast saw them come within six minutes of doing the double over Biarritz .
On the international front, eleven Warriors were called up to the Scotland squad by head coach Frank Hadden, ahead of the 2008 RBS 6 Nations campaign.
Although the games during the international season saw some Warriors in the blue of Scotland rather than the black of Glasgow, the team was by no means a weak one.
The side was strengthened over the summer by international names such as Daryl Gibson, Lome Fa’atau, Bernardo Stortoni and Opeta Palepoi. Glasgow games were ones to watch, even when the Scotland boys had their attention on the national team’s efforts.
Season tickets packages for the new season have already been launched with adult prices frozen and a new structure being implemented for concessions and U18s.
Adult season tickets remain at £150, a saving of £65 compared to buying tickets for individual games. That’s the equivalent saving of four free games!
The new structure for concessions and U18s sees students and OAP tickets priced at £80, with supporters under the age of 18 getting to see top-flight professional rugby all season for only £30 – or just £2.30 per game.
In addition to the new season ticket pricing, Warriors fans will also receive additional benefits.
Firstly, season ticket holders will be able to attend the pre-season friendly against Bristol and the away Magners League fixture against Edinburgh at Murrayfield free of charge.
Also included is the opportunity to attend a Partick Thistle league game at Firhill absolutely free (more details of this offer will follow in due course).
Log onto www.glasgowwarriors.org for more information on season tickets as well as all the latest news from The Biggest Team in Glasgow.
The development of Edinburgh’s vibrant young squad has been called ‘a work in progress’ and head coach Andy Robinson has been keen to manage expectation levels as he lays down the foundations for long-term success.
Following his appointment in early October, Robinson has already made his mark on the overall direction of Edinburgh’s playing staff with the emphasis on employing an exciting brand of offloading rugby.
During his playing days as an openside flanker for both England and Bath, Robinson was described by former team-mate Simon Halliday as the ‘ultimate creative, keep-the-ball alive player’. That philosophy has been passed on to the contemporary Edinburgh squad – a side bursting with vibrancy and potential.
With one game remaining in the season, Edinburgh was fourth in the Magners League standings. That statistic shows how far this young squad – with an average age of just 26 – has come in the past nine months. The marked progress has been a genuine team effort, but individuals have also shone during the transformation in the club’s fortunes.
Edinburgh-born Mike Blair, recently named Scotland captain, has been phenomenal at scrum half and his game management and distribution has added an extra dimension to the side’s attacking armoury.
Former Royal High student Ben Cairns has seized his chance in midfield and his burgeoning reputation as a future Scotland star is merited by his performances over the course of the season - resulting in a recent call-up to the touring squad to Argentina.
During the opening half of the season, Ross Rennie also attracted plaudits aplenty for his performances at openside flanker; the 21-year-old has been Edinburgh’s ‘magnificent seven’ and was rewarded with his first Scotland call-up against Ireland.
These three are all graduates of the thriving rugby scene in the Scottish capital with 16 players out of Edinburgh’s 36-man squad having been born in the capital. With only five non-Scottish players in the current set-up, it underlines the strong local and national flavour prevalent in the Edinburgh team.
In terms of eye-catching results, the victory over English champions Leicester Tigers in the Heineken Cup certainly made seasoned observers take notice of the quiet revolution taking place at Edinburgh. But nobody with black and red sympathies is getting carried away with the progress made so far this season.
It is still an incredibly young side and is nowhere near being the finished article; the recent home losses against Munster, Cardiff and Glasgow underlined the fact that there is still significant room for improvement.
Nevertheless it has been a productive season both on and off the pitch with Edinburgh’s average attendance growing significantly since the start of the campaign and news that crowd favourite Chris Paterson will return to the side next season.
That growth has been supplemented with some exciting new initiatives – the Kids 4 Free (four children under the age of 18 gained free admission to the Connacht match when accompanied by a paying adult) followed by pre-purchase an Adult ticket to get £5 off admission for the Leinster home match on 18 April.
With the new season ticket details in the process of being sent out, there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the future of Edinburgh Rugby Club.
On the international front, eleven Warriors were called up to the Scotland squad by head coach Frank Hadden, ahead of the 2008 RBS 6 Nations campaign.
Following his appointment in early October, Robinson has already made his mark on the overall direction of Edinburgh’s playing staff with the emphasis on employing an exciting brand of offloading rugby.
Former Royal High student Ben Cairns has seized his chance in midfield and his burgeoning reputation as a future Scotland star is merited by his performances over the course of the season - resulting in a recent call-up to the touring squad to Argentina.