IT WAS a low-key ending to a five-year reign that often hit the heights, and a low-energy performance from a Glasgow Warriors team that, at its best under Gregor Townsend, has become a byword for dynamic attack.

The head coach himself would never have wanted an over-the-top celebration as a way of thanking him for his time in charge of the team, but it would have been fitting had his players shown a bit more of the many virtues they have often displayed under his tutelage. Instead, it was Edinburgh who played the better rugby, above all in defence - which was a touch ironic given one of the people they are parting company with is their defence coach, Peter Wilkins.

The 27-18 victory for the visitors was not enough to give them the 1872 Cup for a third successive year - Glasgow took the trophy on a 43-41 aggregate - but it did show that, when they put their minds to it, Edinburgh can play far better than they have done for most of the season. As Townsend accepted, it also demonstrated how Glasgow’s strengths can be nullified.

“We weren’t able to produce the quick ball we always aspire to, and that was a lot to do with what Edinburgh were doing in defence,” Townsend said. “Some of it not legal, and that led to a number of penalties and two yellow cards.

“When you take those opportunities, you’ve got to take them and make the most of the pressure you have. We didn’t do that in the first half.

“I thought it was a great game in terms of commitment. It was a team that really came here and wanted to get stuck in and about Glasgow. They defended very well and their game plan was to compete hard for ball, and they took their chances well too. I’ll be watching the game a couple of times tomorrow, no longer now to work out how we improve here for next week but to see who played well.”

When Townsend watches the game back today, it will be in his new guise as Scotland coach, as he decides on the last few available places in the squad for the summer tour to Singapore, Australia and Fiji. He is giving himself no time for a break, and consequently no time to reflect on what he has achieved with the Warriors. Asked what his over-riding emotion was at the end of those five years, however, he hinted at the satisfaction he will rightly feel with what he has achieved. “Today it’s disappointment, but that’s going to drift away. We’ve got the defeat at the front of our minds, but this whole week has been more about reflection and how we’re going to miss the place as coaches.

“There’s pride throughout everybody at the club about what the club has become, and today’s another example of that. Brilliant atmosphere, excellent supporters and a stadium that looks fit for rugby.

“I’ll love coming back here as a supporter, feeling like I’ve been part of how the club’s grown. And I know I’ll enjoy watching them play because they’re going to carry on playing attacking rugby next year.”

Duncan Hodge, Townsend’s opposite number, will still be around with Edinburgh next season, only in his old role of attack coach as Richard Cockerill comes in to take charge of the team. “Defence was probably the key,” he said when asked about the win. “Defence was outstanding. To stay in the game and come back when we did have use of the ball was excellent.

“It was probably a good thing we played Glasgow this week I think. We just brought a natural energy this week. It was a great game to look forward to, coming through here, it was just a big motivation there.

“The first half gave us a lot of belief. We did a lot of good things, we defended well. And then we got a couple of breaks in the second half early which helped, especially when they had that big wind. The feeling was that they would camp in our half, which they did for a while, but we just kept going, kept defending, so credit to the players, they were outstanding today.”

While Glasgow were disappointed yesterday, and by their failure to get into the PRO12 play-offs, they can at least look back with some contentment on a season in which they qualified for the Champions Cup quarter-finals for the first time. Edinburgh, by contrast - and despite winning their last two games - have little to reflect on other than sustained underachievement.

“There is a tinge of frustration there, because that’s a bit too little too late,” Hodge added. H”ad they had some of that application and performed like that in some of those other games we would have had at least a few more wins, and that breeds confidence. And that’s what we’ve struggled with over the last couple of months. I think you saw it again today. We started well and then we keep going: we didn’t have any of those great spirals where two or three mistakes in a row kill us.”

While Hodge will be around Murrayfield and Myreside next season, Edinburgh will be a distinctly different place under Cockerill. As for Scotstoun, it is hard to imagine what the place will be without Townsend, such has been his impact on the team.