Edinburgh halfback Nic Groom has retained his sense of humour despite mistaking a passing train’s horn blast for the halftime hooter in a PRO 14 rugby derby.
Groom – a South African who once played Super Rugby – booted the ball out of bounds with 30 seconds remaining in the first half of Edinburgh’s 23-22 defeat to Glasgow Warriors at Glasgow’s Scotstoun Stadium on Saturday (Sunday NZ time).
“He thought that the train’s horn was the half-time horn, which he’s used to from the southern hemisphere even though he’s been here a couple of years,” Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill said.
His Glasgow counterpart Danny Wilson quipped: “I dropped the train driver a WhatsApp and told him to make sure he smashes that horn when he drives past!”
Groom added some banter of his own with a social media post, asking: Hey @ScotRail, how do I reach your complaints department?
Edinburgh were 10-6 ahead with the potential to add to their tally when Groom kicked the ball into touch.
But Glasgow profited from the auditory error, kicking a penalty goal in the 41st minute to cut the halftime deficit to 10-9.
“It was a bit frustrating, because we had managed a good score and were looking to go in further ahead at half-time, but we give them free territory for no reason and end up being punished. We conceded three points and lost by one,” Cockerill said in the Scotsman.
“It’s not Groomy’s fault, but it’s those tiny moments, and there were lots of them in the first 20 minutes after half-time as well, where we didn’t look after the ball well enough and didn’t do the basics well enough.”
Groom 30, joined Edinburgh from the Lions Super Rugby team in 2019.
Edinburgh lost despite outscoring Glasgow by three tries to two.
Former Fiji test wing Eroni Sau scored a late try for Edinburgh, but Jaco van der Walt missed the conversion which would have given Cockerill’s side victory.
