With both Edinburgh and Glasgow signing off their home Magners League programme with wins, the two sides could be set for their best finishes in the competition. It was a rare double whammy at the weekend, both sides winning by two points. In Edinburgh’s case the 15-13 win put Leinster’s title celebrations on hold, leaving the Irish side still needing four points from their final two games.

Both teams finish away from Scotland - Edinburgh with two fixtures in Wales; Glasgow - who scored in injury time to beat Llanelli Scarlets 25-23 - end with a pair of games in Ireland. Edinburgh are threatened not just by Llanelli, the team immediately below them, but by Glasgow and even the Ospreys, who are eight points back but have games in hand.

Edinburgh’s best finish was fifth in Frank Hadden’s last season in charge, before he was promoted to Scotland coach. At the moment they lie one place better and have their fate in their own hands because their remaining fixtures are at the homes of the two Welsh sides who are their greatest threats, Ospreys and Llanelli.

“Everybody is doing their bit to stay focused to the end of the season, we want that top-four finish and there are probably national places up for grabs as well, so we are all chasing them,” Ross Ford, the Edinburgh hooker, said. “We are aiming high, we can still finish the highest that the club have ever achieved.”

Almost as impressive, from Edinburgh’s point of view, was that they managed to attract a crowd of more than 3,500 for a game where no silverware was at stake for the Scottish side, though Leinster, the visitors, could have won the league title with a bonus-point win.

“We got a big travelling support the week before when we played Glasgow and we knew we let them down,” Ford said. “We were determined to put on a show for them, give them something to be proud of when they went away. I think we did that - and that they will all be back next season. We are still a young side but we’ve grown all season.

“Look at the Heineken Cup, we came through strongly at the end, maturing over a very short time, and that bodes well for next season. It was good to get a win in the last home game, and show how we have developed as a team in the league.”

Though Ford came through his comeback game after damaging an ankle in the Calcutta Cup win, and even scored the opening try - though he confessed to “loitering with intent” on the wing - there are a lot of niggling injuries around that must be worrying Hadden.

They were joined by Gavin Kerr, the prop, who picked up a neck problem. It is still too early to know how serious it is but it certainly has the potential to put his place in Scotland’s summer tour at risk. With Craig Smith also struggling with an ankle injury, and Allan Jacobsen still out with a calf problem, resources in that department are stretched. Mike Blair and Jason White both missed the weekend’s action, while there is no sign of the long-term injured, such as the Lamont brothers and Jim Hamilton, returning to action.

It is not just injury that will be worrying Hadden, with many of his key players struggling for starts, including Chris Paterson, who came off the bench to play on the wing for Glouces-ter, while even the likes of Andy Hend-erson, the Glasgow centre, has not been getting regular starts. Of the team that beat England, six did not start for their clubs last weekend through injury or being left on the bench.