BLAIR KINGHORN has been released by Scotland to line-up at stand-off for Edinburgh in tomorrow [Friday] night’s United Rugby Championship clash against Connacht at the DAM Health Stadium,
James Lang playing at outside-centre and scrum-half Ben Vellacott who has been named on the bench have also been released by Scotland for this match.
Head coach Mike Blair has made six personnel and one positional change to his starting XV from the side he sent out against Connacht a fortnight ago, with inside-centre Chris Dean and scrum-half Henry Pyrgos being added to the backline, while hooker Dave Cherry (making his 50th appearance for the club), tight-head prop Angus Williams, second-row Pierce Phillips and Fijian international No 8 Mesulame Kunavula come into the pack.
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Meanwhile, 20-year-old second-row Jamie Campbell and 18-year-old back-row Rudi Brown are set for debuts off the bench.
“We’ve had three difficult away games on the bounce, so we can’t wait to be back playing in front of our own fans at DAM Health Stadium,” said Blair.
“It’s a Friday night, a good crowd is expected and I know our guys will be fired up to pull on the jersey and represent this club and city.
“During this period, we’ve seen a lot of young players step up and we’ll need the same again on Friday night. We want the crowd to get right behind us and we want them to appreciate some of the young talented players coming through, who give their all to the jersey every time they step on the pitch.”
Edinburgh (v Connacht at the DAM Health Stadium, Friday @ 7.35pm): H Immelman; R Moyano, J Lang, C Dean, E Boffelli; B Kinghorn (vice-captain), H Pyrgos (captain); B Venter, D Cherry (vice-captain), A Williams, P Phillips, G Young, B Muncaster, C Boyle, M Kunavula. Substitutes: A McBurney, H Courtney, L Atalifo, J Campbell, R Brown, B Vellacott, J van der Walt, M Currie.
Unavailable due to injury: Luan de Bruin, Luke Crosbie, Nick Haining, Damien Hoyland, James Johnstone, Viliame Mata, Jamie Ritchie, Marshall Sykes, Ben Toolis
International selection: Mark Bennett, Magnus Bradbury, Darcy Graham, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Hodgson, Stuart McInally, WP Nel, Pierre Schoeman, Hamish Watson