BLAIR Kinghorn is back at stand-off in the Edinburgh team to play Munster at Thomond Park tomorrow night after being released by the Scotland squad. Kinghorn was an unused substitute in the opening Six Nations win over England and saw limited game time off the bench in last week’s loss in Wales, so it has clearly been decided he could do with longer involvement.
Centre Mark Bennett, scrum-half Ben Vellacott and back-row forward Nick Haining have also been cleared to play in the URC game, having had no involvement in the first two Championship matches. Bennett will captain the side as they attempt to halt a slide that has seen them fall from top of the table to fourth place. after losing 26-7 to Leinster last week.
Eight players – Magnus Bradbury, Darcy Graham, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Hodgson, Stuart McInally, Willem Nel, Pierre Schoeman and Hamish Watson – have been retained by Scotland.
Eleven others are listed as unavailable, primarily through injury: Luan de Bruin, Luke Crosbie, Damien Hoyland, Cammy Hutchison, James Johnstone, Bill Mata, Kwagga van Niekerk, Freddie Owsley, Jamie Ritchie, Ben Toolis and Jaco van der Walt.
“It’s great we’re able to welcome back some of our Scotland guys back into the squad,” head coach Mike Blair said. “They bring added strength to a group that did some good things against Leinster last time out.
“While it’s great to have experienced internationalists back involved, this period is also brilliant for our younger players. They can show what they can do and see what it takes to win at this level. This is excellent for their development, while at the same time we are able to put out a team that is capable of winning these games.
“We are expecting a real battle out there. Part of the disappointment of the Leinster game was around our physicality. There is no better place to go than Thomond Park to see if we have learned the lessons from the week before. We can’t wait for the challenge.”
Edinburgh (v Munster at Thomond Park, Friday 7.35pm): H Immelman; R Moyano, M Bennett (captain), J Lang, E Boffelli; B Kinghorn, B Vellacott; B Venter, A McBurney, L Atalifo, M Sykes, G Young, N Haining, C Boyle, B Muncaster. Substitutes: D Cherry, S Grahamslaw, J Armstrong, P Phillips, M Kunavula, H Pyrgos, C Savala, C Dean.
Referee: B Whitehouse (Wales).