Edinburgh v Dragons

Edinburgh Rugby welcome back several Scotland internationalists to their squad for tomorrow night’s Guinness PRO14 match against Dragons at BT Murrayfield (Friday 8 November, kick-off 7.35pm).

Scotland stars John Barclay and Ben Toolis are both named in the starting XV, while Simon Berghan, Grant Gilchrist and Jamie Ritchie are all selected among the replacements.

Winger Duhan van der Merwe - who grabbed a hat-trick on his last outing – is recalled after missing last weekend’s defeat to Benetton, as stand-off Simon Hickey returns to the starting line-up for the second consecutive home fixture.


Ahead of the match, Head Coach Richard Cockerill, said: “While we were obviously disappointed at the Benetton loss, it works both ways.

“We’re never as bad as we think, but we also certainly weren’t as good as we thought from the Scarlets game the previous week.

“We have had a good review this week and we have made sure there’s no misunderstanding around parts of our game where we need to get better.

“We want a good win tomorrow night and we’re looking forward to being back in front of our home support at BT Murrayfield. With five points, we would be starting to get ourselves into the play-off mix, if not cemented in the mix.”

The inclusion of Van der Merwe on the wing is the only alteration to an otherwise unchanged back-three as Blair Kinghorn and Fijian international Eroni Sau retain their place in the starting line-up.

Outside centre Mark Bennett – who has ran in four tries at BT Murrayfield so far this season – is once again paired with Matt Scott in midfield, while scrum-half Henry Pyrgos links up with Hickey at half-back.

Loosehead prop, Pierre Schoeman, returns to the front-row alongside hooker and compatriot Mike Willemse and Italian international, Pietro Ceccarelli.


Lock, Toolis – who makes his first appearance of the season – packs down alongside Lewis Carmichael in the second row, with a back-row trio of Barclay, Luke Crosbie – a try-scorer against Benetton – and Magnus Bradbury forming the remainder of the pack.



Edinburgh Rugby team to face Dragons at BT Murrayfield in the Guinness PRO14
Friday 8 November (kick-off 7.35pm) – live on Premier Sports




15. Blair Kinghorn (79)



14. Eroni Sau (2)

13. Mark Bennett (25)

12. Matt Scott (86)

11. Duhan van der Merwe (45)

10. Simon Hickey (22)



9. Henry Pyrgos (26) CAPTAIN



1. Pierre Schoeman (28)

2. Mike Willemse (5)

3. Pietro Ceccarelli (15)

4. Lewis Carmichael (36)

5. Ben Toolis (110)

6. John Barclay (5)

7. Luke Crosbie (31)

8. Magnus Bradbury (67)



Replacements: 16. Cameron Fenton (15) 17. Rory Sutherland (75) 18. Simon Berghan (67) 19. Grant Gilchrist (137) 20. Jamie Ritchie. (62) 21 Charlie Shiel (10) 22. Jaco van der Walt (44) 23. George Taylor (9)

Unavailable due to injury: David Cherry, Murray Douglas, Fraser McKenzie, Nick Haining, Darcy Graham, Darryl Marfo, Hamish Watson, Chris Dean, Ruan Steenkamp, Nic Groom




Dragons (v Edinburgh Rugby): Jordan Williams, Owen Jenkins, Adam Warren, Jack Dixon, Ashton Hewitt, Sam Davies, Rhodri Williams (c); Brok Harris, Richard Hibbard, Leon Brown, Joe Davies, Matthew Screech, Huw Taylor, Taine Basham, Harrison Keddie

Replacements: Ellis Shipp, Josh Reynolds, Lloyd Fairbrother, Max Williams, James Benjamin, Luke Baldwin, Arwel Robson, Tyler Morgan

More rotation from Cockers - this time enforced by injury mainly. It looks like VDW and Hickey are getting game about just now which isn't great for consistency.

Hoping for a similar performance to what we saw against Scarlets - a winning BP is got to be on the agenda, although Dragons will be stubborn as always.

VDM being back on the wing makes us significantly more threatening.

50 nil to Edinburgh

Centre Adam Warren will make his 100th appearance for Dragons as the Men of Gwent face Edinburgh Rugby in the Guinness PRO14 at BT Murrayfield on Friday evening (kick-off 7.35pm).

Warren - who made his regional debut for Dragons in September 2015 - will become a centurion when he runs out for the league encounter in the Scottish capital.

Dragons make one change for the Round 6 away fixture as Director of Dragons Rugby, Dean Ryan, recalls centre Jack Dixon to partner Warren in midfield.

And Ryan is aware of the size of the challenge his side will face against Richard Cockerill’s Edinburgh, who are set to be boosted by the return of several Scotland internationals.

“Edinburgh are a very good side. I know Richard (Cockerill) well and he has done a great job coming into the Guinness PRO14 and bringing some of his experiences,” said Ryan.

“They are a powerful, well-organised, good field position side.

“Edinburgh were contenders in the Champions Cup last year and are starting to make a mark in the PRO14. It will be a challenge for us, but we are in a good space.

“Friday will be a test of us physically, because having spent years coaching against Richard, I know that Edinburgh will come with a power and field-position game and will wait for us to do something silly. We’ve got to work hard to be robust enough to stand up to that."

On Warren’s memorable milestone, Ryan added: “Adam is quiet and you could come into the place and miss him, until you see him play. “He doesn’t get much wrong and that’s how you get to play 100 games.

“Adam is one of those players who you have got to watch the footage to understand how well he plays.

“You could easily pay your money and not really understand that because he might not have flashy moments or things that are glaringly obvious.

“But when you watch the footage and the amount of things that he gets right, and how he covers other people, that’s testimony to the person he is and he is a great character.”

Dragons (v Edinburgh Rugby): Jordan Williams, Owen Jenkins, Adam Warren, Jack Dixon, Ashton Hewitt, Sam Davies, Rhodri Williams (c); Brok Harris, Richard Hibbard, Leon Brown, Joe Davies, Matthew Screech, Huw Taylor, Taine Basham, Harrison Keddie

Replacements: Ellis Shipp, Josh Reynolds, Lloyd Fairbrother, Max Williams, James Benjamin, Luke Baldwin, Arwel Robson, Tyler Morgan

Looks like Bhatti has paid for his brain fart as well!

BigGee wrote:Looks like Bhatti has paid for his brain fart as well!

Which is good - players have got to be held accountable.

Last season the starting XV could basically do whatever they want and Cockers wouldn't drop them.

Embra will be pretty comfortable here. Probably similar to Leinster last time out.

We really need Griffiths fit ASAP, as although Basham is playing well, having Griffiths playing always makes me feel like we have half a chance.

Good thread RDW.

Strong looking team for Edinburgh. I know I bang on about this probably too much, but I am really happy to see Sutherland on the bench. He needs to show his pre-injury form again. If he does then he's a real contender for first choice LH, if he doesn't then time is running out for him.

EWT Spoons wrote:Good thread RDW.

Strong looking team for Edinburgh.  I know I bang on about this probably too much, but I am really happy to see Sutherland on the bench.  He needs to show his pre-injury form again.  If he does then he's a real contender for first choice LH, if he doesn't then time is running out for him.

My copy and pasting took a lot of effort!

RiscaGame wrote:Embra will be pretty comfortable here. Probably similar to Leinster last time out.

We really need Griffiths fit ASAP, as although Basham is playing well, having Griffiths playing always makes me feel like we have half a chance.

I'll be much more confident (or much less pessimistic) if it's dry tomorrow. There's a lot of football in this side. But if it's wet, as Dean Ryan said, Edinburgh will play territory and wait for us to force things.

We'll still lose even if it's dry, but at least we'll score tries and make a game of it.

Due to be dry in Edinburgh on Fri, which suits our game if we try the new (slightly more) expansive style we played against Scarlets. However, we may revert back to the box kicking nightmare from last season if Cockers got spooked from the Benetton game.

I really hope we don't go back to that

Ah well, if it is dry and Edinburgh like to attack as well, it could be an entertaining watch.

Nice home win would be a great way to start eh weekend! Hope lessons have been learned, Dragons aren't pushovers like previous seasons they have a bit of edge.

Looks like it is cold and dry in Edinburgh tonight. Lets hope with Hickey at FH, we see the ball get a bit of time in the hands (despite it being cold) tonight!

Decent start from the Dragons

That all came because Edinburgh did not clear it properly in the first instance!

Why mess about like that in their own 22, it is bonkers and lucky that the Drags missed!

Great turnover Crosbie

Great turnover from Crosbie

Great minds think alike!

Garbage ref like every weekend.

Harsh penalty from Dragons - you never see penalties given from tackles that turn into mauls.

Technically correct probably!

That was a harsh call, they should have let that go, it was moving

He got that one wrong too. Telling Edinburgh to use it and I thought that they did?

You also never see the ref give a scrum because the team is called use it and don't pass it!

Clancy at his pernickety best.

Lovely from Kinghorn.

Nice to see our backs converting opportunities!

Great try from Blairhorn, he is very hard to stop once he gets moving!

Will give him a lot of confidence hopefully - it's been a while

Was about to say Crosbie has had a really strong start but that was a clear side entry.

VDM's defence has actually been pretty good for once!

Decent hits from VDM.

The Clownshoes lottery continues however....

Clancy trying to set a world record for number of penalties tonight! Can see there being cards.

Sam Davies misses an other one. Could have been quite close if he had nailed the two kicks

Dragons have actually played well - just lacking the cutting edge.

We need to get out of our half.

Dragons coaches will be pulling their hair out about mistakes in attack killing off good possession!

JB still knows how to sniff out a turnover!

We really fancy ourselves in attack. No 3 pointers tonight!

Miles forward!

Accuracy just not quite there for Edinburgh either

The Clancy show, with some rugby on the side....

I hope the TV mics caught the guy heckling Hibbard, screaming "dye your roots fat Robbie Savage"....

Worth saying the Edinburgh defence has been excellent and has been forcing these mistakes

Another great turnover, Willemse this time

Take the points this time

No, they go for the scrum

Willemse has made a promising start to his Edinburgh career. Useful.

We really need a 2nd before HT

Cockers will be going through them regardless I reckon

Got to be a card now surely

Edinburgh finally go for the points

Cynical play has been rewarded. Dragons will be pleased.

Not the right decision to go for goal - the ref was surely thinking a yellow for next penalty. That's all wasted now and back to square one in the ref's mind no doubt.

Strange call.