Edinburgh v Dragons

First topic message reminder :

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

Clancy. Still a bam.

The pro 14 need to get the refs sorted

The standard of play from both teams doesn’t help mind.

Dragons defence has been excellent combined with our accuracy and composure being woeful.

That last period of play summing up the match!

Well Edinburgh win but will be disappointed not to get the BP

That is partly down to their own mistakes, of which there were many but also due to the resilience of the Dragons, who look an altogether much tougher team to play than they have done over the past few years. They definitely seem to be making some progress and credit to them.

Matt Scott played well and was a worthy MoM

Sheil definitely upped the tempo when he came on and you do wonder when Cockers might give him a start, maybe during the euro ties, Edinburgh crying out for a SH who can put some pace on the game.

Yes, Scott was the best from us. Pyrgos needs a rocket up the proverbial! Shiel just looks sharper.