EDINBURGH will be boosted by the return of nine internationalists for tonight’s away clash against the Scarlets, but will be missing the only player in their squad to have played a major role in Scotland’s recent Six Nations campaign.
Hamish Watson is not in the match-day 22 because he is recovering from a couple minor knocks picked up during an outstanding campaign on the open-side flank for the national team.
Acting head coach Duncan Hodge has challenged props Allan Dell and Simon Berghan in particular to demonstrate the progress they have made as players since being exposed to the intensity of the Six Nations.
The pair have started only 16 professional matches between them but now bring a wealth of experience through being parachuted into the national set-up as injury cover this season.
“It should definitely help the quality of our team. When you look at their performances and what Scotland have done. They will have learned lessons in the time they’ve been away,” said Hodge.
“We definitely hope that they transfer that on.
"We hope that they show they are Scotland players on Friday night, and with that comes a responsibility – being an internationalist brings an expectation whenever you play.”
The capital outfit has suffered five-match losing streak in the league, but Hodge says the team will draw confidence from the 20-9 victory achieved over tonight’s opposition back in September.
“Obviously they have a lot of talent in the backline, but we marked them well in that game, and that’s been a key theme this week. We’ve been strong up-front against them and we’ll look to take them on there again,” he said.
“They’re fairly consistent in what they’re trying to do and how they want to play, and we’re well aware of that. In the last three games against them have been close and we’ve played well in patches so we can take confidence from those games.”
“This group never stop working and are keen to learn, but it’s about winning games of rugby, and that’s easier said than done. We’re going down to play a good side, but we have nothing to fear. We have a good side with guys back and have to be positive about winning the game,” he added.
The Scarlets also welcome back a large contingent of internationalists with John Barclay – who finished the Six Nations as Scotland captain – named on the bench.
Edinburgh: Blair Kinghorn, Damien Hoyland, Chris Dean, Phil Burleigh, Tom Brown, Duncan Weir, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Allan Dell, Ross Ford (captain), Simon Berghan, Anton Bresler, Ben Toolis, Viliame Mata, Jamie Ritchie, Cornell Du Preez. Replacements: Stuart McInally, Murray McCallum, Kevin Bryce, Grant Gilchrist, Viliami Fihaki, Nathan Fowles, Jason Tovey, Glenn Bryce?
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