URC: Edinburgh v Dragons: big guns back for must-win clash
03/27/2025 08:00 AM
EDINBURGH head coach Sean Everitt has called all six of his core Scotland internationals – who missed the team’s away loss to Benetton last time out because they were on a post-Six Nations rest week – back into his match-day squad for tomorrow [Friday] night’s must-win URC round 14 home clash against bottom of the table Dragons, who have won only a solitary league match this season against Ospreys back in September.
The recall of Pierre Schoeman (loose-head prop), Grant Gilchrist(second-row), Jamie Ritchie (blindside-flanker) and wingers Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham to the starting XV, plus Dave Cherry (hooker) on the bench, is an indication of just how important this match is for the capital side as the jockeying for play-off/Champions Cup qualification intensifies.
Boan Venter and Ross McCann drop to the bench, while fringe Scotland squad members Sam Skinner and Ben Muncaster are given the weekend off.
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Meanwhile, Matt Currie moves in from the wing to his preferred position of outside-centre to accomodate the absence of Mosese Tuipulotu, who has been suspended for three matches, reduced to two upon completion of a World Rugby Coaching Intervention Programme, following his red-carding against Benetton.
Along with this match, Tuipulotu also will sit out next Friday night’s EPCR Challenge Cup clash against the Dragons at Hive Stadium. The third game he’ll miss if he doesn’t complete ‘tackle school’ will be either Edinburgh’s Challenge Cup quarter-final on 11th/12th April if they make it that far or the home URC match against the Sharks on 18th April.
Elsewhere, Patrick Harrison shifts up from the bench to starting hooker with Ewan Ashman – who played off the bench for Scotland throughout the Six Nations – given the weekend off, while Darcy Rae starts at tight-head prop in place of Paul Hill, who has a neck injury.
"Dragons are a dangerous side, they win a lot of turnovers and can be really efficient and hurt you in the 22,” said Everitt. “They gave Ulster a hard time on Saturday, so it's not a team we can take lightly.
"Every game in the URC has been tight in the last couple of months, so we have to focus on ourselves and make sure we can execute as accurately as we can."
Edinburgh Rugby (versus Dragons @ Hive Stadium on Friday, kick-off 7.35pm – live on Premier Sports): W Goosen; D Graham, M Currie, J Lang, D van der Merwe; R Thompson, B Vellacott co-©; P Schoeman, P Harrison, D Rae, M Sykes, G Gilchrist, J Ritchie, H Watson, M Bradbury. Subs: D Cherry, B Venter, J Sebastian, G Young, F Douglas, A Price, C Scott, R McCann.
Unavailable: Mark Bennett (quad), Emiliano Boffellli (hamstring), Connor Boyle (knee), Luke Crosbie (pec), Tom Dodd (shoulder), Ben Healy (knee), Paul Hill (neck), Jamie Hodgson (tricep), Ben Muncaster (concussion), Harry Paterson (hamstring), Matt Scott (neck), Mosese Tuipulotu (suspended), Lewis Wells (ankle).
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