Edinburgh Recalls Key Scotland Internationals for Bayonne Challenge Cup Fixture

Edinburgh’s head coach, Sean Everitt, has reinstated eight Scotland international players to the squad for Friday’s home Challenge Cup fixture against Bayonne. Wingers Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham are both set to start for Edinburgh. Everitt had previously rested several key players for their initial European match, which resulted in a 15-10 loss to Gloucester at Kingsholm. Pierre Schoeman and Ewan Ashman return to the front row, with Grant Gilchrist, Luke Crosbie, and Jamie Ritchie also rejoining the forward pack. Ali Price will take over from Charlie Shiel at scrum-half. Duhan van der Merwe, who finalized a new contract with Edinburgh earlier this week, is listed in the back three alongside his Scotland teammate Darcy Graham. Everitt stated, “It’s great to welcome back some of our internationals for tomorrow night’s match. Winning at home in these knockout competitions is vitally important, so having those guys back is incredibly important.” He further added, “We know that Bayonne can be a dangerous team; they played some great rugby against us last season and beat Scarlets last week, so they’ll come to Hive Stadium with confidence.” The Edinburgh squad for the match is as follows: Goosen, Graham, Currie, Tuipulotu, Van der Merwe, Thompson, Price, Schoeman, Ashman, Hill, Sykes, Gilchrist (c), Ritchie, Crosbie, Bradbury. Replacements include Cherry, Venter, Sebastian, Skinner, Dodd, Shiel, Healy, Lang.