Edinburgh Rugby Acting Head Coach Duncan Hodge has made eight changes to his starting side to face Stade Francais in the second of back-to-back European Challenge cup fixture against the Parisian outfit tonight (Thursday) at Stade Jean Bouin (kick-off 8.45pm local).
The majority of changes come in the pack where five players come in to start following Saturday’s round four 28-23 defeat of the French side.
In the front-row Simon Berghan and Ross Ford – who will captain the side – are promoted from the bench to start, while Fraser McKenzie is named in the pack in place of Grant Gilchrist.
Nasi Manu is set to don the number eight shirt while Cornell Du Preez packs down on the blindside flank.
Tom Brown returns from a groin injury to start on the wing in the only change to the back-three, with Chris Dean coming in at inside centre and Jason Tovey given the nod at stand-off.
Acting Head Coach Duncan Hodge said: “ Following Saturday’s clash at BT Murrayfield, we are fully aware of the challenge we face as we head over to Paris to take on Stade [Francais] on their home patch.
“It’ll be tough and physical, but the fight we showed to come back from a 17-point deficit in last week’s affair shows the character this squad possess.
“We’ve made a couple of changes to the side with a number of players meriting selection after impressing off the bench on Saturday, and we’re looking forward to them backing this up again in tomorrow’s game.”
Blair Kinghorn and Damien Hoyland continue in the back-three alongside the incoming Brown, while Michael Allen retains his spot in the outside centre berth partnering Dean in midfield.
Man-of-the-match in Saturday’s victory over Stade Francais, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, joins Tovey to complete the half-back duo.
Alasdair Dickinson is named at loosehead prop with Ford and Berghan at hooker and tighthead prop respectively.
McKenzie is joined by Ben Toolis at lock, and Hamish Watson continues on the openside flank to complete the back-row alongside Du Preez and Manu.
Edinburgh:
15. Blair Kinghorn
14. Damien Hoyland
13. Michael Allen
12. Chris Dean
11. Tom Brown
10. Jason Tovey
9. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
1. Alasdair Dickinson
2. Ross Ford CAPTAIN
3. Simon Berghan
4. Fraser McKenzie
5. Ben Toolis
6. Cornell Du Preez
7. Hamish Watson
8. Nasi Manu
Replacements
16. Neil Cochrane
17. Allan Dell
18. Murray McCallum
19. Lewis Carmichael
20. Viliame Mata
21. Sean Kennedy
22. Duncan Weir
23. Glenn Bryce
Players unavailable due to injury: Anton Bresler (groin), Kevin Bryce (shoulder), John Hardie (ankle), WP Nel (neck), Alex Northam (Achilles), Rory Sutherland (groin)
edinburghrugby
Jonathan Ross at 6 for Stade Francais, Morne Steyn on the bench for them.
11 min – Stade Francais 7/0 Edinburgh, try by Bonfils converted by Plisson, COME ON EDINBURGH!
Bath 0/3 Cardiff after 24 min in another Challenge Cup game
SF 12/3 Edinburgh – another try by SF in 18th minute, not converted, 1 penalty by Jason Tovey for Edinburgh.
Stade Francais running away with it, 4 tries already. SF 26/3 Edinburgh 33rd min
Halftime scores were: Bath 10/3 Cardiff; Stade Francais 26/3 Edinburgh
latest scores: Bath 17/3 Cardiff; SF 26/8 Edinburgh
Cardiff’s George Earle got a red card for “making contact with the eye of an opponent.”
Bath 24/3 Cardiff
Final score: Stade Francais 26/20 Edinburgh, close but no cigar for Edinburgh in the end.
Bath 38/3 Cardiff
Bullscot wrote:
Bath coming back into form?
How did they look Bully?
11 @ Scrumdown:
Hi Scrumdown, they must have done well scoring 5 tries in that match but I didn’t watch so not sure if it was all down to them being good or a bit of Cardiff being poor, they also benefited from playing against 14 for quite a bit with George Earle’s red card. The weekend before they were well beaten in Cardiff but quite a few top players were missing from that, either to injury or resting from playing the internationals. Players that didn’t play in Cardiff but played in the latest match for Bath included the likes of Jonathan Joseph, George Ford, Kahn Fotuali’i, Taulupe Faletua, Francois Louw, David Attwood, Nick Auterac (starting but benched the week before), all good quality players. They are also 3rd in the Premiership only 3 points behind leaders Sarries, have won 8 out of their 10 games so doing alright although have not picked up too many bonus points – only 3.
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