by The Feral Goat on Fri Oct 19, 2018 12:43 pm
Head Coach Richard Cockerill has made just one change to his Edinburgh side as they face three-times Heineken Cup Champions, RC Toulon, at BT Murrayfield tomorrow afternoon (Saturday 20 October, kick-off 3.15pm).
Jaco van der Walt starts at stand-off in the place of Simon Hickey – who drops to the bench – as Edinburgh host their first Heineken Champions Cup fixture since January 2014.
There are two alterations to the bench as Fosroc Scottish Rugby Academy graduate, Luke Crosbie, joins scrum-half Nathan Fowles among the replacements.
Ahead of the fixture, Head Coach Richard Cockerill issued a rallying cry for the city to get behind its club as they face-off against one European rugby’s most star-studded sides.
“A bumper crowd would definitely give us an edge,” said Cockerill. “We’re bringing the three-times European Champions to BT Murrayfield to play Edinburgh.
“It is, to a point, new territory for us in recent history, so I’d love the supporters to come along and get behind their city and support us.
"We’re going to try our best. We’ve always said we’re a side that’s developing, but we’re learning our lessons quickly.
"As I’ve always said, we’re going to try and win every time we play. We didn’t last weekend, but we gave Montpellier one hell of a PaulHoniss.
“The next step is to start picking off these big teams and we’re going to try and that against Toulon this Saturday.”
An unchanged back-three sees fullback Blair Kinghorn named alongside wingers Dougie Fife – a try-scorer in last weekend’s Heineken Champions Cup opener in Montpellier – and Darcy Graham.
In the midfield, Matt Scott – fresh off being named in the Scotland squad for the 2018 Autumn Tests – is partnered by James Johnstone. Henry Pyrgos is selected at scrum-half alongside Van der Walt, who makes only his third start of the season after facing Connacht and Leinster earlier in the season.
An all Scotland tight-five sees hooker and captain Stuart McInally pack down alongside WP Nel and Allan Dell in the front-row, whilst Ben Toolis and Grant Gilchrist continue their partnership in the second-row.
After another all-action performance against Montpellier, Fijian star Bill Mata starts at number eight, with Scotland internationalists Hamish Watson and Magnus Bradbury completing the back-row.
Edinburgh team to face RC Toulon at BT Murrayfield in the Heineken Champions Cup on Saturday 20 October, kick-off 3.15pm – live on BT Sport.
15. Blair Kinghorn (70)
14. Darcy Graham (8)
13. James Johnstone (24)
12. Matt Scott (79)
11. Dougie Fife (113)
10. Jaco van der Walt (21)
9. Henry Pyrgos (6)
1. Allan Dell (50)
2. Stuart McInally (126) CAPTAIN
3. WP Nel (121)
4. Ben Toolis (95)
5. Grant Gilchrist (126)
6. Magnus Bradbury (58)
7. Hamish Watson (87)
8. Bill Mata (42)
Replacements: 16. Ross Ford (184); 17. Rory Sutherland (66); 18. Simon Berghan (54); 19. Luke Crosbie (14); 20. Jamie Ritchie (55); 21. Nathan Fowles (60); 22. Simon Hickey (6); 23. Chris Dean (70)