Edinburgh to field 14 Scotland players against Stormers

Edinburgh will send out a team featuring 14 Scotland internationals as a raft of big guns are added to the mix for Saturday’s showdown with URC champions Stormers in Cape Town.

Stand-off Blair Kinghorn returns to the starting line-up after recovering from the sickness bug that kept him out of last weekend’s narrow defeat to Bulls in Pretoria.

Scrum-half Ben Vellacott is restored alongside Kinghorn at half-back, while Stuart McInally comes in at hooker and number eight Nick Haining and British and Irish Lion Hamish Watson make their first starts of the season.

Edinburgh lost 28-17 to Stormers in the URC quarter-final in June and head coach Mike Blair is hoping previous experiences in South Africa will stand his team in good stead for this weekend’s match.

“After a really physical match against Bulls, we’ve returned to Cape Town where we’ve had a great week of training, with the squad fully focused for another massive test against last season’s champions,” he said.

“We obviously met Stormers in Cape Town in last year’s quarter-final so we know just how good they are – especially at home – but we’re playing with confidence and our squad will be fired up to improve on last weekend’s performance.

“It’s a huge challenge but one we’re relishing as we take on the champions in their own back yard.”