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Scotland international duo return for Edinburgh

(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Scotland internationals Nick Haining and Mark Bennett both return to the starting line-up as Edinburgh Rugby travel to face Scarlets at Parc y Scarlets in Round 4 of the Guinness PRO14 this Sunday.

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The Scotland duo are named at No.8 and outside centre respectively as Head Coach Richard Cockerill makes five changes to the side that slipped to defeat against Connacht last weekend.

Henry Pyrgos – who skippers the side – gets the nod at scrum-half, while tighthead prop Murray McCallum make his first start of the season after featuring from the bench six days ago.

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Simon Easterby talks to the media ahead of Super Saturday:

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Simon Easterby talks to the media ahead of Super Saturday:

George Taylor starts on the wing with Fijian international Eroni Sau unavailable for selection due to the birth of his child.

Elsewhere, new signing Andries Ferreira is named among the replacements with the South African lock set to make his Edinburgh Rugby debut if called upon.

Ahead of the fixture, Head Coach Richard Cockerill, said:

“We were obviously disappointed with last weekend’s result, but we’re moving in the right direction and the squad have continued to work hard this week.

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“We’ve got quite a few young guys that are still getting used to this level of rugby, but we’re excited to travel to Wales and take on Scarlets in what is always a tough match-up.

“We’ve got a good record at Parc y Scarlets during my time with the club. We know that we’ll have to play the conditions right and match them from the get-go if we are to come away with a positive result.

The back-three sees Jack Blain continue at fullback after making his first professional start last weekend, with Taylor and Jamie Farndale named on opposite flanks.

Outside centre Bennett returns to action to partner Chris Dean in midfield, while Pyrgos – who makes his first start of the season – links up with Jaco van der Walt at half-back.

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Hooker Mike Willemse – twice a try-scorer in last weekend’s defeat to Connacht – packs down alongside prop pairing Pierre Schoeman and McCallum in the front-row, with Scottish locks Andrew Davidson and Lewis Carmichael completing the tight-five.

The inclusion of Haining at No.8 is the only alteration to an otherwise unchanged back-row as Magnus Bradbury and Ally Miller start at blindside and openside flanker respectively.

15. Jack Blain (2)
14. George Taylor (26)
13. Mark Bennett (40)
12. Chris Dean (94)
11. Jamie Farndale (9)
10. Jaco van der Walt (61)
9. Henry Pyrgos (36) CAPTAIN
1. Pierre Schoeman (47)
2. Mike Willemse (24)
3. Murray McCallum (57)
4. Lewis Carmichael (46)
5. Andrew Davidson (6)
6. Magnus Bradbury (80)
7. Ally Miller (15)
8. Nick Haining (16)

Replacements: 16. David Cherry (24) 17. Jamie Bhatti (14) 18. WP Nel (145) 19. Andries Ferreira* 20. Connor Boyle (1) 21. Charlie Shiel (21) 22. Nathan Chamberlain (3) 23. James Johnstone (52)

Unavailable due to injury: Luke Crosbie, Matt Gordon, Viliame Mata, Grant Gilchrist, Damien Hoyland, Fraser McKenzie

Unavailable due to international selection: Simon Berghan, Stuart McInally, Jamie Ritchie, Rory Sutherland, Ben Toolis, Hamish Watson, Darcy Graham, Blair Kinghorn, Duhan van der Merwe, Mesulame Kunavula

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Bull Shark 2 hours ago
Rassie Erasmus' Boks selection policy is becoming bizarre

To be fair, the only thing that drives engagement on this site is over the top critiques of Southern Hemisphere teams.


Or articles about people on podcasts criticizing southern hemisphere teams.


Articles regarding the Northern Hemisphere tend to be more positive than critical. I guess to also rile up kiwis and Saffers who seem to be the majority of followers in the comments section. There seems to be a whole department dedicated to Ireland’s world ranking news.


Despite being dialled into the Northern edition - I know sweet fokall about what’s going on in France.


And even less than fokall about what’s cutting in Japan - which has a fast growing, increasingly premium League competition emerging.


And let’s not talk about the pacific. Do they even play rugby Down there.


Oh and the Americas. I’ve read more articles about a young, stargazing Welshman’s foray into NFL than I have anything related to either the north and south continents of the Americas.


I will give credit that the women’s game is getting decent airtime. But for the rest and the above; it’s just pathetic coming from a World Rugby website.


Just consider the innovation emerging in Japan with the pedigree of coaches over there.


There’s so much good we could be reading.


Instead it’s unimaginative “critical for the sake of feigning controversial”. Which is lazy, because in order to pull that off all you need to be really good at is:


1. Being a doos;

2. Having an opinion.


No prior experience needed.


Which is not journalism. That’s like all or most of us in the comments section. People like Finn (who I believe is a RP contributor).


Anyway. Hopefully it will get better. The game is growing and the interest in the game is growing. Maybe it will attract more qualified journalists over time.

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