Scotland stars return to boost Edinburgh

Richard Cockerill hopes the return of his Scotland stars can help Edinburgh weather a storm against Scarlets on Saturday.

WP Nel, Grant Gilchrist, Nick Haining, Luke Crosbie, Henry Pyrgos and Matt Scott have all been released by Gregor Townsend for club action this weekend and go straight into the capital outfit’s starting XV.

The game at the Parc y Scarlets is set to be played out amid wild conditions as Storm Denis batters Britain but Cockerill is confident his men will not be blown away in Wales.

He said: “We’ve been back in training for two weeks preparing for Scarlets and this next block of fixtures – it’s a big few weeks.

“We’ve got a few guys back from Scotland camp with it being fallow week, so we travel south with a good bit of experience.

“We face tricky weather conditions on Saturday however, so it’s going to be a battle no matter what.

“These games are pivotal for us and it starts with Scarlets in Llanelli this Saturday. They are a quality team with plenty of internationalists and they have a great home record as well, so we know how tough a test we face.”