Edinburgh welcome back Scotland trio for Leinster trip

Magnus Bradbury will captain Edinburgh against Leinster in Dublin this Saturday, having been released from Scotland’s Six Nations training camp.

Back-row colleague Freddy Douglas and wing Duhan van der Merwe have also been sent back to their club to get more game time before the Six Nations starts next week.

Darcy Graham, van der Merwe’s rival for the all-time Scotland try-scoring record, has, however, remained with Scotland.

Nine places and 17 points separate third-placed Leinster from Edinburgh in 12th, and Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt is under no illusions about the size of the task.

“Going away to Leinster is one of the toughest tests in the URC, but it’s a challenge we’re ready to embrace – we’re going over there to have a real crack at it,” he said.

“We know exactly what we are capable of when we put it all together. The key for us this week is consistency; we need a complete 80-minute performance to get the result we want.”

Up top, loose-head prop Boan Venter will move to within one game of reaching a century of Edinburgh appearances when he packs down for the 99th time.

Venter is joined in the front row by Jerry Blyth-Lafferty at hooker and ex-England prop Paul Hill at tight-head.

The engine room houses locks Callum Hunter-Hill and Glen Young, while Ben Muncaster joins fellow flanker Douglas and No.8 Bradbury at the back of the pack.

Ben Vllecott and Ross Thompson make up the half-back pairing, James Lang and Wes Goosen line up outside of them in midfield, and the back-three consists of Malelili Satala on one wing and van der Merwe on the other, with Harry Paterson named at full-back.

Edinburgh Rugby: Harry Paterson, Malelili Satala, Wes Goosen, James Lang, Duhan van der Merwe, Ross Thompson, Ben Vellacott; Boan Venter, Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, Paul Hill, Callum Hunter-Hill, Glen Young, Ben Muncaster, Freddy Douglas, Magnus Bradbury (CAPT)
Replacements: Harri Morris, Mikey Jones, Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, Tom Dodd, Connor Boyle, Charlie Shiel, Cammy Scott, Piers O’Conor