Fijian international set to make Edinburgh debut as Cockerill tests squad depth
Fijian international prop Lee-Roy Atalifo makes his Edinburgh Rugby debut as the capital club host Cardiff Blues at Murrayfield this Monday. The inclusion of the 13-times capped Fijian tighthead is one of seven changes made by Head Coach Richard Cockerill following last weekend’s road win against Conference B rivals Scarlets.
With 23 first team players unavailable due to injury or international selection, Head Coach Richard Cockerill once again gives youth an opportunity, with seven academy or first-year pro players named in the matchday 23.
Winger Eroni Sau returns to the starting XV after missing last weekend’s match due to the birth of his child, while Nathan Chamberlain starts at stand-off with Jaco van der Walt unavailable for selection having this week returned to South Africa to get married.
David Cherry gets the nod at hooker following last week’s impressive performance from the bench at Parc y Scarlets that saw him named in the Guinness PRO14 Team of the Week.
Further changes to the pack see lock Andries Ferreira makes his first start for the club and paired with Jamie Hodgson in the second-row – as Lewis Carmichael and Andrew Davidson miss out through injury – while Luke Crosbie is once again fit and named at openside flanker.
Ahead of the fixture, Head Coach Richard Cockerill, said: “We were happy with a gritty and hard-earned win against Scarlets and the boys have backed it up with a tough week of training.
“Winning gives you confidence. Winning’s a habit, and we’re happy that we’ve broken the losing streak we were in and we can continue to develop as a squad as we prepare to face a really strong Cardiff outfit.
“They’re a good side, not missing a huge amount of players to Wales, so it will be a real test for us on Monday night.
“We obviously have a large number of players unavailable due to injury or on international duty, but that gives an opportunity to younger guys that will be keen to make an impact from the get-go.”
The return of Sau on the wing is the only alteration to an otherwise unchanged back-three as Jamie Farndale and Jack Blain keep their place in the starting line-up.
Centres Chris Dean and Mark Bennett once again link-up in midfield, while stand-off Chamberlain – who makes just his fourth appearance for the capital club – and skipper Henry Pyrgos are named at half-back.
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A reshuffled front-row sees hooker Cherry pack down alongside props Pierre Schoeman and Atalifo, with locks Ferreira – a debutant last weekend – and Hodgson completing the tight-five.
Crosbie starts at openside flanker after missing out on the last three rounds of action through injury, with Ally Miller – who switches to No. 8 – and Magnus Bradbury forming the remainder of the pack.
Elsewhere, young prop pairing Sam Grahamslaw and Dan Gamble are named among the replacements and will make their Edinburgh Rugby debuts if called upon.
Edinburgh Rugby team to face Cardiff Blues
15. Jack Blain (3)
14. Eroni Sau (12)
13. Mark Bennett (41)
12. Chris Dean (95)
11. Jamie Farndale (10)
10. Nathan Chamberlain (3)
9. Henry Pyrgos (37) CAPTAIN
1. Pierre Schoeman (48)
2. David Cherry (25)
3. Lee-Roy Atalifo*
4. Andries Ferreira (1)
5. Jamie Hodgson (9)
6. Magnus Bradbury (81)
7. Luke Crosbie (42)
8. Ally Miller (16)
Replacements: 16. Mike Willemse (25) 17. Sam Grahamslaw* 18. Dan Gamble* 19. Marshall Sykes (1) 20. Connor Boyle (1) 21. Nic Groom (15) 22. Charlie Shiel (22) 23. James Johnstone (53)
Unavailable due to injury: Andrew Davidson, Matt Gordon, Lewis Carmichael, Viliame Mata, Grant Gilchrist, Damien Hoyland, Murray McCallum, George Taylor, Fraser McKenzie
Unavailable due to international selection: Simon Berghan, Jamie Bhatti, Nick Haining, Stuart McInally, WP Nel, Jamie Ritchie, Rory Sutherland, Ben Toolis, Hamish Watson, Darcy Graham, Blair Kinghorn, Duhan van der Merwe, Mesulame Kunavula
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments