Edinburgh team named for semi-final showdown

4 Sep 2020

Scotland lock Grant Gilchrist will make his 150th appearance for Edinburgh in Saturday night’s Guinness PRO14 Semi-Final against Ulster at BT Murrayfield – live on Premier Sports.

The inclusion of Gilchrist is one of eight changes, as Scotland internationals Mark Bennett, Rory Sutherland, Stuart McInally, WP Nel and Ben Toolis all return to the starting XV.

Nic Groom and Jaco van der Walt get the nod at scrum-half and stand-off respectively, while an unchanged back-three sees Blair Kinghorn continue at full-back alongside wing duo Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe.

Chris Dean retains his place in midfield and is paired with 22-times capped centre Bennett.

An all-Scotland front-row sees captain McInally pack down alongside prop duo Sutherland and Nel, while Toolis returns from injury to partner Gilchrist – who becomes only the eighth player in club history to reach 150 appearances – in the second-row.

Fijian international No. 8 Viliame Mata anchors an unaltered back-row that sees flankers Magnus Bradbury and Hamish Watson complete the pack.

Elsewhere, Scotland backrower Jamie Ritchie returns from injury and is named amongst the replacements for Edinburgh’s first-ever Guinness PRO14 Semi-Final appearance.

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Here are the 23 to face @UlsterRugby in tomorrow night's #GuinnessPRO14 Semi-Final – brought to you by @Dentons.#EDIvULS | @PremierSportsTV pic.twitter.com/3IBcDenhHR

— Edinburgh Rugby (@EdinburghRugby) September 4, 2020

Edinburgh Rugby team to face Ulster in the Guinness PRO14 Semi-Final at BT Murrayfield on Saturday 5 September (kick-off 7.35pm) – live on Premier Sports

15. Blair Kinghorn (89)

14. Darcy Graham (31)

13. Mark Bennett (37)

12. Chris Dean (90)

11. Duhan van der Merwe (59)

10. Jaco van der Walt (56)

9. Nic Groom (12)

1. Rory Sutherland (83)

2. Stuart McInally (144) CAPTAIN

3. WP Nel (141)

4. Ben Toolis (119)

5. Grant Gilchrist (149)