Teams confirmed for derby decider
27 Dec 2024Dave Cherry will become Edinburgh Rugby’s 45th centurion tomorrow afternoon, starting against Glasgow Warriors at Scottish Gas Murrayfield for his 100th appearance in capital colours.
The Scotland international hooker will run out in front of over 35,000 fans for his hometown team, marking a special landmark for a player with an intrinsic connection with rugby in the capital.
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Cherry – who takes the place of the injured Ewan Ashman – is one of four changes made to the starting lineup that lost out against Glasgow last week, with the capital side looking to overturn a 19-point deficit in the 1872 Cup.
Everitt names an unchanged back three, with Wes Goosen selected at fullback alongside Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe, the latter of whom fresh from earning his 100th cap.
Mosese Tuipulotu lines up at inside centre for his first start at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, with Matt Currie again at outside centre.
The capital halfback pairing is unchanged, with Ross Thompson (stand-off) and Ali Price (scrum-half) both starting against their former club.
Cherry is joined in the front row by D’Arcy Rae (tighthead) and Boan Venter (loosehead), who bagged a late brace of tries last time out.
Club double centurion Grant Gilchrist starts in the second row with Sam Skinner, the Scotland lock making his first league start of the season.
Ben Muncaster comes into the starting line up at number eight – taking the place of Magnus Bradbury who remains in concussion protocol – joining club centurions Jamie Ritchie and Luke Crosbie to complete the loose forwards.
Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Franco Smith has made two changes to the starting XV.
One of the changes comes in the front-row, as Gregor Hiddleston replaces Johnny Matthews to pack down between Jamie Bhatti and Zander Fagerson up front.
An unchanged second-row sees Scott Cummings and Gregor Brown paired once more in the engine room, the former having provided the assist for Glasgow’s fifth and final try at Hampden Park last time out.
The back-row is similarly unaltered, meaning Ally Miller and Matt Fagerson once again line up either side of Jack Mann, the number eight featuring in a Glasgow Warriors matchday 23 for the fifth successive fixture.
Jamie Dobie is the only change to the back-line that started last Sunday’s clash at Hampden, as the scrum-half – the beneficiary of Cummings’ assist for the fifth try last weekend – starts alongside Tom Jordan in the half-backs.
Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones continue as the centre combination, the latter having also touched down for a score in the first leg.
Kyle Steyn captains the side from the wing after returning from injury that saw him make more metres and beat more defenders than any other player last weekend – in addition to scoring a try of his own -, lining up in a back-three rounded out by Sebastian Cancelliere and Kyle Rowe.
Rory Darge returns to action after completing his return to play protocols following a head injury sustained against Toulon, the openside part of a six-two split of forwards and backs amongst the replacements.
Sam Talakai comes into the matchday 23 after missing out at Hampden last weekend, the Australian international joining Rory Sutherland and Grant Stewart as the front-row cover.
Alex Samuel wears the number 19 shirt, whilst Angus Fraser once again offers cover in the back-row for tomorrow’s clash.
The backs are covered by George Horne and Duncan Weir, the former rotating to the bench after starting at Hampden Park last time out.
Edinburgh Rugby Team
1. Boan Venter (76) 2. Dave Cherry (99) 3. D’arcy Rae (14) 4. Sam Skinner (29) 5. Grant Gilchrist (213) CAPTAIN 6. Jamie Ritchie (122) 7. Luke Crosbie (105) 8. Ben Muncaster (37) 9. Ali Price (25) 10. Ross Thompson (10) 11. Duhan van der Merwe (100) 12. Mosese Tuipulotu (9) 13. Matt Currie (48) 14. Darcy Graham (72) 15. Wes Goosen (41)
Replacements
16. Paddy Harrison (20) 17. Pierre Schoeman (123) 18. Javan Sebastian (19) 19. Marshall Sykes (73) 20. Hamish Watson (164) 21. Charlie Shiel (66) 22. Ben Healy (30) 23. James Lang (60)
Glasgow Warriors Team
1 Jamie Bhatti (112) 2 Gregor Hiddleston (18) 3 Zander Fagerson (157) 4 Gregor Brown (27) 5 Scott Cummings (134) 6 Ally Miller (31) 7 Matt Fagerson (120) 8 Jack Mann (5) 9 Jamie Dobie (77) 10 Tom Jordan (59) 11 Kyle Steyn (C) (80) 12 Sione Tuipulotu (63) 13 Huw Jones (76) 14 Sebastian Cancelliere (45) 15 Kyle Rowe (26)
Replacements
16 Grant Stewart (53) 17 Rory Sutherland (7) 18 Sam Talakai (8) 19 Alex Samuel (24) 20 Rory Darge (55) 21 Angus Fraser (16) 22 George Horne (127) 23 Duncan Weir (156)
