Edinburgh welcome back two players from Calcutta Cup win for Ospreys
Mark Bennett will make his 100th appearance for Edinburgh against Ospreys in the BKT United Rugby Championship at Hive Stadium on Friday night.
Head coach Sean Everitt has handed the 31-year-old former Glasgow Warriors centre the start which will make him the club’s 41st player to reach the century landmark, as one of four changes made to the starting XV that claimed a win against Zebre Parma a fortnight ago.
Scrum-half Ben Vellacott – who captains the team – starts in place of Ali Price, with the British and Irish Lion selected among the replacements.
Scotland lock Sam Skinner gets the nod in the second row ahead of Marshall Sykes – also named on the bench – as Tom Dodd comes into the back row for Jamie Ritchie.
Everitt said: “We’re excited to be back home at Hive Stadium for what is a hugely important fixture for the club.
“With the log so tight and teams around us playing each other this weekend, a win is imperative in maintaining our push for a top-eight finish.
“Ospreys are playing with no fear, and they’ll travel north with plenty of confidence, but we’re at home where we love to play under the lights.
“It’s Friday night and the Edinburgh supporters will be out in full force – it’s set to be a brilliant occasion.
“We’re delighted to see Mark make his 100th appearance for the club. He’s been a brilliant servant to Edinburgh Rugby and thoroughly deserves a start on a special night for him personally.”
An unchanged back-three sees Argentina star Emiliano Boffelli continue at full-back alongside wingers Chris Dean and Harry Paterson.
Centres Bennett, who joined Edinburgh in 2017, and Matt Currie link up in the midfield with Vellacott and stand-off Ben Healy named at half-back.
Hooker Dave Cherry once again packs down alongside props Boan Venter and WP Nel, as Scotland locks Glen Young and Skinner complete the tight-five.
Fijian number eight Viliame Mata anchors a back-row featuring Dodd and British and Irish Lion Hamish Watson.
The capital club are further boosted by the return to fitness of back-row Ben Muncaster and wing Wes Goosen, who are both named among the replacements.
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What’s new its a common occurrence, just the journos out there expecting a negative spin. The outcome will be beneficial to jordie and Leinster. The home grown lads hav got some experience to step up to and be more competitive, that or spend the 6 months keeping the bench warm.
Go to commentsI’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
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