Four Scotland players to tour South Africa with Edinburgh

Mike Blair is relishing Edinburgh’s first trip to South Africa since January 2019 after he named a 32-man squad for the upcoming United Rugby Championship matches away to Cell C Sharks and Emirates Lions..

The group – featuring some members of Scotland’s Six Nations pool – flew to Durban on Monday to prepare for this Saturday’s match against the Sharks and they will then move on to Johannesburg for the following weekend’s clash with the Lions.

Head coach Blair is looking forward to seeing how his team handle the double-header.

“This two-week tour is going to be a brilliant challenge for the club and we’re really excited to face two excellent teams in the Sharks and Lions,” he said.

“Being based in South Africa and getting to grips with challenging conditions and fast tracks, while facing off against different players – many of whom are Springboks – is what makes the URC such a different and fascinating league.

“We’re looking forward to getting out to Durban early this week, with preparations well underway for Saturday’s clash against an in form Sharks side.”

Mark Bennett, Blair Kinghorn, Pierre Schoeman and Hamish Watson all return from Scotland duty but their international colleagues WP Nel, Grant Gilchrist, Darcy Graham and Stuart McInally have been given time off and will not make the trip.

Edinburgh’s 32-man squad to face Sharks and Lions: Lee-Roy Atalifo, Connor Boyle, Magnus Bradbury, Luan de Bruin, Dave Cherry, Harrison Courtney, Patrick Harrison, Jamie Hodgson, Adam McBurney, Ben Muncaster, Pierce Phillips, Pierre Schoeman, Marshall Sykes, Boan Venter, Hamish Watson, Angus Williams, Glen Young, Mark Bennett, Emiliano Boffelli, Matt Currie, Chris Dean, Cammy Hutchison, Henry Immelman, Blair Kinghorn, James Lang, Ramiro Moyano, Freddie Owsley, Henry Pyrgos, Charlie Savala, Charlie Shiel, Jaco van der Walt, Ben Vellacott.