Edinburgh Rugby have made five changes for tomorrow afternoon’s EPCR Challenge Cup clash against RC Vannes at Stade de la Rabine (Saturday 11 January, kick-off 1pm GMT/2pm local) – live on epcrugby.tv.
Edinburgh Rugby are aiming to keep their place at the top of Pool 3 – having picked up a losing bonus-point at Gloucester in Round 1 and a bonus-point victory against Bayonne in Round 2 – with the capital side sitting on six points.
Centre James Lang makes his first start of the season while Ben Healy gets the nod at stand-off in place of Mosese Tuipulotu and Ross Thompson, who are named among the replacements.
In the pack, props Pierre Schoeman and Javan Sebastian both start as Boan Venter and D’arcy Rae rotate to the bench, the latter fresh from penning a new two year deal this week.
Marshall Sykes comes into the engine room alongside Sam Skinner with captain Grant Gilchrist (hand) unavailable for selection through injury.
Head Coach, Sean Everitt, said: “This is great challenge for us. Vannes are a different beast at home and they’ll want to put in a strong performance in front of a passionate support.
“We’re joint top of the log and this is a competition we want to go far in. We travel to France with plenty of confidence after our intercity win over Glasgow Warriors and the squad are relishing the opportunity to represent our city and supporters on the European stage.”
Wes Goosen continues at full-back with Scotland stars Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe selected on opposite wings.
Outside centre Matt Currie makes his 50th Edinburgh Rugby appearance alongside Lang in midfield with scrum-half Ali Price selected alongside Healy at half-back.
Dave Cherry – who made his 100th appearance in last month’s intercity win over Glasgow – packs down alongside Schoeman and Sebastian up front.
An unchanged back-row sees blindside flanker Jamie Ritchie – named captain for the clash in Vannes – start alongside Luke Crosbie (openside) and Ben Muncaster (number 8).
Edinburgh Rugby team to face RC Vannes at Stade de la Rabine in the EPCR Challenge Cup Saturday 11 January (kick-off 1pm GMT/ 2pm local) – live on epcrugby.tv
15. Wes Goosen (42)
14. Darcy Graham (73)
13. Matt Currie (49)
12. James Lang (61)
11. Duhan van der Merwe (101
10. Ben Healy (31)
9. Ali Price (26)
1. Pierre Schoeman (124)
2. Dave Cherry (100)
3. Javan Sebastian (20)
4. Marshall Sykes (74)
5. Sam Skinner (30)
6. Jamie Ritchie (123) CAPTAIN
7. Luke Crosbie (106)
8. Ben Muncaster (38)
Replacements
16. Paddy Harrison (21)
17. Boan Venter (77)
18. D’arcy Rae (15)
19. Glen Young (38)
20. Hamish Watson (165)
21. Charlie Shiel (67)
22. Ross Thompson (11)
23. Mosese Tuipulotu (10)
Unavailable: Mark Bennett (pec), Emiliano Boffelli (back), Connor Boyle (knee), Magnus Bradbury (compassionate leave), Freddy Douglas (ankle), Grant Gilchrist (hand), Ross McCann (calf), Cammy Scott (ankle).
The Belgian
Sport Trivia: Who was the first SA cricketer to take a hat trick in Test cricket? Answer: Geoff Griffin in the second test match against England at Lords in June 1960 — he dismissed Mike Smith, caught by the wicket-keeper, then bowled Peter Walker and Freddy Trueman. England went on to win the game by an innings and 73 runs. He never played another test match after that, due to his continually being called no-ball for alleged throwing.
Hyper Kong
A freak accident ended the life of a promising young batsman from India in 2015. Ankit Keshri was captain of the Bengal U-19 team. Keshri collided at full-force with teammate Sourav Mondal when they both ran to catch the ball. Although he was hospitalized after the incident, he later died of a heart attack during treatment.