Edinburgh name team to face Scarlets and give debuts to Ben Vellacott and Henry Immelman

Edinburgh will give debuts to scrum-half Ben Vellacott and full-back Henry Immelman in the season opener against the Scarlets on Saturday.

Scrum-half Ben Vellacott joined Edinburgh from Wasps. Picture: Paul Devlin/SNS

Vellacott, signed from Wasps, will start at scrum-half against the Welsh side and will be partnered at half-back by Blair Kinghorn who has got the nod at stand-off ahead of Jaco van der Walt who is named among the replacements.

Kinghorn, more accustomed to playing on the wing or at full-back, impressed at 10 in the pre-season win over Benetton last week.

Immelman, who arrived in the summer from Montpellier, has been picked at full-back. A third new recruit, Scotland centre James Lang who joined from Harlequins, has to be content with a place on the bench.

The match at Edinburgh’s newly named DAM Health Stadium is coach Mike Blair’s first competitive match in charge and he has picked an experienced side for the club’s United Rugby Championship opener.

On-form Mark Bennett is selected at outside centre, with Cammy Hutchison inside him. The wings are Darcy Graham and Damien Hoyland.

In the pack, Pierre Schoeman, Stuart McInally and Lee-Roy Atalifo make up the front three, with Marshall Sykes and Grant Gilchrist in the second row. Jamie Ritchie and Luke Crosbie are the flankers, while Bill Mata returns from injury at No 8.

Blair said: “There is a real buzz of excitement for Saturday’s league opener and we’ve seen that in training this week with a bit of extra focus and intensity from everyone.

“This match has been a long time coming and we’re really excited to once again play in front of the Edinburgh supporters in what will hopefully be a packed-out DAM Health Stadium.

“The pre-season games gave us a good opportunity to test out a number of different combinations, and give a variety of players game time, but now it’s time to get down to the competitive stuff.

“Scarlets are a quality team, who recently claimed a pre-season win against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road, so we’re going to have to be at our best come Saturday night, but the squad are up for the challenge and can’t wait to kick start the new campaign.”

The match kicks off at 5.15pm and is live on Premier Sports.

Edinburgh Rugby (v Scarlets, United Rugby Championship, DAM Health Stadium, Saturday, 5.15pm)

15. Henry Immelman

14. Darcy Graham

13. Mark Bennett

12. Cammy Hutchison

11. Damien Hoyland

10. Blair Kinghorn

9. Ben Vellacott

1. Pierre Schoeman

2. Stuart McInally

3. Lee Roy Atalifo

4. Marshall Sykes

5. Grant Gilchrist (c)

6. Jamie Ritchie

7. Luke Crosbie

8. Viliame Mata

Substitutes: 16. Dave Cherry, 17. Boan Venter, 18. WP Nel, 19. Jamie Hodgson, 20. Connor Boyle, 21. Henry Pyrgos, 22. Jaco van der Walt, 23. James Lang.