Returning internationalists boost Edinburgh team for PRO14 clash at Scarlets

Nick Haining returns for Edinburgh having made his Scotland debut

Richard Cockerill will have six internationalists at his disposal when Edinburgh travel to Wales to take on Scarlets in their Guinness PRO14 Conference B clash.

Scotland squad members WP Nel, Grant Gilchrist, Nick Haining, Luke Crosbie, Henry Pyrgos and Matt Scott are all released from Gregor Townsend's Six Nations camp for the top of the Conference encounter at Parc Y Scarlets in Llanelli and start for the Capital side as they play their first game in four weeks.

Fijian stars Bill Mata and Eroni Sau are named at No.8 and winger respectively, while Scotland caps Mark Bennett, Damien Hoyland and Lewis Carmichael all retain their spots in the starting XV.

Speaking ahead of the match, Cockerill, said: "We’ve been back in training for two weeks preparing for Scarlets and this next block of fixtures - it’s a big few weeks.

“We’ve got a few guys back from Scotland camp with it being fallow week, so we travel south with a good bit of experience. We face tricky weather conditions on Saturday however, so it’s going to be a battle no matter what.

“These games are pivotal for us and it starts with Scarlets in Llanelli this Saturday. They are a quality team with plenty of internationalists, and they have a great home record as well, so we know how tough a test we face.”

Edinburgh Rugby team to face Scarlets at Parc y Scarlets in the Guinness PRO14 on Saturday 15 February (kick-off 3pm) – live on Premier Sports

15. Damien Hoyland; 14. Eroni Sau; 13. Mark Bennett; 12. Matt Scott; 11. Duhan van der Merwe; 10. Jaco van der Walt; 9. Henry Pyrgos; 1. Pierre Schoeman; 2. David Cherry; 3. WP Nel;

4. Lewis Carmichael; 5. Grant Gilchrist; 6. Nick Haining; 7. Luke Crosbie; 8. Viliame Mata.

Replacements: 16. Mike Willemse; 17. Jamie Bhatti; 18. Pietro Ceccarelli; 19. Fraser McKenzie; 20. John Barclay; 21. Nic Groom; 22. Simon Hickey; 23. George Taylor.