Why seven Scotland internationals are missing from Edinburgh Rugby team

The need to “spread the load” has prompted Edinburgh to rest seven of their Scotland internationals for Friday’s EPCR Challenge Cup opener against Gloucester as head coach Sean Everitt looks to juggle his resources ahead of a busy festive period.

Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe, Ali Price, Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, Grant Gilchrist and Jamie Ritchie are all missing for the Pool 3 game at Kingsholm.

Also absent are fellow internationals Ben Muncaster (illness), Harry Paterson (hamstring), Luke Crosbie and Glen Young (both calf).

Jamie Ritchie won't feature for Edinburgh against Gloucester. | SNS Group

Everitt, whose side beat Gloucester 33-26 at home in pre-season, has one eye on the two derbies with Glasgow Warriors either side of Christmas and is also mindful of the toll the Autumn Nations Series took on his Scotland players. He opted to play them in last weekend’s win over Benetton in the United Rugby Championship but now has to give them a break.

“I think it’s important for us with the games that we’re going into in the latter part of December - we’ve got Bayonne at home [next week] and then the 1872 Cup,” said the coach. “If you look at the EPCR it is a tough competition and you look at the URC it’s the same, so we need to spread the load.

“The internationals have had a busy schedule in November, playing an extra Test match. We felt that we needed to hit the ground running, and that’s why we went full strength against Benetton.”

With so many experienced players missing, Everitt is using the game to blood a number of youngsters and there is a first Edinburgh start for Freddy Douglas, who continues to chalk up career landmarks at a rate of knots. The teenager won his first Scotland cap in the win over Portugal last month and followed it up with a man-of-the-match performance for Scotland A against Chile. All this came before his Edinburgh debut which arrived last weekend off the bench against Benetton. Then, on Thursday, he signed his first professional contract.

“I think every game he plays at senior level will be an opportunity for him to grow his game, especially in the contact area - and I’m not talking about jackaling, I’m talking about ball-carrying, defensively, making dominant tackles,” said Everitt. “The game in the URC and the EPCR is a lot more physical than it is at junior level and that’s going to take some time to get used to.”

Like Douglas, Nathan Sweeney will also make his first start for Edinburgh. The back-three player has overcome a series of injuries and gets his opportunity on the left wing.

Liam McConnell will be on the bench for Edinburgh. | SNS Group

There are likely to be debuts off the bench for young forwards Robert Carmichael and Liam McConnell. Carmichael, 21, joined from Leicester Tigers and Everitt believes the 6ft 11in lock has the potential to be a Scotland international. McConnell, 20, skippered Scotland U20 to their World Rugby Trophy success in the summer and has been training “exceptionally well” according to Everitt. Like Douglas, he is a local Edinburgh boy who plays in the back row. He came through the ranks at Boroughmuir and is a former pupil at James Gillespie’s HS.

Given the absence of so many seasoned internationals, it is surprising that Hamish Watson has also been omitted. “For us, Hamish Watson has taken a bit of a back seat at the moment,” said Everitt. “It’s an opportunity for the youngsters to come through and he’s certainly not out of the equation as far as selection is concerned.”

Gloucester v Edinburgh Rugby teams

Gloucester: 15. Santiago Carreras; 14. Christian Wade, 13. Chris Harris, 12. Max Llewellyn, 11. Josh Hathaway; 10. Gareth Anscombe, 9. Caolan Englefield; 1. Val Rapava Ruskin, 2. Seb Blake, 3. Kirill Gotovtsev, 4. Arthur Clark, 5. Matias Alemanno, 6. Freddie Thomas, 7. Lewis Ludlow, 8. Ruan Ackermann. Replacements: 16. Jack Singleton, 17. Ciaran Knight, 18. Afolabi Fasogbon, 19. Harry Taylor, 20. Albert Tuisue, 21. Charlie Chapman, 22. Will Butler, 23. George Barton.

Edinburgh: 15. Wes Goosen; 14. Ross McCann, 13. Matt Currie, 12. Mosese Tuipulotu, 11. Nathan Sweeney; 10. Ross Thompson, 9. Ben Vellacott (c); 1. Boan Venter, 2. Paddy Harrison, 3. Paul Hill, 4. Marshall Sykes, 5. Sam Skinner, 6. Tom Dodd, 7. Freddy Douglas, 8. Magnus Bradbury. Replacements: 16. Dave Cherry, 17. Mikey Jones, 18. D'arcy Rae, 19. Rob Carmichael, 20. Liam McConnell, 21. Charlie Shiel, 22. Ben Healy, 23. James Lang.

Referee: Ludovic Cayre (Fra).