Zebre v Edinburgh: Rory Sutherland and Jamie Ritchie missing for trip to Italy

Scotland forwards Rory Sutherland and Jamie Ritchie have been ruled out of Edinburgh’s Guinness Pro14 match against Zebre on Saturday.

Henry Pyrgos has been picked to start at scrum-half against Zebre. Picture: Ross Parker/SNS

Ritchie suffered a head knock in training which caused him to miss last weekend’s narrow defeat by Glasgow. An update on the injured Sutherland is expected later today.

Their absence will be a cause for concern for Scotland coach Gregor Townsend with the opening match of the Six Nations Championship against England a fortnight away.

Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill has made five changes to his starting side for the match in Italy.

In the backs, scrum-half Henry Pyrgos replaces Nic Groom, while winger Jack Blain – a late withdrawal from last weekend’s game at Scotstoun – replaces try-scorer Jamie Farndale. Groom and Farndale drop out of the squad.

In the pack, props WP Nel (tighthead) and Pierre Schoeman (loosehead) are promoted from the bench in place of Simon Berghan - who is on the bench - and the injured Sutherland, with Sam Grahamslaw also named as a substitute.

Back-row Luke Crosbie completes the changes with his first start since November, in place of Magnus Bradbury, who joins the replacements.

Charlie Shiel takes the scrum-half replacement berth vacated by the promoted Pyrgos, while centre George Taylor has recovered from the facial injury sustained against Scarlets in November and is named among the substitutes.

The match at the Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma is Edinburgh’s last before a three-week break, their next fixture being the rescheduled away game against Dragons on Friday 12 February.

Zebre: Michelangelo Biondelli; Giovanni D’Onofrio, Federico Mori, Tommaso Boni, Mattia Bellini; Carlo Canna, Guglielmo Palazzani; Danilo Fischetti, Luca Bigi, Giosuè Zilocchi, David Sisi (capt), Mick Kearney, Maxime Mbandà, Johan Meyer, Renato Giammarioli.

Replacements: Marco Manfredi, Daniele Rimpelli, Eduardo Bello, Leonard Krumov, Potu Junior Leavasa, Joshua Renton, Antonio Rizzi, Jamie Elliott.

Edinburgh: Blair Kinghorn; Jack Blain, Mark Bennett, Chris Dean, Eroni Sau; Jaco van der Walt, Henry Pyrgos (co-capt); Pierre Schoeman, David Cherry, WP Nel, Jamie Hodgson, Grant Gilchrist (co-capt), Luke Crosbie, Hamish Watson, Viliame Mata.

Replacements: Mike Willemse, Sam Grahamslaw, Simon Berghan, Nick Haining, Magnus Bradbury, Charlie Shiel, Nathan Chamberlain, George Taylor.

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