Cockerill to ring the changes at Murrayfield
RICHARD COCKERILL plans to make 10 changes to the Edinburgh starting 15 against Glasgow Warriors last weekend ahead of Friday night’s re-match at Murrayfield but has insisted that the aim and expectation is still to win the contest.
With this final league game of the regular PRO14 season now a dead-rubber – Edinburgh are in the play-offs and Glasgow aren’t – the capital side’s head coach has to balance the need to keep as many of his front-liners as possible fresh for the team’s semi-final against Ulster the following weekend, with the importance of performing well against the club’s biggest rivals.
“We’ll pick a good team but one that’s right for us,” he said. “You don’t want to risk too many front-line guys who would, in certain positions, be a disaster if they were injured for the semi-final.
“Some of our younger guys will get an opportunity but we’ve got some good depth and some of those starters from last weekend will drop to the bench and give experience there.”
Darcy Graham and Magnus Bradbury – who both missed last weekend’s game with injury niggles – will come back in to add experience and expertise to the side, while Jamie Ritchie is not going to be fit in time but Cockerill is hopeful that his injured finger will in heal by the week after.
Cockerill also indicated that half-back prospects
Charlie Shiel and Nathan Chamberlain will be named on the bench as they were last week, rather than being thrown into the starting side.
“Charlie was great off the bench on Saturday and I think that’s a good place to keep playing him at the moment,” he said. “He gives us good impact and when he’s ready to start I’ll make sure he does that.
“He started against Cardiff in the last game before we broke up before lockdown and he had a good cameo on Saturday and he’ll do the same on Friday I’m sure.”
“It’s about making sure we bring Nathan in at the right time so he has the right protection around him to play,” he added. “He got a bit of time at the weekend and made a statement as it was the first time he’s played at this level and I’m sure he’ll get more time on Friday.
“The reality is that we want to win on Friday and we will be playing to do so, but not to the detriment of going into a semifinal [fully loaded]. We have qualified and we’ve managed to retain the 1872 Cup so we have other things to prioritise.
“I need to keep my ego in my pocket and worry about what’s more important, which is Ulster at home in a semi and giving ourselves the best chance of getting to a final.”
In the pack, Grant Gilchrist is one of the leading players who will be wrapped in cottonwool, with the coach conscious that injuries to Andrew Davidson, Ben Toolis and Fraser McKenzie mean that he cannot risk losing another second-row from near the top of the roster, meaning Jamie Hodgson is destined to start this week after impressing off the bench last weekend, while Marshall Sykes will have his first involvement with the club after switching east from the Glasgow academy set-up during the summer.
“Everybody who’s 100-percent fit is in the 23,” Cockerill stressed. “Any guys who have any issues, we have chosen to look after. All our guys are pretty much fit to play but there are some people who are more important for the semi-final.”
Cockerill also lamented the news that the PRO14’s two South African teams – the Southern Kings and the Toyota Cheetahs – will not take part in the PRO14 next season but then suggested that it could prove to be a blessing in disguise.
“It’s disappointment because you want all teams to be viable and it was a good competition having the South African sides in,” he said. “But if we are two teams short going into next season, in some ways it doesn’t do us any harm to play less games, because we’re going to play all the way through now with more Test matches than ever.”