The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Selection headache for Edinburgh coach Blair
Edinburgh Rugby head coach Mike Blair admits he was torn over team selection for their return to action after several players missed out on their big chance against Glasgow.
Henry Immelman, Blair Kinghorn and WP Nel will return from injury in today’s United Rugby Championship fixture against Cardiff at the DAM Health Stadium.
Grant Gilchrist, James Lang and Jamie Ritchie are also available again for Edinburgh’s first game since beating Saracens on December 11.
The likes of Lee-Roy Atalifo and Marshall Sykes were due to start the first of two postponed games against Warriors but are not in the 23-man squad for Saturday.
Blair – who has lost Darcy Graham, Cammy Hutchison, Luke Crosbie and Henry Pyrgos to short-term issues – said: “It’s a funny one because a large part of our planning and decisionmaking in selection is around giving as many people as possible the opportunity to play for the club.
“We had 46 players training the other day and they are putting it in for the jersey and showing what they can do, and we feel that merits opportunities.
“In those two games against Glasgow, some guys were going to get that opportunity through Covid cases or injuries and sadly we are not going to be able to select them for this game because we have got other guys coming back in.”
Edinburgh still have some Covid issues but Blair could give Glen Young a debut off the bench.
Tonga international Walter Fifita is in line for his Glasgow debut against Ospreys today.
The powerful winger joined Warriors in October before going on international duty and is named among the replacements for the Scotstoun encounter.
Glasgow co-captain Fraser Brown will also be on the bench for the URC game as the hooker looks to make his comeback from the knee injury he suffered in October.
Co-captain Ryan Wilson returns after missing the Heineken Champons Cup win over Exeter, while second-row forward Kiran McDonald will make his first start of the season. Jack Dempsey and Richie Gray are unavailable and drop out.