Heriot’s hand Turley No 8 shirt for derby at Myreside

Heriot’s have handed Jack Turley a starting spot for the Edinburgh derby at Watsonians this evening after he made an instant impression on his return to the club last weekend.

The two sides meet at Myreside (7:30pm) knowing that a victory could ignite their respective BT Premiership campaigns.

To date Watsonians have won one and drawn one from four matches while Heriot’s have won two.

Six days ago, 28-year-old Kiwi back-row Turley, who skippered Heriot’s a couple of years ago and is back after a year down south and an extended trip to New Zealand, scored a hattrick of tries off the bench against Hawick.

With Michael Maltman unavailable, Martin Hughes moves to the number six jersey with Turley slotting in at No 8.

That is the only change for the visitors and head coach Phil Smith said: “The boys are looking forward to a Friday night under lights as it is something different. With Watsonian’s coming into form at the same time as us, it is really set up to be a very competitive local derby.”

Watsonians head coach Steve Lawrie was previously Smith’s assistant at Heriot’s. With Sean Crombie injured, he brings in Darren Miller to start at hooker while Jack Harrison is at full-back. Back-row Rory Drummond returns from injury and is on the bench.

Lawrie said: “The squad have reflected on what might have been against Marr after the draw and we accept that we need to show a more clinical edge when we create scoring opportunities.”