Edinburgh big guns return for Bulls test with plenty to prove ahead of Six Nations

All three have been selected to start the United Rugby Championship fixture in a much-changed capital side.

Edinburgh rested several experienced players for last week’s Champions Cup tie against Bath and were thrashed 63-10. Captain Magnus Bradbury, Pierre Schoeman, Wes Goosen and Liam McConnell all return for the Bulls game in a line-up that looks far more durable than the one which conceded nine tries at the Rec.

Van der Merwe, who has been blighted by hip and calf injuries, has started only six games for Edinburgh this season. Scotland coach Gregor Townsend named him in his Six Nations squad on Tuesday but said the winger had to prove his form and fitness ahead of the championship opener against Italy on February 7.

Van der Merwe has not been his usual prolific self this season and Townsend dropped him for the first time in the winger's Scotland career when he left him out of the 23 to play New Zealand in November. He replaces Malelili Satala in the Edinburgh team.

Gilchrist, a mainstay of the Scotland pack, has not played since the second leg of the 1872 Cup on December 27 due to a quad injury but returns to the Edinburgh second row in place of the benched Callum Hunter-Hill. Rae, meanwhile, has been out since Scotland’s defeat by Argentina in November but starts for Edinburgh at tighthead ahead of Ollie Blyth-Lafferty.

The rested quartet of Bradbury, Schoeman, Goosen and McConnell come in for Ben Muncaster, James Whitcombe, Piers O’Conor and Tom Dodd.

"It’s fantastic to welcome back such an experienced cohort of players for what is undoubtedly one of our biggest tests of the season,” said Sean Everitt, the Edinburgh coach. “Having the likes of Duhan, Grant and D’arcy back from injury, alongside Pierre, Wes and Liam gives the squad a massive lift.

"We know exactly what the Vodacom Bulls bring. Their squad is packed with Springbok talent and they play a physical, high-intensity brand of rugby. We have to match that physicality from the very first minute if we want to come out on top."

Everitt has prioritised the Bulls game over the Bath tie as he seeks to haul Edinburgh up the URC table. They are currently 10th, two places adrift of the play-off places but one point ahead of the Bulls with whom they have had some close encounters last season.

Edinburgh lost to the Bulls away 22-16 in the league, then beat the South African side 33-28 at home in the EPCR Challenge Cup quarter-finals before the Bulls claimed revenge in Pretoria with a 42-33 win in the URC quarter-finals.

Edinburgh have won four out of four at home this season and it is a record Everitt is desperate to maintain.

"We are proud of our unbeaten run at Hive Stadium this season and we want to keep it that way for our fans,” he said. “They have been incredible all year, and it’s vital they get behind us from the first whistle this Friday night to help us get the result this team is working so hard for."

Edinburgh team (v Vodacom Bulls, URC, Hive Stadium, Friday, 7.45pm)

15. Harry Paterson; 14. Darcy Graham, 13. Wes Goosen, 12. James Lang, 11. Duhan van der Merwe; 10. Ross Thompson, 9. Ben Vellacott; 1. Pierre Schoeman, 2. Ewan Ashman, 3. D’arcy Rae, 4. Glen Young, 5. Grant Gilchrist, 6. Liam McConnell, 7. Freddy Douglas, 8. Magnus Bradbury. Replacements: 16. Harri Morris, 17. Boan Venter, 18. Paul Hill, 19. Callum Hunter-Hill, 20. Ben Muncaster, 21. Charlie Shiel, 22. Cammy Scott, 23. Piers O’Conor.