Blair Kinghorn returns to Edinburgh XV for Cardiff clash

Colin Newboult
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Edinburgh's Blair Kinghorn celebrates scoring his sides first try during the Heineken European Champions Cup, Pool A match at BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh. Picture date: Saturday December 12, 2020. See PA story RUGBYU Edinburgh. Photo credit should read: Jane Barlow/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Editorial use only. No commercial use.

The PRO14 continues on Monday as two matches take place, including the encounter between Conference B high-flyers Scarlets and Connacht.

Cardiff Blues v Edinburgh

Cardiff Blues have been boosted by the return of a quartet of Wales stars as Dai Young makes four changes for a must-win PRO14 showdown with Edinburgh on Monday.

Jarrod Evans and Hallam Amos were released back to their club on Friday and have been joined by fellow Wales squad members Rhys Carré and Lloyd Williams who were travelling reserves in France.

Two of the four changes come in the backline with Wales duo Williams and Evans combining to form an experienced half-back combination, with Ben Thomas moving into the centre to partner Rey Lee-Lo.

There are two more changes of personnel in the pack with Rhys Gill starting in the place of Corey Domachowski, who picked up a knock in training, and Dmitri Arhip returning at tighthead.

Amos and Carré, who each made one appearance in the Six Nations, are named among the replacements for the decisive Arms Park encounter.

Cardiff must beat Edinburgh to keep alive their hopes of a qualifying spot for next season’s Champions Cup.

While the Scottish outfit boast two games in hand, a Cardiff victory at the Arms Park, with a 4-0 or 5-1 match-point advantage, would ensure a fourth place finish, while there is also still an outside chance of finishing third.

Meanwhile, wing Blair Kinghorn has returned from injury to start Edinburgh’s decisive Conference B clash of capitals with the Blues.

The Scotland cap is one of two changes to the back division where 20-year-old fly-half Charlie Savala will make his debut in place of Nathan Chamberlain, who failed this morning’s pre-departure fitness test on an ankle injury sustained against Connacht last weekend.

Recently recruited loosehead prop Boan Venter and Fijian international back-row Mesu Kunavula are the remaining changes to the XV, replacing the injured Pierre Schoeman and Ally Miller, who was released from Scotland camp.

Miller moves to the bench where he is joined by Murray McCallum, who takes the place vacated by the promoted Venter.

Kinghorn is joined in the back three by wing Eroni Sau and full-back and co-captain Damien Hoyland – another to be released by Scotland – who racked up an impressive 8.3km covering the back field in Edinburgh’s away win over Connacht in Galway last weekend.

James Johnstone and George Taylor return as centre partners once more alongside the young half-back duo of Charlie Shiel and Savala.

Lee-Roy Atalifo and co-captain Mike Willemse return to the front-row alongside Venter, while Andrew Davidson and Magnus Bradbury once again join forces in the second-row – the latter making good on his cameo from his traditional back-row role with a try in back-to-back weekends.

Reselected back-row forwards Viliame Mata (number eight) and Luke Crosbie join Kunavula in the back-row to complete the side.

The teams:

Cardiff: 15 Matthew Morgan, 14 Jason Harries, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Ben Thomas, 11 Aled Summerhill, 10 Jarrod Evans, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Josh Turnbull (c), 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Olly Robinson, 5 Rory Thornton, 4 Seb Davies, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Liam Belcher, 1 Rhys Gill
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Rhys Carré, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 James Ratti, 20 Alun Lawrence, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Max Llewellyn, 23 Hallam Amos

Edinburgh: 15 Damien Hoyland (cc), 14 Blair Kinghorn, 13 James Johnstone, 12 George Taylor, 11 Eroni Sau, 10 Charlie Savala, 9 Charlie Shiel, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Luke Crosbie, 6 Mesu Kunavula, 5 Andrew Davidson, 4 Magnus Bradbury, 3 Lee-Roy Atalifo, 2 Mike Willemse (cc), 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Sam Kitchen, 17 Murray Mccallum, 18 Angus Williams, 19 Jamie Hodgson, 20 Ally Miller, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Tbc, 23 Mark Bennett

Venue: Cardiff Arms Park
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Nigel Owens
Assistant referees: Adam Jones, Wayne Davies
TMO: Rhys Thomas

Scarlets v Connacht

Lewis Rawlins returns from injury to take his place in the Scarlets side for Monday’s crunch PRO14 clash with Connacht.

The second-row, a member of the Scarlets’ PRO12-winning team, has been recovering from neck surgery and hasn’t played since the defeat to Glasgow in October.

Rawlins is one of three changes to the side that took the field against Munster last time out.

With Johnny McNIcholl ruled out with a shoulder issue, Tom Rogers, who is back to fitness after a knee injury, starts at full-back.

The only other change in the back division is at fly-half where Dan Jones returns to the side in place of Angus O’Brien, who is named among the replacements.

Steffan Thomas, Marc Jones and Pieter Scholtz continue in the front row with Rawlins partnering Sam Lousi at lock. Aaron Shingler, Jac Morgan and Sione Kalamafoni combine again in the back-row.

Ryan Elias and Johnny Williams have been released from Wales’s Six Nations camp and are included on the bench.

Wales international Rhys Patchell had been due to make his comeback in this match, but picked up a hamstring injury in training on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Connacht management team have again opted to shuffle their squad for Monday’s PRO14 season finale against Scarlets in Llanelli.

The side is captained by Paul Boyle in a back-row that also features Conor Oliver and Abraham Papali’i.

Gavin Thornbury and Niall Murray continue their second-row partnership after impressive showings last weekend, and a front-row of Jordan Duggan, Shane Delahunt and Jack Aungier completes the pack.

Kieran Marmion is retained at scrum-half with Conor Fitzgerald alongside him, and there are no changes at 12, 13 or 14 which are filled by Tom Daly, academy centre Sean O’Brien and winger Ben O’Donnell.

Alex Wootton is named on the opposite wing with John Porch completing the side from full-back.

Galway native Dylan Tierney-Martin could be in line to make his Connacht pro debut, with the hooker named among the replacements.

The teams:

Scarlets: 15 Tom Rogers, 14 Tom Prydie, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Steff Hughes (c), 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Jones, 9 Dane Blacker, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Jac Morgan, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Lewis Rawlins, 3 Pieter Scholtz, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Steffan Thomas
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Javan Sebastian, 19 Tevita Ratuva, 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Will Homer, 22 Angus O’Brien, 23 Johnny Williams

Connacht: 15 John Porch, 14 Ben O’Donnell, 13 Sean O’Brien, 12 Tom Daly, 11 Alex Wootton, 10 Conor Fitzgerald, 9 Kieran Marmion, 8 Abraham Papali’i, 7 Conor Oliver, 6 Paul Boyle (c), 5 Gavin Thornbury, 4 Niall Murray, 3 Jack Aungier, 2 Shane Delahunt, 1 Jordan Duggan
Replacements: 16 Dylan Tierney-Martin, 17 Matthew Burke, 18 Dominic Robertson-McCoy, 19 Oisin Dowling, 20 Sean Masterson, 21 Colm Reilly, 22 Jack Carty, 23 Peter Sullivan

Venue: Parc y Scarlets
Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Referee: Ben Whitehouse
Assistant referees: Ian Davies, Rhys Jones
TMO: Jon Mason

Cardiff Rugby