Preview: Edinburgh v Glasgow

Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill has brought seven Scotland internationalists back into the fold for Saturday’s 1872 Cup derby.

After turning out at fly-half against Krasny Yar last weekend, Blair Kinghorn reverts to his customary position of full-back. The 20-year-old is joined in the back three by wings Dougie Fife and Duhan van der Merwe.

In the midfield, Phil Burleigh returns to first XV action and is partnered by James Johnstone, who features in his first 1872 Cup derby. At half-back, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne links up with Jaco van der Walt, who gets the nod after missing last weekend’s European Challenge Cup encounter due to illness.

An all Scotland front-row sees hooker Stuart McInally pack down alongside Rory Sutherland and Simon Berghan, whilst Ben Toolis and Grant Gilchrist make up a second-row which features 187 Edinburgh appearances. Hamish Watson and Cornell du Preez link up with Fijian internationalist Viliame Mata in the back-row.

Ahead of this weekend’s 1872 Cup derby, Cockerill said: “We know Glasgow are a good side – their back-line features most of the Scotland team. This weekend is going to be a great barometer of where we’re at as a team and how well we’re progressing.

“We’re doing some good things and we’re paying a nice brand of rugby. It’s a big day for us as a club and I’m hopeful that Edinburgh take another positive step forward.”

Meanwhile, fresh from signing a new two-year contract this week, Jonny Gray will captain Glasgow Warriors this weekend.

Glasgow come into the game unbeaten in the PRO14 and 23-year-old Gray will lead the team out in the capital, combing with Scott Cummings in the second-row.

Behind them Rob Harley returns from injury to start on the blindside flank. Matt Smith and Samu Vunisa are the other starting loose forwards.

In Bhatti, Brown and Fagerson it is an unchanged front-row. The half-backs too remain the same, Peter Horne starting outside of Ali Price.

Alex Dunbar and Huw Jones are the midfielders, re-creating their Scotland partnership, and behind them Lee Jones, Tommy Seymour and Ruaridh Jackson complete the starting XV.

On the bench Oli Kebble returns from injury to be involved for the first time since September and Niko Matawalu, another player to have signed a new contract this week, will cover the back-three.

Elsewhere, Brian Alainu’uese has successfully undergone surgery having aggravated an ongoing knee injury in training this week. The second-row is expected to be out for up to six weeks. Ryan Wilson will also be out for up to six weeks with an ankle injury sustained last weekend against Montpellier.

Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie said: “I’m looking forward to it. There’s a fair bit of rivalry there. Back home there are four other kiwi sides so you’ve got eight derbies a year. Everyone talks about the 1872 Cup games with the same kind of passion that we talked about the derbies back home.

“Boys will have friends amongst the opposition, but for 80 minutes you put that aside and go toe-to-toe. I suppose it’s a game that divides Scotland.

“I know the boys are really keen. We tend to have an edge around training every week regardless of who we’re playing, but this week is certainly more personal.”

The teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Cornell du Preez, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Viliame Mata, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Murray McCallum, 18 Matt Shields, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Chris Dean, 23 Darcy Graham

Glasgow: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Lee Jones, 10 Peter Horne, 9 Ali Price, 8 Samu Vunisa, 7 Matt Smith, 6 Robert Harley, 5 Jonny Gray (c), 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Jamie Bhatti
Replacements: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Siua Halanukonuka, 19 Kiran McDonald, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Finn Russell, 23 Niko Matawalu

Date: Saturday, December 23
Venue: Murrayfield
Kick-off: 17:10 GMT
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: David Wilkinson (Ireland), Lloyd Linton (Scotland)
Television match official: Kevin Beggs (Ireland)