Stuart McInally returns, Munster boosted by Ireland stars

Edinburgh and Scotland captain Stuart McInally returns to the starting line-up for Saturday’s highly anticipated Champions Cup quarter-final against Munster at Murrayfield.

The inclusion of the 27-times capped hooker is one four changes to the side that defeated Leinster last weekend as fellow Scotland internationals Grant Gilchrist and Damien Hoyland start at lock and wing respectively, while Chris Dean is named in the centre.

Ahead of the fixture, which sees Edinburgh compete in their first Champions Cup quarter-final in seven years, head coach Richard Cockerill said: “We’re going to go full blown into the battle and take them on.

“We’re going to enjoy the contest and see if we’re good enough to do it. We’ll try and out-Munster Munster, as we’re two sides that play quite similar rugby.

“If we get it right we’ll beat them – we’ve got to front up in these big games. We’ll be well prepared, have a lot of belief in what we do and we’re coming here to win.”

With Hoyland named on the wing alongside the capital side’s top try-scorer Duhan van der Merwe, Scotland international Darcy Graham shifts to full-back.

Dean returns to the midfield and is partnered by James Johnstone, while scrum-half Henry Pyrgos and fly-half Jaco van der Walt continue as the half-backs.

The inclusion of McInally at hooker is the only alteration to an otherwise unchanged front-row as the skipper packs down alongside WP Nel – a try-scorer in last weekend’s bonus-point win over Leinster – and Pierre Schoeman.

Gilchrist, who is one of three players in the matchday squad that faced Toulouse in the Scottish capital side’s last quarter-final appearance in 2012, returns at lock alongside fellow club centurion Ben Toolis.

An unchanged back-row sees Scotland stars John Barclay and Hamish Watson continue at blindside and openside flanker respectively, with Fijian international Viliame Mata once again named at number eight.

Meanwhile, Peter O’Mahony returns to captain the Munster side as one of 11 changes to the team that defeated Zebre in the PRO14 last weekend.

Joey Carbery has recovered from a hamstring injury and returns to the backline along with Andrew Conway, Chris Farrell, Keith Earls and Conor Murray.

The six changes in the pack see Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell and John Ryan pack down in the front row with locks Jean Kleyn and Tadhg Beirne also returning alongside flanker O’Mahony.

Mike Haley starts at full-back with Conway and Earls on either flank. Rory Scannell is joined by Farrell in the centres with Murray and Carbery in the half-backs.

Jack O’Donoghue makes his first Champions Cup start of the season in the back-row having made his full return from injury last week. CJ Stander completes the side at number eight.

The teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Darcy Graham, 14 Damien Hoyland, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Chris Dean, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Jaco van der Walt, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Viliame Mata, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Ben Toolis, 3 WP Nel, 2 Stuart McInally (c), 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Magnus Bradbury, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 Mark Bennett

Munster: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Chris Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Conor Murray, 8 CJ Stander, 7 Jack O’Donoghue, 6 Peter O’Mahony (c), 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 John Ryan, 2 Niall Scannell, 1 Dave Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Rhys Marshall, 17 Jeremy Loughman, 18 Stephen Archer, 19 Billy Holland, 20 Arno Botha, 21 Alby Mathewson, 22 Tyler Bleyendaal, 23 Dan Goggin

Date: Saturday, March 30
Venue: Murrayfield
Kick-off: 12:45 GMT
Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (France)
Assistant referees: Ludovic Cayre (France), Jonathan Dufort (France)
Television match official: Eric Gauzins (France)