Edinburgh v Ulster: Richard Cockerill names team for Guinness Pro14 semi-final

Edinburgh welcome back a raft of internationalists for tomorrow night’s Guinness PRO14 Semi-Final against Ulster at BT Murrayfield (kick-off 7.35pm, live on Premier Sports 1). The inclusion of Grant Gilchrist for his 150th appearance after being rested last weekend and fellow lock Ben Toolis after recovering from a shoulder injury is one of eight changes the capital side make as Scotland stars Mark Bennett, Rory Sutherland, Stuart McInally and WP Nel all return to the starting XV. Experienced half-back pairing Jaco van der Walt and Nic Groom also get the nod for Edinburgh’s first-ever Guinness Pro14 semi-final appearance. Head coach Richard Cockerill, said: “We want to go as far as we can and test ourselves to see how good we are. If we’re good enough we’ll win, and if we’re not, we’ll get exactly what we deserve. “As a club, we’ve been building to this point and I’m hoping those experiences of the last three seasons will come to fruition on Saturday night. It’s about knowing how to play knock-out rugby and not playing an exhibition. “Ulster are a great side. We look forward to the challenge and we know at the pressure moments we need to deliver. This is new territory for us. We’re capable - if we get things right - to get to a final and see how good we can be.” Another Scotland star, back-rower Jamie Ritchie, returns from injury and is named among the replacements. Ulster have named all three of their concussion injury doubts - full-back Jacob Stockdale, centre Stuart McCloskey and flanker Jordi Murphy - in their starting XV. EDINBURGH: Blair Kinghorn; Darcy Graham, Mark Bennett, Chris Dean; Duhan van der Merwe; Jaco van der Walt, Nic Groom; Rory Sutherland, Stuart McInally (Capt), WP Nel; Ben Toolis, Grant Gilchrist; Magnus Bradbury, Hamish Watson, Viliame Mata. Subs: Mike Willemse, Pierre Schoeman, Simon Berghan, Andrew Davidson, Jamie Ritchie, Charlie Shiel, Nathan Chamberlain, George Taylor. ULSTER: Jacob Stockdale; Louis Ludik, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Rob Lyttle; Billy Burns (capt), John Cooney; Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole, Alan O’Connor, Sam Carter, Matthew Rea, Jordi Murphy, Marcell Coetzee. Subs: John Andrew, Jack McGrath, Marty Moore, Kieran Treadwell, Sean Reidy, Alby Mathewson, Ian Madigan, Michael Lowry. Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU) AR1: Mike Adamson (SRU) AR2: Sam Grove-White (SRU) TMO: Neil Patterson (SRU) A message from the Editor Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you. The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism. Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website. Joy Yates Editorial Director