Cockerill gambles on exciting handful Graham
EDINBURGH
Head coach Richard Cockerill has reinstalled hooker and captain Stuart McInally to the side in one of four changes to the starting line-up which defeated Leinster in last week’s round of the PRO14.
McInally comes into the team alongside test lock Grant Gilchrist and wing Damien Hoyland with Chris Dean the other change at inside-centre. Hoyland’s inclusion sees Scotland wing Darcy Graham moved to full-back as Cockerill attempts to compensate for the loss to injury of Blair Kinghorn.
Dean returns to midfield to partner James Johnstone, with Mark Bennett on the bench and Matt Scott omitted altogether. Gilchrist replaces Fraser McKenzie in the second row where Ben Toolis has recovered from a shoulder injury sustained against Leinster at Murrayfield eight days ago.
In an unchanged back-row, John Barclay holds off the claims of Jamie Ritchie and Magnus Bradbury to start at blindside flanker and join fellow international Hamish Watson, who starts on the openside, and Fijian international Bill Mata at No. 8.
Richard Cockerill sprang a surprise when he named Scotland wing Darcy Graham, 21, as his starting full-back, handing the exciting strike runner a rare outing in the 15 jersey.
Graham, 5’9’’, is a handful in attack but he last played at full-back against Stade Francais in last season’s Challenge Cup pool stages and though he played there for Scotland U20s, by Cockerill’s own admission, picking him at full-back is a gamble worth taking to give his side an attacking edge.
“We’ll all look forward to see how Darcy goes and if he’s really good it will be down to him and if he isn’t it will be my fault. That’s how it should be,” Cockerill said yesterday.
“Darcy is a great kid and a great player. I think he plays wing exceptionally well, as we’ve seen in the last few weeks, and he is certainly capable of playing full-back. It’s a roll of the dice to a point. I’m taking a risk. But without Kinghorn I think we’re a bit blunt in the back three if we go with any other combination. I’ve taken a risk a little bit, but I trust the individuals to do what I want them to do.”
MUNSTER
No surprises from Johann van Graan as he reverts to his first-choice line-up for their first game together since January 19 in the home pool win over Exeter Chiefs but that means 11 changes to the team that beat Zebre in the PRO14 last Saturday.
Peter O’Mahony returns to captain the side from blindside in a back-row that sees Jack O’Donoghue switch from there to openside in place of Chris Cloete, Tommy O’Donnell having started against the Chiefs in round six before a season-ending injury.
It is an all-new front five from last week’s pack as Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell and John Ryan return to the front row with locks Jean Kleyn and Tadhg Beirne behind them.
Fly-half Joey Carbery has recovered from a hamstring injury and returns to the backline along with Andrew Conway, Chris Farrell, Keith Earls and Conor Murray.
O’Donoghue staked his claim to the openside role with his impressive performance against Zebre last week, his first start of the season following a serious knee injury.
“I thought he was outstanding,” forwards coach Jerry Flannery said.
He’s incredibly versatile at six, seven, No.8, a really good lineout option and so explosive off the ground.
"He’s a really intelligent player, he’s got a great attitude. It’s a shame he missed out on the pre-season block when we were working on our handling but he’s straight back into the mix now and he looked so dynamic in everything he was doing.
“Watching him off the ball was really impressive, his workrate to shut things down when the opposition had the ball and to get into position for us and give us width was excellent. He was a huge bonus for us. He’s timed it to perfection.”
