Big five return for Edinburgh Rugby as Everitt makes the 'business' argument

The capital side’s head coach rested several of his senior Scotland internationals for last weekend’s Champions Cup tie against Castres away, prioritising the 1872 Cup double-header with the Warriors.

Edinburgh went down 33-0 in France but Everitt hopes to see the benefits against Franco Smith’s side in terms of his key players being fresh.

Everitt accepts the club have a point to prove at Hampden after last season’s 33-14 defeat at the national football stadium where most of the damage was done in the first half as Glasgow ran amok and Edinburgh lost their discipline.

We can beat them

“We know what's coming, and we need to make sure that we're on top of our game and not start off like we did last year when it was a stuttering start, we gave away 12 penalties in the first half,” said Everitt. “They're a good team, they're top of their table in Europe now. But we know that we can beat them, and we have beaten them, so we'll take confidence out of that.”

Edinburgh have enjoyed back-to-back wins over Glasgow at Murrayfield in the last two seasons but Everitt would love to get one over on them at Hampden.

“Definitely it's something that we have reflected on, and our preparation has been different this year than what it was last year, and going into the rest of this week, so we're definitely expecting a better performance,” he said.

Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe, Pierre Schoeman, Grant Gilchrist and skipper Magnus Bradbury are all available to face Glasgow after sitting out the Castres match. The defeat in France came at a cost, however, and Edinburgh will be without Jack Brown and Ross McCann this weekend after the pair picked up head injuries. Everitt expects both to be available for the second leg against Glasgow at Murrayfield on December 27.

James Lang has also been ruled out after injuring his shoulder against Castres. “He's seeing a radiologist – he's got a deltoid injury,” said Everitt.

The better news is that Wes Goosen is available despite having to come off early at Stade Pierre-Fabre with a cut knee.

Everitt has been criticised for selecting an understrength team last Sunday, particularly after making such an impressive start to their Champions Cup campaign by beating three-time winners Toulon at home. It’s Edinburgh’s first time in Europe’s elite competition for three years and they still have to face Gloucester away and Bath at home in January in their bid to qualify for the last 16.

Everitt is also cognisant of the challenges posed by the URC and the scrapping of the rest week at the start of January and he made a business argument for prioritising the 1872 Cup.

“We're trying to make the puzzle work so that we add strength for the most important games of the year,” he said. “And it's a business as well. We've got spectators that are coming to watch us at Murrayfield. We want to be at full strength. We want to be at full strength against Gloucester at home and likewise the Bulls [in the URC next month].”

Edinburgh must now hope their selection policy pays off in the festive double-header as they seek to regain the trophy they last won in 2022.