Edinburgh Head Coach Richard Cockerill has welcomed back seven Scotland international players into his starting XV for this weekend’s Heineken Champions Cup match against RC Toulon.
Scotland stars Blair Kinghorn, Henry Pyrgos, Stuart McInally, WP Nel, Ben Toolis, Grant Gilchrist and Hamish Watson all return to action after being rested in last weekend’s Guinness PRO14 win against Southern Kings.
All of which means that it is the bulk of the team that faced down Glasgow over the festive period are set to take on an out-of-sorts Toulon side. A a knockout slot for the first time since 2012 is the prize for Edinburgh if they can pull it off, but Edinburgh have only won away in France twice in 19 attempts.
Also worth looking out for: Darcy Graham vs Julian Savea.
RC Toulon: 15. Mathieu Smaili, 14. JP Pietersen, 13. Mathieu Bastareaud (c), 12. Francois Trinh-Duc, 11. Julian Savea, 10. Anthony Belleau, 9. Rhys Webb; 1. Jean Baptiste Gros, 2. Guilhem Guirado, 3. Emerick Setiano, 4. Juandré Kruger, 5. Romain Taofifenua, 6. Stephane Onambele Mbarga, 7. Facundo Isa, 8. Raphael Lakafia.
Replacements:16. Anthony Etrillard, 17. Xavier Chiocci, 18. Marcel Van Der Merwe, 19. Jean Monribot, 20. Louis Carbonel, 21. Antoine Zeghdar, 22. Yoann Cottin, 23. Mamuka Gorgodze.
Edinburgh Rugby: 15. Blair Kinghorn, 14. Darcy Graham, 13. James Johnstone, 12. Chris Dean, 11. Duhan Van Der Merwe, 10. Jaco van der Walt, 9. Henry Pyrgos; 1. Pierre Schoeman, 2. Stuart McInally (capt), 3. WP Nel, 4. Ben Toolis, 5. Grant Gilchrist, 6. Jamie Ritchie, 7. Hamish Watson, 8. Viliame Mata.
Replacements:16. David Cherry, 17. Allan Dell, 18. Simon Berghan, 19. Fraser McKenzie, 20. Luke Crosbie, 21. Nathan Fowles, 22. Simon Hickey, 23. Juan Pablo Socino.
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Unavailable due to injury: Pietro Ceccarelli; Rory Sutherland; Lewis Carmichael; John Barclay; Magnus Bradbury; Senitiki Nayalo; Luke Hamilton; Matt Scott; Mark Bennett; Damien Hoyland.
Dave Rennie’s Glasgow have struggled for form in recent weeks but a full strength team is set to welcome Cardiff to Scotstoun in an effort to jump-start things before the 6 Nations splinters the squad.
The only notable absence from the regular pack is Jonny Gray who is carrying a shoulder injury but it does give Rob Harley a chance to make his 200th appearance for Glasgow when he packs down in the boilerhouse beside Scott Cummings. Ryan Wilson is set for his 150th appearance.
Stuart Hogg is back from injury while the main change in the backs is Brandon Thomson starting at standoff as Adam Hastings drops to the bench.
Glasgow Warriors: 15. Stuart Hogg, 14. Tommy Seymour, 13. Nick Grigg, 12. Samuel Johnson, 11. DTH van der Merwe, 10. Brandon Thomson, 9. Ali Price; 1. Oli Kebble, 2. Grant Stewart, 3. D’Arcy Rae, 4. Robert Harley, 5. Scott Cummings, 6. Ryan Wilson, 7. Callum Gibbins (capt), 8. Matt Fagerson.
Replacements: 16. Kevin Bryce, 17. Alex Allan, 18. Petrus du Plessis, 19. Tim Swinson, 20. Chris Fusaro, 21. George Horne, 22. Adam Hastings, 23. Lee Jones.
Cardiff Blues: 15. Dan Fish, 14. Owen Lane, 13. Harri Millard, 12. Willis Halaholo, 11. Tom James, 10. Steven Shingler, 9. Lloyd Williams; 1. Brad Thyer, 2. Matthew Rees (c), 3. Dillon Lewis, 4. George Earle, 5. Rory Thornton, 6. Shane Lewis-Hughes, 7. Josh Navidi, 8. Seb Davies.
Replacements: 16. Ethan Lewis, 17. Rhys Carre, 18. Scott Andrews, 19. Macauley Cook, 20. Nick Williams, 21. Tomos Williams, 22. Jarrod Evans, 23. Aled Summerhill.
Referee: JP Doyle (England)
Players unavailable through injury: Fraser Brown (knee), Alex Dunbar (thigh), Zander Fagerson (ankle), Jonny Gray (shoulder), Siua Halanukonuka (calf), Pete Horne (knee), Niko Matawalu (illness), Robbie Nairn (knee) and George Turner (ankle).
In other news, John Hardie, Gary Graham and Chris Harris are all in action for Newcastle, Finn Russell has the reins at Racing and Jake Kerr, Sam Skinner and Sean Maitland start for their clubs.