Scotland internationals Darcy Graham, Chris Dean, Ben Toolis and Luke Crosbie are all released back to Edinburgh for the Guinness PRO14 encounter with Dragons at BT Murrayfield tomorrow (kick-off 7.35pm).
International back-row Magnus Bradbury also returns from injury to feature for the first time in four months. The four-times capped back-row is one of eight internationalists named in the starting XV.
Henry Pyrgos captains the side which also sees winger and top try-scorer Duhan van der Merwe return to action after missing the match against Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth last month.
Head Coach Richard Cockerill, said: “The next block of matches are pivotal for us and we can’t afford to slip up. Everyone is extremely close at the top of Conference B, so we know the importance of this group of fixtures.
“It starts against Dragons tomorrow night. They are a tough, competitive side with plenty of attacking threats across the park. We’re determined to get back to winning ways and we’ll have to be at our best for the full 80 minutes tomorrow evening.”
Edinburgh Rugby: Dougie Fife, Darcy Graham, James Johnstone, Chris Dean, Duhan van der Merwe, Jaco van der Walt Henry Pyrgos (c); Pierre Schoeman, Ross Ford, Pietro Ceccarelli, Fraser McKenzie, Ben Toolis, Magnus Bradbury, Luke Crosbie, Viliame Mata
Replacements: David Cherry, Rory Sutherland, Murray McCallum, Callum Hunter-Hill, Ally Miller, Nathan Fowles, Simon Hickey, Juan Pablo Socino
