Edinburgh are trying to avoid losing their opening four games of a league campaign for the first time ever.

Kevin Millar takes a look at their matchup against the Stormers.

KO 5.15, Hive Stadium, Saturday October 12 2024, Live on Premier Sports 2

  • Edinburgh have lost their last five URC regular season fixtures, their longest streak since 2017 when they were defeated eight times in a row between February and March.
  • This will be the first time that anyone other than Ewan Ashman or Dave Cherry has started at hooker for Edinburgh under head coach Sean Everitt. Patrick Harrison’s only previous start in the URC was back in December 2022 against Munster.
  • Stormers loosehead, Brok Harris, has played 15 previous matches in Scotland and only has a solitary win to show for it (L13, D1). That came at an empty Scotstoun in December 2020 for the Dragons when the veteran prop (who is just over four months shy of his 40th birthday!) bagged the only try he has scored in his last 119 games.
  • Damian Willemse is making his first start at 10 for the Stormers since a Super Rugby match versus Cheetahs in November 2020.

The teams

Edinburgh vs Stormers teamsEdinburgh vs Stormers teams (Image: Kevin Millar) (players in CAPITALS are full capped internationals, numbers in brackets are previous appearances for Edinburgh / Stormers)

Head to Head

Edinburgh vs Stormers head-to-headsEdinburgh vs Stormers head-to-heads (Image: Kevin Millar)

Edinburgh Introductions

Cammy Scott and Harri Morris are in line for their first appearances of the season and could take Edinburgh up to 30 different players used during the first four rounds of the campaign.

It will be a second debut in some ways for Morris.

Harri Morris could make his second appearance for Edinburgh on Saturday - more than three years after his debutHarri Morris could make his second appearance for Edinburgh on Saturday - more than three years after his debut (Image: SNS) Three years and four months ago when he made his only previous appearance, in a game against Ulster, he was a back row and came on to replace Hamish Watson.

Having been converted in the interim to hooker, this should be his first outing in the front row for Edinburgh.

Matchday Milestones

Ben Vellacott will play for the 50th time in the URC (as will Marshall Sykes).

The club co-captain has an evenly balanced record in the tournament – won 24, drawn one, lost 24. Will he have a winning record at full-time on Saturday?

Focal Point

With the Stormers missing nearly a full pack of Springboks (Steven Kitshoff, Joseph Dweba, Frans Malherbe, Salmaan Moerat, Deon Fourie and Evan Roos would make up the guts of an exceptionally powerful unit), Edinburgh  must find ways to take advantage and win the contest up front.

The capital club have opted to go without a specialist openside, neither among the starters nor on the bench.

While Jamie Ritchie and Luke Crosbie will still attack the breakdown with relish, the selection choices do rather suggest that the home side are looking to outmuscle the Stormers in a battle of brute force.

Ben Muncaster's selection on the openside is an intriguing pick by Sean EverittBen Muncaster's selection on the openside is an intriguing pick by Sean Everitt (Image: SNS) Carrying is an area where the pack need to do more. Against the Lions, Magnus Bradbury made more than twice as many runs as the rest of the Edinburgh forwards.

The quantity across the eight needs to improve but so does the quality of carry. None of their pack broke more than a single tackle in the two games on their South African mini tour, while the Bulls and Lions had the likes of Cameron Hanekom and JC Pretorius beating four defenders each.

League form

Edinburgh vs Stormers form guideEdinburgh vs Stormers form guide (Image: Kevin Millar) Track record…

…at home to South African sides in the PRO14/URC era:

  • Seven wins
  • One draw
  • Two losses
  • Five try-scoring bonus points
  • Two losing bonus points
  • 37 points out of a possible 50 (74%)

Previous match-up v Stormers at home:

Officials

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU, 102nd league game); Assistants: Hollie Davidson and Rob McDowell (both SRU); TMO: Tom Spurrier (WRU)

Mr Whitehouse’s record for season 2023/24:

  • Matches – 12
  • Average penalty count – 18.8 per game
  • Home side penalties conceded percentage – 45.1%
  • Average card count – 1.5 per game
  • Penalties per card –12.5

Whitehouse refereed Edinburgh four times last season – only Chris Busby managed as many fixtures with the capital club.

Ben Whitehouse will be the man in charge Ben Whitehouse will be the man in charge (Image: SNS) In total, this will be the 19th time the Welsh whistler has taken charge of an Edinburgh game, dating back to November 2019 and a Challenge Cup meeting with Grenoble.

The experienced official has a relatively moderate penalty count but is quick with the cards when required – he has issued at least one in 18 of his last 20 URC matches.