Bradbury Returns as Edinburgh Name Four Changes for Connacht | Ulster V Glasgow
Sean Everitt named four changes to Edinburgh Rugby’s starting side for the BKT United Rugby Championship home finale against Connacht on Friday 15 May 2026. The match at Hive Stadium kicks off at 7.45pm, with Edinburgh aiming to finish the 2025/26 campaign with a fourth consecutive victory.
Magnus Bradbury returns at number 8 in place of Tom Currie, bringing the club captain back into the starting XV for a fixture that also carries an off-field target. Edinburgh’s annual Change The Game game is being used to raise £70,000 for Official Charity Partner It’s Good 2 Give.
Everitt Reshapes Edinburgh
Marshall Sykes comes into the second row after Grant Gilchrist was ruled out with a finger injury sustained against Dragons RFC at Rodney Parade. Tom Dodd starts at blindside flanker, and Glen Young moves into the second row alongside Sykes, giving Edinburgh a different balance in the pack for the last home game of the season.
Piers O’Conor replaces Mosese Tuipulotu at outside centre. The rest of the back line keeps its shape, with Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe and Harry Paterson retained in the back three, while Findlay Thomson makes his fourth straight start in midfield.
Bradbury Leads The Pack
Ross Thompson continues at stand-off alongside scrum-half Hector Patterson, and Ewan Ashman stays at hooker after winning the BKT Player of the Match award in three straight games. Pierre Schoeman and Ollie Blyth-Lafferty join him in the front row, while the squad’s age profile underlines how much youth is in the mix: 15 of the 23 players have come through Edinburgh’s academy, the average age is 25, and seven are 21 or under.
Everitt said the competition for places has been fierce and that the squad’s recent run has come from real commitment. He also pointed to the chance to make it four wins in a row at Hive Stadium, in a fixture that matters to the club off the pitch as well as on it, and to send supporters away with something to smile about.
Hive Stadium Finale
The combination of a lineup shuffle, Bradbury’s return and Gilchrist’s absence gives Edinburgh a changed look for a match that closes their home schedule and carries a fundraising target as well as points. With Connacht coming to Hive Stadium and Premier Sports carrying the game live, Edinburgh’s selection is built around one clear objective: finish strong.
