Sean Everitt named four changes to the Edinburgh Rugby side for Friday’s home finale against Connacht at Hive Stadium, with Magnus Bradbury back at number 8 and Marshall Sykes coming into the second row. The BKT United Rugby Championship match is set for a 7.45pm kickoff and will be shown live on Premier Sports.

Edinburgh are trying to finish the 2025/26 campaign with a fourth consecutive victory after last weekend’s bonus-point win over Dragons RFC at Rodney Parade, where Grant Gilchrist picked up a finger injury that ruled him out for this one. Tom Dodd starts at blindside flanker, Glen Young moves into the second row beside Sykes and Piers O’Conor comes in at outside centre for Mosese Tuipulotu.

The changes leave Edinburgh with a line-up built on continuity as much as rotation. Ross Thompson continues at stand-off alongside scrum-half Hector Patterson, while Ewan Ashman starts after three straight BKT Player of the Match awards in recent games. Pierre Schoeman stays at loosehead prop, Ollie Blyth-Lafferty is selected at tighthead and Freddy Douglas completes the loose trio. Findlay Thomson also keeps his place for a fourth straight start, underlining how much trust Everitt is placing in the young players who have forced their way into the picture.

That youth is a major part of the story. Fifteen players in the 23-man squad have come through Edinburgh’s academy system, the club said, and the matchday group has an average age of 25 with seven players aged 21 or under. Everitt said the competition for places has been fierce and praised the commitment in the group, saying three wins on the bounce has taken real character and that the players care deeply about one another, the city and the supporters.

The fixture is also Edinburgh’s annual Change The Game match, with the club aiming to raise £70,000 for official charity partner It’s Good 2 Give. Everitt said the chance to make it four wins in a row at home, in a match that matters on and off the pitch, is a strong way to close out the season and send supporters away with something to smile about.

For Connacht, the task is simple enough: spoil a home farewell and halt an Edinburgh side that has found momentum at the right time. For Everitt, the selection suggests he is backing the blend that has carried the team through the closing weeks — experience in the spine, academy graduates in key roles and enough continuity to make one final push count.