Travel info for Six Nations fans

Rugby fans heading to watch Scotland in the Six Nations at BT Murrayfield Stadium this month are being advised to take note of traffic and travel information.

In their first of two sell-out home matches this tournament, the boys in navy blue will take on France tomorrow at 3pm before meeting England in the Calcutta Cup on Saturday 24 February, kicking off at 4.45pm.

To ensure pedestrian safety and to minimise traffic disruption, pedestrian diversions will be implemented around the Haymarket Station area.

The Council is working with Police Scotland to keep road and pedestrian traffic moving smoothly before and after the games.

Edinburgh Trams will be running services to the Stadium from every three minutes, with extra staff on hand to help customers.

Transport Convener Councillor Lesley Macinnes said: “There’s always a great buzz in the city when Scotland’s playing at home in the Six Nations. As ever, we’d advise match-goers and anyone planning to travel through the city centre on match days to allow plenty of time for their journey.

Whether you’re getting there by bus, tram or on foot, it’s a good idea to plan your trip to and from Murrayfield in advance as it’s bound to be very busy. Have fun and good luck Scotland!”

A number of temporary road closures and parking restrictions will be in place in the Haymarket area for a number of hours on match days.

Police and stewards will be on hand to help direct members of the public from the Stadium to the city centre.

Those heading back into the city centre on foot will be diverted left off the main road up Magdala Crescent to continue back into town.

Pedestrians travelling by rail from Haymarket Station will be guided along the main road towards Haymarket and stewards will be on hand to provide further assistance and advice as they approach the Station.

Russell Road will also be available for those pedestrians making their way back towards the Dalry area and as an alternative route to the city centre.

Information about getting to and from BT Murrayfield Stadium by bus, tram or rail for the Six Nations 2018 can be found on the Scottish Rugby website.

Full details of temporary road closures and parking restrictions are available on the Council website.

Scotland ring the changes for French test

Head Coach Gregor Townsend has made six changes to the starting Scotland side for this Sunday’s NatWest 6 Nations match against France at a sold-out BT Murrayfield Stadium (live on BBC, kick off 3pm.) The changes come on the back of a hugely disappointing performance in Cardiff last Saturday when Scotland were hammered 34 – 7 by Wales in the opening Six Nations encounter.

The changes are split evenly between the backs and forwards with scrum-half Greig Laidlaw, wing Sean Maitland and centre Pete Horne promoted from the bench into the back-line, while lock Grant Gilchrist and back-row Ryan Wilson do likewise into the pack.

Tighthead prop Simon Berghan is the only starting addition from outwith last weekend’s match-day 23, becoming available at the end of a six-week suspension.

Scotland Head Coach Gregor Townsend, said: “As a group we’re delighted to be playing at home in front of another sell-out crowd at BT Murrayfield and are looking forward to putting in a performance that can energise our supporters.

“To do that we need to out-work the opposition and be more accurate in a number of aspects of our play.

“We’ve seen a response from the players in training this week and that needs to continue into and through the 80-plus minutes of the match because France will pose a massive and immensely-physical challenge.”

Laidlaw is reunited with stand-off Finn Russell at half-back, with this Sunday’s Test the scrum-half’s first Scotland start since being injured in the corresponding fixture last year in Paris, with British & Irish Lions selection and subsequent injuries keeping the former captain out of contention until last weekend’s return as a replacement in Cardiff.

Maitland comes in for injured Sale Sharks wing McGuigan (hamstring) to join Stuart Hogg and Tommy Seymour in the back-three, while Horne is deployed in midfield in place of Chris Harris (who joins the bench), with Huw Jones returning to the outside-centre role he has occupied in his previous 11 Tests for Scotland.

The remaining changes see Gilchrist and Wilson start in place of Ben Toolis (who moves to the bench) and Cornell du Preez, who drops out of the match-day 23.

Jonny Gray, Hamish Watson and captain John Barclay are reselected to complete the back-five of the scrum, while Stuart McInally and Gordon Reid return to join Berghan in the front-row.

Worcester Warriors back-row David Denton and in-form and uncapped outside back Blair Kinghorn take the places vacated by Wilson and Maitland on the bench.

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davepickering

Edinburgh reporter and photographer