Scotland internationalist John Hardie will not play for Newcastle Falcons against Edinburgh on Friday evening.

It comes as EPCR this afternoon (Tuesday) announced the list of additional players for Round 3 of the 2018/19 Heineken Champions Cup – Hardie only signed for the Falcons in late-October and was not in their original squad, and despite some impressive performances in the Gallagher Premiership, has not been added for the European match at BT Murrayfied.

However, yesterday, his former Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill was drawn to speaking about the New Zealand-born flanker’s qualities.

“John is a very tough tackler, good over the ball, good engine who just keeps going the whole time,” said Cockerill about the flanker, who has played 16 times for Scotland. “Hardie is a good player, somebody who you will always have to try and keep away from the ball.”

Meanwhile, Glasgow Warriors have added fit-again Tim Swinson to their squad for round three, replacing Bruce Flockhart.