Edinburgh’s rich vein of home form has put them back in with a chance of the Magners League play-offs, but it needs to continue against the Scarlets on Saturday night in what will be their last match at Murrayfield for nearly two months.
Rob Moffat’s side play three successive matches away from home in the league once the Heineken Cup pool stages are complete and the Six Nations starts, meaning that a sixth home win in a row to follow last week’s victory over Glasgow is a must.
The Scarlets have a poor record at Murrayfield, but head coach Moffat warned that a match against the resurgent west Wales region, featuring Scotland wing Sean Lamont, would be no pushover.
“It’s great to come into the Scarlets game on the back of a good win against Glasgow and, while we certainly take a lot of confidence from that result, it’s vital everyone understands that this is another huge challenge.
“It’s the first of a number of massive tests coming up over the next few weeks, and it’s crucial that we maintain our winning momentum to take into those other matches.
“Scarlets are a challenging team to play againstNigel Davies has them playing a positive brand of rugby and they ask a lot of questions of your defence.
“We’ll need everyone to front up as well as they did in the Glasgow win, and we’ll also need to show the same level of ambition and threat in attack.
“It was a tight game the last time Scarlets came here in March 2010, and I’m sure Saturday will be no different.
“We need a strong set piece to give us the right sort of platform to attack from, and we’ll have to be aggressive and alert in defence.”
The Scarlets will host Edinburgh at the end of the away run that takes in Newport and Munster as well, and there are six changes to the side that held on to beat Glasgow, with last-gasp interception hero Jim Thompson one of those making way.
Chris Paterson returns to full-back having recovered from a shoulder injury and will assume the captaincy, with Roddy Grant among those being rested this week.Fantastic backingFellow back-rower Ross Rennie also takes a break, having played both ends of the 1872 Cup double-header, with Stuart McInally and Alan MacDonald coming in, while Scott MacLeod returns from his one-game suspension after his sending-off in the first leg against the Warriors.
In the backs, Nick De Luca makes his first start of the season in place of Ben Cairns while Mike Blaira replacement against Glasgow last weekreturns to the starting line-up for the first time since suffering his elbow injury at the beginning of last month.
“It’s great to have Mossy (Paterson) ready for this match, and we’re also delighted that Nick is now in a position to be starting games and bringing his influence to bear.
“The switches in the back row are because Roddy and Ross have both played a lot of big games recently, while Stuart and Alan have been champing at the bit to be more involved.
“It’s a good chance for both those guys to really stake a claim, and they’re certainly very good rugby players.”
Moffat also paid tribute to the Edinburgh fans’ encouragement at the thrilling end of their win against Glasgow.
“Late on in the Glasgow game, when we were on the back foot, it was fantastic to hear that backing and it really kept the boys going.
“It would be great to get another big crowd and another positive result on Saturday.”
Edinburgh team (vs Llanelli Scarlets, Magners League, Murrayfield, Saturday 6.30pm): Chris Paterson, Lee Jones, Nick De Luca, John Houston, Tim Visser, David Blair, Mike Blair, Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, Geoff Cross, Scott MacLeod, Fraser McKenzie, Stuart McInally, Alan MacDonald, Netani Talei. Replacements-Andrew Kelly, Kyle Traynor, David Young, Craig Hamilton, Scott Newlands, Greig Laidlaw, James King, Simon Webster.