Edinburgh look to continue their recent purple patch flush with confidence as they welcome Zebre to BT Murrayfield tonight in the Guinness PRO12.
The capital side, derided as dull and defensive for much of the last few seasons, have opened out in their last three games with 22 tries scored – that’s more than half the total they scored in 22 games in the PRO12 in all of last season.
Zebre prop up the PRO12 and lost their international hooker Oliviero Fabianio to a nine-week ban for biting and seem ripe for another display of the new Edinburgh, but acting head coach Duncan Hodge preaches caution and the need to keep building.
““We’ve named a fairly settled squad for this week as we go back into Guinness PRO12 action and look to build on the three consecutive wins.
“We’ve had a good week of training as positivity and confidence continues to build, but our focus remains on continuing to perform and gather momentum in the championship.
“The support last week at BT Murrayfield was outstanding and we can’t wait to get back out in front of our home fans and put in another performance they can be proud of.”
Hodge makes four changes to the team that beat Harlequins, all in the pack, with Felipe Arregui and Viliame Mata making their first home starts for the club.
The Argentine prop replaces the injured WP Nel with Stuart McInally also coming into the front row in place of Ross Ford. John Hardie returns for Hamish Watson at openside with Mata going to blindside and Magnus Bradbury moving into Nasi Manu’s slot at No 8.
Team: B Kinghorn; D Hoyland, C Dean, P Burleigh, T Brown; J Tovey, S Kennedy; A Dell, S McInally, F Arregui; B Toolis, G Gilchrist; V Mata, J Hardie, M Bradbury.
Replacements: R Ford, J Cosgrove, M McCallum, F McKenzie, C Du Preez, S Hidalgo-Clyne, M Allen, G Bryce.
