Edinburgh head coach Rob Moffat wants his players to build on the back-to-back victories recorded against Leinster and Aironi and hit the ground running in the club’s first Heineken Cup pool fixture away at Cardiff Blues on Saturday (kick-off 5.45pm, live on Sky Sports via red button).
Edinburgh go into the match buoyed by their recent Magners League double success, and with an enviable record in the Welsh capital of late. Moffat’s side have won on three of their last four visits to Cardiff, including victories in the last competitive match played at the Arms Park and the first at the Cardiff City Stadium.
The Murrayfield head coach has backed his players to seize on those memories and construct the sort of fast start so crucial to a successful European campaign. He said: “We go to Cardiff in a very positive frame of mind after the last couple of games, and mindful of the fact that in this competition, how you fare in the first couple of matches is crucial.
“We can take a lot of confidence from the fact we won all our home pool games last season, but we know the next step is picking up points on the road.
“We’ve done well in Cardiff in the recent past and I’ve been really struck by the determination of the guys to maintain that record and get our campaign off to a positive start.
“There’s been an edge to training this week, just what you would want in the run-up to such an important game. It’s now about carrying that into the match itself and making sure we come away with the right result.”
Moffat has today named a 25-man squad for the fixture. Chris Paterson returns to the fold after missing the win over Aironi because of a foot injury, while Mike Blair, who was withdrawn from the replacements bench for that game after sustaining a slight tweak to his hamstring, is also included.
Back-row forwards Ross Rennie and Netani Talei, neither of whom featured in Italy, are both in the squad, alongside wing/centre David Bishop, who joined Edinburgh on a three-month contract earlier this week.
Moffat will confirm his starting line-up tomorrow. The head coach said: “It’s good to have so many guys putting their hand up for selection.
“This is the sort of game that every player wants to be a part of, and the team we send out on Saturday will be absolutely raring to go.
“It’s vital that we set a positive tone for the campaign as a whole, and set ourselves up well for when we come back to Murrayfield to play Northampton next week (Saturday 16 October, kick-off 1.30pm).”
EDINBURGH SQUAD FOR HEINEKEN CUP POOL 1 MATCH AGAINST CARDIFF BLUES, SATURDAY 9 OCTOBER, CARDIFF CITY STADIUM, KICK-OFF 5.45PM (LIVE ON SKY SPORTS VIA RED BUTTON)
BACKS: Chris Paterson, Jim Thompson, Mark Robertson, Tim Visser, Ben Cairns, Alex Grove, James King, David Bishop, David Blair, Mike Blair, Greig Laidlaw
FORWARDS: Allan Jacobsen, Geoff Cross, Kyle Traynor, David Young, Jack Gilding, Ross Ford, Andrew Kelly, Scott MacLeod, Fraser McKenzie, Craig Hamilton, Netani Talei, Alan Macdonald, Ross Rennie, Roddy Grant.
JOIN THE DEFENDERS OF THE CAPITAL FOR AN AFTERNOON OF HEAVENLY HEINEKEN CUP RUGBY WHEN THE SAINTS COME MARCHING IN. EDINBURGH vs NORTHAMPTON SAINTS, HEINEKEN CUP POOL 1, SATURDAY 16 OCTOBER 2010, MURRAYFIELD STADIUM, KICK-OFF 1.30PM. FOR TICKETS, CLICK HERE, CALL 0131 346 5180 OR VISIT THE MURRAYFIELD TICKET CENTRE IN PERSON.
