Sean Everitt has made just three changes to his Edinburgh team for the home friendly against Bath. Perhaps more significantly, however, the senior coach has named a far smaller squad - with only eight on the bench - than for last week’s game against Connacht.
The capital club were 19-7 ahead at half-time against the Irish province but went on to lose 45-19 after Everitt made 14 changes at the break. This time round, with the new league season just a fortnight away, the coach plans something far more akin to competitive match conditions.
Two of the three alterations are in the back division, where club captain and scrum-half Ben Vellacott returns from paternity leave and Jordan Edmunds comes in on the left wing. Up front, Patrick Harrison takes over at hooker from Adam McBurney, who has been unable to train fully this week because of illness. New tighthead prop D'Arcy Rae has a place on an eight-man bench
“This will be a great test for the squad and a good measure of where we’re at both physically and mentally ahead of the start of the URC campaign," Everitt said. “We were really happy with a number of aspects of our game against Connacht, especially our defensive intensity and ability to turn pressure into points in the opening 40 minutes.”
Bath have an English Premiership Cup match against Exeter Chiefs so have had to split their resources. They have brought 28 players north - including Scotland squad member Ruaridh McConnochie, who starts on the left wing - and plan to make rolling replacements.
Bath have announced that their Scotland international forward Josh Bayliss, who just missed out on a place in Gregor Townsend’s World Cup squad, has had surgery on a thigh injury sustained in pre-season training. He is expected to be out of action until the end of January.
Edinburgh (v Bath at Hive Stadium, [Friday] 7.30pm): N Sweeney; R McCann, W Goosen, M Bennett, J Edmunds; C Scott, B Vellacott (captain); B Venter, P Harrison, A Williams, G Young, J Hodgson, T Dodd, C Boyle, C Neild. Replacements: A McBurney, R Hislop, D Rae, L McConnell, M Eadie, C Shiel, C Savala, C Dean, M Currie.
Bath: C Donoghue; G Goss, L Hennessey, M Wright, R McConnochie; S Harris, T Carr-Smith; A Cordwell, J Spandler, K Verden, J Tonks, E Richards (captain), E Staddon, T Cowan, A Green. Replacements: M Pearce, M Summerfield, A Griffin, M Graham, E Erksine, J Dingley, A Akenzua Al-Kareem, N Merigan, I Davies, G Worboys, W Parry, L Graham, W Sela.
