Cardiff v Edinburgh: Teams

Sam Norton-Knight has been handed the task of filling the void left by Nicky Robinson for Cardiff's Magners League opener against Edinburgh.

Norton-Knight, who arrived in the summer from the Waratahs, had been employed at full-back down under despite preferring to wear the No.10 jersey.

And with Robinson, who scored 666 points in 125 appearances for the Blues, having left to join Gloucester, the Australian will get the chance to shine in his favoured role.

Coach Dai Young has also included Leigh Halfpenny, whose Lions tour was ruined by injury, and Wales international Chris Czekaj in his starting XV, while Darren Morris stands in for the injured Gethin Jenkins.

However Cardiff will be without the rested Tom Shanklin, Jamie Roberts, Andy Powell and Martyn Williams.

Young, though, is looking for his side to make a fast start to the campaign.

"From our point of view, our early form in the Magners League put us under a bit of pressure towards the end of the last campaign, so we have to make sure that we start well this year," he said.

Impressed

New Edinburgh coach Rob Moffat has handed a debut to Dutch winger Tim Visser.

The 22-year-old, who has joined the capital club from Newcastle, has impressed in pre-season to get his chance.

Scotland's record points scorer Chris Paterson has been passed fit to play after shaking off a hip problem, while Phil Godman will start at fly-half.

Simon Webster and Jim Hamilton both miss the trip through injury, while Lions duo Mike Blair and Ross Ford are rested.

Edinburgh have had a good record against the Blues in recent years, but Moffat is expecting a tough encounter.

"It will be a physical game. We have won on our two previous trips to Cardiff and we know what they are about," he said.

"They are a strong, powerful outfit. We know that if we are going to win there again on Friday that we have to be on top of our game.

"We need to match Cardiff physically and if we can do that then we will be able to play our game."

Cardiff Blues: 15 Ben Blair, 14 Leigh Halfpenny, 13 Gareth Thomas, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Chris Czekaj, 10 Sam Norton-Knight, 9 Gareth Cooper, 8 Xavier Rush, 7 Robin Sowden-Taylor, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Paul Tito (capt), 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Gary Powell, 2 Gareth Williams, 1 Darren Morris.
Replacements: 16 Taufa'ao Filise, 17 T Rhys Thomas, 18 Scott Morgan, 19 Sam Warburton, 20 Richie Rees, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Dafydd James.

Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Mark Robertson, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 John Houston, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Allister Hogg (capt), 7 Roddy Grant, 6 Alan MacDonald, 5 Scott MacLeod, 4 Craig Hamilton, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Sean Crombie, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Steve Turnbull, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Ross Samson, 21 David Blair, 22 Nick De Luca.