Edinburgh v Aironi: Teams
Edinburgh have been warned to expect a rough ride when they face Aironi at Murrayfield on Friday.
By Tony Curtis - Twitter: @SkySportsTC
Last Updated: 14/04/11 10:38am
Edinburgh have been warned to expect a rough ride when they face Aironi at Murrayfield on Friday.
Edinburgh may have toppled the Ospreys 23-17 in their last outing at home, but they were given a stern examination by the Italians in Lombardy last October.
Edinburgh needed David Blair's conversion of Allan Jacobsen's last-minute try to seal a one-point win back then - and interim coach Nick Scrivener is expecting another difficult encounter.
"Aironi are a direct sort of side who have the players and the systems to really hurt you if you let them play their own game," he said.
Tenacious
"Our aim has to be to control possession and play the match on our terms. We know from the game in Italy that we'll be up against a tenacious outfit who will fight to the very last, and I'll be looking for the same sort of desire, impetus and execution from our guys that we saw against Ospreys."
Edinburgh welcome back Roddy Grant and Ben Cairns to their starting XV, with Scott Newlands and Nick De Luca missing out.
Aironi will welcome back a host of their international contingent for the trip to Scotland.
Quintin Geldenhuys, Pablo Canavosio, Salvatore Perugini and Fabio Ongaro are among those returning to action - although Carlo Del Fava is out injured.
Edinburgh: 15 Jim Thompson, 14 Simon Webster, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 James King, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 David Denton, 7 Roddy Grant, 6 Fraser McKenzie, 5 Esteban Lozada, 4 Scott MacLeod, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Andrew Kelly (c), 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Alun Walker, 17 Lewis Niven, 18 David Young, 19 Steven Turnbull, 20 Stuart McInally, 21 Nick De Luca, 22 Lee Jones, 23 Chris Paterson.
Aironi: 15 Giulio Rubini, 14 Kaine Robertson, 13 Gilberto Pavan, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Danwel Demas, 10 James Marshall, 9 Pablo Canavosio, 1 Salvatore Perugini, 2 Fabio Onagro, 3 Ulyses Gamboa, 4 Marco Bortolami, 5 Quintin Geldenhuys (c), 6 Nicola Cattina, 7 Gareth Krause, 8 Nick Williams
Replacements: 16 Luigi Ferraro, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Fabio Staibano, 19 George Biagi, 20 Jaco Erasmus, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Gabriel Pizarro, 23 Riccardo Bocchino
