Edinburgh v Ospreys: Teams

Edinburgh will be seeking their first Magners League win over Welsh opposition at home to the Ospreys on Saturday.

Interim head coach Nick Scrivener has made six personnel changes in the Edinburgh side that last to Cardiff last time out and two positional switches.

One of these sees Greig Laidlaw move from scrum-half to fly-half, a role he fulfilled on a regular basis in his younger days with Jed Thistle and Jed Forest.

In the only back-line personnel change, Mike Blair returns from Scotland service to take the number nine jersey, with younger sibling David named among the replacements.

Confidence

Up front, loose-head prop Kyle Traynor, tight-head David Young, second row Scott MacLeod, and loose forwards Fraser McKenzie and Scott Newlands all return to the starting line-up.

McKenzie will be at blindside flanker and Newlands at openside, with David Denton, who started at No.6 against the Blues, switching to number eight.

Netani Talei, who filled that position last time out, is currently undergoing treatment and assessment from the Edinburgh medical team after dislocating his wrist in a tackle during a training session.

The Fijian is joined by fellow back-row forwards Roddy Grant, Ross Rennie, Alan MacDonald and Stuart McInally on the list of players unavailable for the Ospreys match because of injury.

"It's disappointing to have a few boys out, especially in a single area of the team, but we've a lot of confidence in the back row we'll be fielding on Saturday and it's a big opportunity for those players," said Scrivener.

"The three guys we've got in there will ensure there's a lot of physicality to our game, and we know that's an essential requirement against a team like Ospreys.

"Elsewhere, we've decided to try something a bit different at stand-off, and I've been really pleased with how Greig has responded to the idea through what he's done in training. He's played a good bit of youth and club rugby there, and we're keen to give him a run.

"He'll play to the line, he's got a really good passing game and he's a clear communicator. Those are pretty good building blocks for anyone playing fly-half, and I'm in no doubt that Greig will deliver."

Explaining his decision to name hooker Andrew Kelly as captain for this match, Scrivener said: "When I first took this role, I made it clear that I'd be looking at the captaincy on a match-by-match basis, and with Greig switching position, it's right that we don't overload him.

"Ned (Kelly) is a senior, experienced player. Given the way that Ospreys are likely to come at us through their pack, I look forward to him leading from the front."

Buzz

Four players who have been part of the Edinburgh Elite Development group this year, front-rows Alun Walker and Robin Hislop, back-row forward Struan Dewar and full-back Tom Brown, are among the replacements.

Ospreys are boosted by the return of a host of internationals which has allowed Scott Johnson to make six changes to the team that beat Glasgow last time out.

Tommy Bowe and Nikki Walker come in on the wings while Ryan Jones slots in at number eight. It's all change in the front row, with Adam Jones, Huw Bennett and Duncan Jones returning to the fray.

Despite fielding a strong side against a struggling Edinburgh outfit, forwards coach Jonathan Humphreys is taking nothing for granted.

"It's going to be difficult 80 minutes for us, it always is up there. It's not a place where we've won very often in the past and that is something that we'll need to change this weekend," he said.

"Edinburgh will have a large number of Scottish internationals returning after a good win last weekend, so they will be confident and they will want to keep that buzz going.

"As far as we are concerned, there will be an expectation on the returning players to get up to speed as quickly as possible. It's vital that they work hard and do their homework, to ensure they fully understand the 'Ospreys way' and what is expected of them,' he added.

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 Scott Newlands, 6 Fraser McKenzie, 5 Esteban Lozada, 4 Scott MacLeod, 3 David Young, 2 Andrew Kelly (c), 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Alun Walker, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Steven Turnbull, 20 Struan Dewar, 21 Lee Jones, 22 David Blair, 23 Tom Brown.

Ospreys: 15 Richard Fussell, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Ryan Jones, 7 Justin Tipuric (Capt), 6 Tom Smith, 5 Ian Evans, 4 Ian Gough, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Duncan Jones.
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Cai Griffiths, 19 Alun Wyn Jones, 20 Jerry Collins, 21 Tom, Isaacs, 22 James Hook, 23 Andrew Bishop.