Edinburgh v Racing Metro: Teams
Edinburgh will be looking to make it two wins from two in the Heineken Cup when they take on a hurting Racing-Metro at Murrayfield.
Last Updated: 17/11/11 3:07pm
Edinburgh have made three changes to their starting XV for their Heineken Cup Pool Two clash with Racing Metro at Murrayfield on Friday.
The hosts will be looking to make it two wins from two in the competition when they take on the French outfit after starting their European campaign with victory over London Irish.
Skipper Greig Laidlaw comes in at scrum-half to replace Mike Blair, who drops to the bench, while the two remaining changes come in the back row.
Roddy Grant will start alongside Netani Talei at flanker, with Ross Rennie dropping to the bench and injured David Denton out of the squad completely.
Try-scoring wing Tim Visser is also included in the starting line-up and says a win at home could be crucial to their hopes of progressing to the knockout stages.
"There are only six games in the Heineken Cup pool stages, so if you win your home games and pick something up on the road then you're putting yourself in contention," he said.
Difficult
"We've managed to do one of the difficult elements, which is winning away from home, but we need to win our home games to really put ourselves up there and in a chance of progressing in European competition.
"This Racing Metro match was always going to be a tough and physical game but we have to back it up our away wins with a big performance in front of a big crowd."
Racing Metro have handed a start to Jonathan Wisniewski at full-back ahead of Gaeten Germain, who drops out of the match-day 22 completely.
Other changes to the backline see Sereli Bobo replaced by Julien Saubade, while France international Fabrice Estebanez also misses out to Guillaume Bousses at inside centre.
There are also changes up front, with Johannes Coetzee and Mikaele Tuugahala in for prop duo Juan Pablo Orlandi and Andrea Lo Cicero respectively.
Lionel Nallett comes in for Jone Qovu Nailiko at lock while Antoine Batut makes way for Bernard Le Roux.
Edinburgh: 15 Jim Thompson, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick De Luca, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Harry Leonard, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Stuart McInally, 7 Roddy Grant, 6 Netani Talei, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Esteban Lozada, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Steve Lawrie, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Lewis Niven, 19 Steven Turnbull, 20 Ross Rennie, 21 Mike Blair, 22 James King, 23 Tom Brown.
Racing Metro: 15 Jonathan Wisniewski, 14 Julien Saubade, 13 Henry Chavancy, 12 Guillaume Bousses, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Juan Martin Hernandez, 9 Mathieu Loree, 8 Sebastien Chabal, 7 Bernard Le Roux, 6 John Leo'o, 5 Lionel Nallet, 4 Karim Ghezal, 3 Johannes Coetzee, 2 Benjamin Noirot, 1 Mikaele Tuugahala.
Replacements: 16 Thomas Bianchin, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 19 Jone Qovu Nailiko, 20 Sebastien Descons, 21 Virimi Vakatawa, 22 Antoine Batut, 23 Remi Vaquiin.