DUNCAN Hodge has made 11 changes to his Edinburgh team for today’s Challenge Cup pool game against Timisoara Saracens, despite the fact they had their best result of the season last week. The alterations from the side who beat Treviso 45-12 in the PRO12 include what is just a second start of the season for scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, who has struggled to get a regular run of games this year.

The scale of the changes may reflect the acting head coach’s faith in the depth of the squad, but they are certainly not an indication, according to Hidalgo-Clyne, that Edinburgh are not taking the Challenge Cup seriously. They still have fond memories of their campaign two years ago, when they reached the final, and the international scrum-half believes his team can go far in this competition at the same time as trying to climb the PRO12 table towards that elusive spot in the top six.

“Obviously it was a massive disappointment for us when we lost the final to Gloucester two seasons ago, but beating the Dragons at home in the semi-final was a big one for us,” Hidalgo-Clyne recalled yesterday. “We got a good crowd at Murrayfield that day, and it showed how well we can play.

“I’m hoping for a good run in the Challenge Cup this season too, starting tomorrow - it’s important we get a good result after the changes there have been at the club, for our supporters as well as for ourselves.

“The most important thing is to get into the top six of the PRO12, so in that sense the league is the priority. But as a club we’ve never said that one is more important than the other. We’ve gone strong on both and tried for consistency. We had a good win last week in the PRO12, but we need to back it up this week, then go down to Harlequins before we go back to the PRO12.”

The past 12 months have been frustrating for the 23-year-old scrum-half, who was given little game time during last year’s World Cup and has had little or no opportunity to play his way back into the sort of form that won him Scotland caps in the first place. After his first start of the season, against Munster, he was left out of the next starting line-up in favour of Sean Kennedy: this time, he intends to seize his chance and become a regular in the team again.

“I’ve not really played much at all, so I’m just looking forward to getting out there. It’s always difficult when you’re not playing, because there are a lot of questions from the outside, and you almost always doubt yourself. So first and foremost you need to maintain your confidence and wait for your opportunity to come - and when it does come, you need to grasp it.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge. I just want to go out there and have fun - that’s the most important thing for me, because I play my best rugby when I’m happy and I’m enjoying myself.”

Timisoara may be an unknown quantity, but Hidalgo-Clyne thinks he and his team-mates - the pack in particular - may all have to play their best rugby if they are to come away with a result. “We’ve studied them a bit. We played the full Romanian national side at the Greenyards at the start of last season - I didn’t play in that game, but it has given us an insight into what to expect.

“But we’ve been looking at ourselves first and foremost - the most important thing for us is to concentrate on our own game. In the last few weeks, little moments have cost us - little lapses in concentration. It’s a cliche, I know, but we really do need to play for the 80 minutes,

“We’ve just got to keep it really simple and dominate up front. Our set piece has to be on point, and we need to be smart and avoid those lapses in concentration.”

Three players will start for Edinburgh for the first time today - winger Alex Northam and Fijian forward Viliame Mata make their debuts, while academy prop Murray McCallum starts after making his debut as a replacement last weekend. Junior Rasolea and Sasa Tofilau resume their partnership at centre, meaning Michael Allen reverts to the wing. The other change in the back division sees Rory Scholes come in at full-back for Blair Kinghorn, who is among the substitutes.

The front row is completely changed from last week, with Allan Dell replacing Rory Sutherland and captain Stuart McInally coming in for Ross Ford in addition to McCallum’s selection in place of Ewan McQuillin. Fraser McKenzie is in at lock for Grant Gilchrist, and John Hardie returns to the back row instead of the injured Hamish Watson.

Timisoara Saracens (v Edinburgh Rugby at the Dan Paltinisanu Stadium, today, noon British time): C Fercu; F Tangimana, B Sefanaia, J Umaga, S Shennan; J Rose, V Calafeteanu; G Militaru, E Capatana, H Pungea, V Popirlan, M Drenceanu, D Ianus, V Rus, S Burcea. Substitutes: A Radoi, E Aholelei, S Maris, I Muresan, R Morrison, G Conache, T Manumua, D Zaharia.

Edinburgh: R Scholes; A Northam, S Tofilau, J Rasolea, M Allen; J Tovey, S Hidalgo-Clyne; A Dell, S McInally, M McCallum, F McKenzie, B Toolis, V Mata, J Hardie, N Manu. Substitutes: N Cochrane, R Sutherland, J Cosgrove, L Carmichael, V Fihaki, N Fowles, B Kinghorn, G Bryce.