THERE are not too many matches where you get the chance to judge a club's new coaching set-up in isolation. Edinburgh's visit to Cardiff tonight is one of them. It's a clash of teams that have promised more than they have delivered, have not been able to recruit heavily, and where one side's change in coaches is the only substantial change.

A late run last season meant Cardiff did finish a couple of places above Edinburgh, but they spent most of the campaign in the same section of the table. In the direct head-to-head clashes, Cardiff won comfortably at home while Edinburgh looked as though they were going to do the same at Myreside until a collective brain implosion allowed the Welsh to steal an 18-17 victory.

The similarities make this a perfect benchmark for Richard Cockerill and his team. He can take credit for any sign of improvement; though he must also take the blame if the performance looks even worse.

While Cockerill has been careful not to promise any sudden changes in fortune at his new club, he must know that it is in matches like these, against fellow bottom-half opponents, that the first signs of improvement must come.

It is not as though Cardiff have been building up their resources over the summer. They had all sorts of problems which led to plans – later scrapped – for them to be taken over by the Welsh Rugby Union. Their financial state became obvious when they could not come up with their contribution for signing Leigh Halfpenny for a return to his home club on a dual contract with the union and he ended out at the Scarlets instead.

It all means that in terms of personnel, both sides have strong similarities to last season. Cardiff have basically the same coaches in place and the one big change has been in the Edinburgh back room, where Cockerill now calls the shots.

His first competitive selection has seen him stick close to the tried and tested. True, there is a young, ambitious back row led by new captain Magnus Bradbury, when he has a little more experience available, but injury issues account for most of the rest of the changes.

The big problem area is in the front row, where all three of his top looseheads are out, giving Darryl Marfo, the Scots-qualified prop signed over the summer, the starting spot before Michele Rizzo, the Italian prop Cockerill signed on loan from Leicester, his former club, this week, comes off the bench. Both will be making their debuts.

The other only other newcomer is Jason Harries, the wing signed from London Scottish, who gets the nod ahead of the youngsters such as Darcy Graham, while Damien Hoyland is still out with a groin niggle. In the long run, the two major summer signings, Mark Bennett and Robbie Freuan will add to the threat in the back division but they both have knee problems.

Cockerill has also chosen to continue the policy of easing his Scotland players back into action, electing to feed Ross Ford and Ben Toolis back in from the bench. Stuart McInally starts ahead of Ford at hooker while Grant Gilchrist and Anton Bresler – who now qualifies for Scotland on residency and trained with the national team earlier this month – get the lock starting spots ahead of Toolis. All three are highly rated so it is going to be a juggling act all season.

"We’ve got internationals who are coming back in and available, and we’ve got guys that have done 11 or 12 weeks of pre-season," Cockerill explained. "We’ve picked a team which we feel is the right squad, because of the dynamics of bringing international guys back in – some will feature, some won’t.

"It’s a long season so, in the here and now, we’ve picked what I think is the best side to go to Cardiff and win.

"It’s my first experience [of Cardiff Arms Park]. There’s a synthetic field, which will make the game quick, and we’ve not won there for the last four years so it’s going to be a challenge for us.

"The playing group are in a good place, but we need to make sure that we go there and do the job. We’ve got to have a tough mind-set and physically we’ve got to be very good. It’s important that we get off to a good start and bring some points back."

The Welsh are in a similar position with their international players easing back into action while the likes of Sam Warburton, the British & Irish Lions captain, won't be back for several more weeks. Like Edinburgh, they feel the preseason has done them good, with a morale-boosting win over Exeter Chiefs, the English champions, in a friendly last week the highlight.

For Cockerill, the important sign of progress will be whether or not he sees indications that they are putting together the hard-nosed, physical game he is demanding. If he can show he is making a difference, that would be a good start.

Cardiff Blues: M Morgan; A Cuthbert, R Lee-Lo, W Halaholo, A Summerhill; J Evans, L Williams; R Gill, M Rees (C), T Filise, S Davies, D Welch, J Turnbull, J Navidi, N Williams. Replacements: K Myhil, C Domachowski, K Assiratti, M Cook, S Bennett, T Williams, S Shingler, T James.

Edinburgh: B Kinghorn; D Fife, C Dean, J Rasolea, J Harries; D Weir, S Hidalgo-Clyne; D Marfo, S McInally, WP Nel, A Bresler, G Gilchrist, J Ritchie, J Hardie, M Bradbury (C). Replacements: R Ford, M Rizzo, S Berghan, B Toolis, C du Preez, N Fowles, J Tovey, G Bryce.

Referee: Referee: G Clancy (Ireland)