NOBODY can say the Edinburgh players had not been warned. Richard Cockerill, the new head coach, made it clear from day one that if they didn't perform they would be axed and with seven changes from the side that lost to Benetton Treviso, he has lived up to his promise.

"We’ll change some aspects of our game for obvious reasons. Some lads need an opportunity; some didn’t take their opportunity. Seven changes is plenty, we need to make sure we perform a lot better,” Cockerill explained.

The biggest casualty is Damien Hoyland, the wing, whose star seemed to be on the rise when he was winning caps in the summer. He has been dropped entirely from the squad and sent off to play for Boroughmuir with Tom Brown coming in to make his first start of the season.

"I don’t think Damien Hoyland played well enough," was Cockerill's simple, if brutal explanation. "Tom Brown is an experienced Edinburgh player and deserves his opportunity and I didn’t think there was any harm in giving him that chance. He’s played over 100 games for the club and he gets his opportunity. It’s as simple as that.

"If you are in the side but you don’t take your opportunity and play how you can, there is always the chance someone else will get theirs.”

He has also dropped Robbie Fruean, the high-profile New Zealander, to the bench, where he will sit alongside Ross Ford, Scotland's most capped international, and John Hardie, the flanker who is another internationalist.

It is clear where Cockerill is laying the blame for the embarrassing defeat by the Italian franchise – their first win outside Italy for five years. Five of the seven changes are in the pack. Only Michel Rizzo, the on-loan prop covering a spate of loosehead injuries, Ben Toolis, the lock, and captain Magnus Bradbury hold on to their places from the eight who started against Treviso.

To be fair, not all those changes are totally down to performance issues, Cockerill maintained. "Fordy [Ross Ford] played pretty well for his first 80 – he played and scrummaged very well. Robbie [Fruean] is still finding his feet, it was only his second game. Everyone’s competing for spots. I want competition, nobody will be picked on reputation, I’ll pick from what I see in form and what's best for trying to win the next game," he said.

One thing is guaranteed. While a lot of last week's performance may have been down to a sense of complacency that was boosted by two early tries, there is no danger of that this week. The Scarlets are not only the reigning champions but have a team packed with Wales internationalists including all their British & Irish Lions.

"We know we can compete with these sides if we put our mind to it, it’s as simple as that," said Cockerill. "I expect a reaction from last week, that’s the mentality from us as a team. I’m sort of pleased they put their best side out because it focuses our minds and shows they have respect for us. I think they’ll know that if they’re not on it and we are on it, then we’re a side capable of getting a result.

"Last week, there’s no getting away from the fact that it was pretty disappointing and that can’t help with confidence because it was a game we were 14-0 up and ended up losing. What I want from the team this week is for them to show some character, I want them to show what they’re about as individuals. They showed that it the first few games but against Treviso they certainly didn’t."

Scarlets: L Halfpenny; J McNicholl, J Davies, H Parkes, S Evans; R Patchell, G Davies; R Evans, K Owens (C), S Lee, J Ball, T Beirne, A Shingler, W Boyde, J Barclay. Replacements: R Elias, W Jones, W Kruger, D Bulbring, J Macleod, A Davies, R Jones, P Asquith.

Edinburgh: B Kinghorn; T Brown, C Dean, P Burleigh, J Harries; D Weir, N Fowles; M Rizzo, S McInally, W Nel, B Toolis, G Gilchrist, J Ricthie, H Watson, M Bradbury (C). Replacements: R Ford, D Marfo, S Berghan, F McKenzie, J Hardie, S Hidalgo-Clyne, J Tovey, R Fruean.

Referee: J Lacey (Ireland)