FIJIAN internationalist Eroni Sau will make his debut for Edinburgh Rugby this evening as they take on Scarlets at Murrayfield in their fourth Pro14 game of the season.
Edinburgh have made a solid start to the season, winning their opening two matches before falling to a heavy defeat to Leinster two weeks ago and make a number of changes to the starting line-up following that defeat in their last outing.
Joining Sau in the starting line-up is internationalist Blair Kinghorn, who returns to the team immediately following his return from Japan for Scotland’s RWC campaign, centre Matt Scott and lock Fraser McKenzie return from injury, while Simon Hickey and Ally Miller also get the nod.
Assistant coach, Stevie Lawrie is in confident mood ahead of Scarlets’ visit and admits he is excited to see Sau make his debut.
“Eroni was getting his visa sorted out but that’s done now,” he said.
“He’s a typical Fijian winger, he’s very exciting and has electric pace. He lights up when the ball comes near him and we believe that with that back three with Blair (Kinghorn), Eroni and Duhan (van der Merwe), it’s an exciting mix and we’ll be looking forward to getting the ball to them as early as possible.”
Edinburgh’s pack was decimated while their internationalists were in Japan and so their return to the Edinburgh squad has been a welcome relief to head coach, Richard Cockerill.
Magnus Bradbury and Henry Pyrgos make an appearance in the replacements for the Scarlets game but Lawrie is quick to stress the returning players will not be rushed into action.
“We’re looking to manage the guys as best we can. It’s very much on an individual basis and we just need to determine when it’s best to put these guys back in – it’s not a one size fit all,” he said.
"We’ve got some exciting guys still to come back in – guys like Darcy (Graham) so it’s great to have that strength-in-depth. And we’ve got Matt Scott back at 12 for us and him linking up with Mark Bennett is great.
"The experience of the guys who are coming in from Scotland will help the group to make good decisions when the pressure comes on in a game.”
Lawrie is well aware of how tough a task defeating Scarlets will be this evening but they have their tactics well thought out and is confident it will be a good spectacle for the travelling fans.
“They’ve started really well with three wins and they had a good win on the road at Glasgow, which not many teams will do because it’s a difficult place to go," he said.
"They look to play expansive rugby when they get into your half and they will kick and suppress you when they’re in their own half so we’ll be expecting a few high balls in that back field.
I think it’ll be an exciting game.”
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