Preview: Edinburgh vs Bath

Scotland flanker Ross Rennie will make his first Edinburgh appearance for almost a year in Saturday's Heineken Cup Pool Four clash with Bath.

Ross Rennie will make his first Edinburgh appearance for almost a year on Saturday after being named in the starting XV for the must-win Heineken Cup Pool clash with Bath.

The 23-year-old last played for the club against Glasgow on Boxing Day 2008 and has been out with a knee injury which required surgery.

Head Coach Rob Moffat welcomed his return, but stressed the player Rennie has replaced – Roddy Grant – had not paid the price for Sunday's loss in the first of Edinburgh's double header with Bath.

“It is great to be able to welcome Ross back into the team – he is a quality player,” he said.

“But we are fortunate because we have three quality sevens in our squad; Ross, Roddy and Alan MacDonald.

“Roddy has been outstanding for us so far this season, but there is a lot of rugby left to be played.

“So we felt it was the right time to bring Ross back into the starting line-up and it will be great to see him back on the pitch in an Edinburgh shirt.”

Rennie's inclusion is one of three changes to the pack that featured at the Recreation Ground, with Kyle Traynor replacing Allan Jacobsen in the front row and lock Craig Hamilton coming in for Scott MacLeod.

The back-line is unchanged, meaning Chris Paterson will make his 50th Heineken Cup appearance for Edinburgh .

The 31-year-old said: “It would be really special to mark the occasion with a win over Bath.

“Over the past 10 years, we have managed to beat the likes of Wasps and Toulouse at home in the Heineken Cup and it would be great to be able to add Bath to that list.”

After losing at the Rec, Edinburgh must win all of their three remaining Pool Four games to stand any chance of reaching the quarter-finals.

Back row forward David Callam is in line to record his second appearance of the season after being named amongst the replacements.

He comes into the squad in place of Allister Hogg, who is scheduled to undergo surgery to repair a hip injury on December 23.

Fly-half David Blair is ruled out after injuring his ankle during the weekend defeat and he joins his older brother Mike (ankle) in the treatment room.

Meanwhile, Steve Meehan is optimistic of completing the double over Edinburgh and has made just one change to his starting XV that won at home.

“I am positive after last week's performance,” he said, after naming Tom Cheeseman ahead of Jack Cuthbert on the wing.

“But, I am sure we can improve on things.

“I think the Edinburgh performance this weekend will be a tougher one. They are a good side and they will be playing at home. We are of course looking to get another win, but there is still a lot of rugby to be played.''

But with a renewed sense of confidence after the victory last Sunday, Meehan now thinks that his side have turned a corner in their performance.

“I think the foundation was set the previous week,” he said.

“We were definitely unlucky not to win at Northampton, but since then there has been a shift in attitude. You can see in everything we do, on match day, throughout the course of the week and generally how we go about things.

“There is a greater understanding of what we are trying to do and when we should do it.”

The teams:

Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson (c), 14 John Houston, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Scott Newlands, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alan MacDonald, 5 Craig Hamilton, 4 Steve Turnbull, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 David Young, 19 Scott MacLeod, 20 David Callam, 21 Ross Samson, 22 Mark Robertson, 23 Jim Thompson.

Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Michael Stephenson, 13 Matt Carraro, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Tom Cheeseman, 10 Nicky Little, 9 Michael Claassens (capt), 8 Luke Watson, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Andy Beattie, 5 Peter Short, 4 Stuart Hooper, 3 David Wilson, 2 Pieter Dixon, 1 David Flatman.
Replacements: 16 Lee Mears, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Duncan Bell, 19 Danny Grewcock, 20 Ben Skirving, 21 Scott Bemand, 22 Ryan Davis, 23 Jack Cuthbert.

Date: Saturday, December 19
Venue: Murrayfield
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Cédric Marchat (France), Stéphane Boyer (France)
Television match official: Jean-Christophe Gastou (France)