Lozada takes a bow
Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:23
Edinburgh head coach Rob Moffat has challenged his squad to give the Murrayfield crowd something to cheer by building on the positive parts of last week's performance in Cardiff, when Munster visit the Scottish capital on Friday.
The game, Edinburgh's first competitive home fixture of the new campaign, will see at least one player make a full debut in the black and red.
Esteban Lozada, the Argentina lock, has recovered from a back complaint suffered in pre-season and will line up in the second row alongside Scott MacLeod.
Stuart McInally, the former Watsonians No.8 who previously captained the Scotland Under-20 team, is also in line to make his first competitive appearance, having been named on the replacements bench.
Mark Robertson, Scott Newlands and Ross Rennie will all make their first starts of the season in a team that shows four changes from the side that ran out at the Cardiff City Stadium four days ago.
Injuries have forced Moffat to remodel his back row, Alan MacDonald (hip) and Roddy Grant (swollen knee) both obliged to sit out this week's game. In Grant's absence, Chris Paterson will captain the side.
Moffat wants his men to turn the flashes of quality they showed in the Cardiff match into something more sustained against Munster, believing there to be "enough of a base" to feel confident ahead of Friday's showdown.
He said: "We were clearly disappointed to lose against Cardiff, and the performance, overall, wasn't good enough, but having watched the game back a number of times, I'm happier than I was immediately after full-time.
"We actually played a lot of good stuff, but we gave ourselves plenty to do by conceding a couple of soft scores. What I want from the players this week is to do themselves justice with a more complete performance, and there's absolutely no doubt we'll need it against a side of the quality of Munster."
Moffat has offered commiserations to Grant, whom he made captain in the off-season, but knows that, in Paterson, he has an inspirational replacement as leader.
The fullback scored all of Edinburgh's points in the 12-7 success recorded in the corresponding fixture last October.
Moffat said: "Chris has performed really well on his return from that serious [kidney] injury, and has immediately set the standards we are all familiar with.
"It's unfortunate for Roddy that he isn't available for this game, but we look forward to welcoming back in due course, along with Alan MacDonald, who was also going well last week before he took a knock to his hip. Scott Newlands and Ross Rennie are two quality individuals to be able to call on, and I've every confidence they will grasp the opportunity."
The prospect of having Lozada in harness for the first time also excites the head coach.
He continued: "Esteban has been champing at the bit to run out at Murrayfield for the first time and I'm really looking forward to him showing the supporters why we brought him to the club. If Stuart McInally gets on, I'm sure they'll be impressed with him as well and, from my point of view, it's great to have so many guys putting their hands up for selection."
Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson (captain), 14 Mark Robertson, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Alex Grove, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Scott Newlands, 5 Scott MacLeod, 4 Esteban Lozada, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Andrew Kelly, 17 Kyle Traynor, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Stuart McInally, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 David Blair, 23 John Houston.
Date: Friday, September 10
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 19.05 (18.05 GMT)
Referee: Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Assistant referees: Graham Knox
(Scotland), Alan Forrest (Scotland)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
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