Scotland captain Mike Blair will make his first appearance in an Edinburgh shirt for two months when he captains the side against Connacht at Murrayfield.
The scrum-half enjoyed a mixed RBS 6 Nations campaign as he struggled to reproduce the form of the previous two seasons in a Scotland side which failed to play to its potential.
Blair will partner Scotland half-back colleague Phil Godman against the Irish province as Edinburgh seek to improve on their fifth place in the Magners League table.
Chris Paterson, Nick De Luca, Phil Godman, Ross Ford and Jim Hamilton, who all played some part in Scotland’s final RBS 6 Nations match in the Calcutta Cup against England last weekend, also all start.
In an Edinburgh match-day squad containing 22 Scottish-qualified players, Scotland prop Gavin Kerr has recovered from a back injury to take his place on the bench while fellow front-rower Geoff Cross – who made his RBS 6 Nations debut against Wales – is back after a knee injury.
Scotland full-back Hugo Southwell has been ruled out with a head knock picked up in RBS 6 Nations duty.
