Six changes for Edinburgh

Alasdair Dickinson returns from an ankle injury to start at loosehead while Simon Cross, who captained an Edinburgh XV against Crawshay's Welsh last week, starts on the bench in his first league game since returning from a loan spell at English first division side Waterloo. Apprentice player Fraser McKenzie has the chance to make his Edinburgh debut after also being named among the replacements. McKenzie, who captained Scotland under 18s last season, scored a try in the under 20s' match against Wales last week at Falkirk. Duncan Hodge will captain the side, after leading Edinburgh to victory in their last league game against Connacht.

Backs coach, Rob Moffat said: "We are third in the league, just eight points behind Leinster with a game in hand. So it's very tight at the top but we know that it can go both ways. This game and the game against the Ospreys will go a long way to deciding where we finish in the league at the end of the season.

"It's good to have some of our Scotland players back after their great win over Wales last week. They will no doubt bring a lot to the team as they are influential players. It was also good for us to get a game against Crawshay's Welsh last week to keep the guys match fit during the break from the league.

"Leinster are in a similar situation to us as they are without their international players this weekend. It should be a good game though, as the matches between the two teams always are. They're usually high scoring given the type of game Leinster and Edinburgh play."

Following last Friday's game against Crawshay's, Fergus Pringle has been suspended from playing for Edinburgh until Thursday 1 March for an act of foul play. The referee took action at the time, and after reviewing the incident during an internal investigation, the club felt it was appropriate to take further action.

Edinburgh team:
15 Lucio Lopez Fleming
14 Matt Dey
13 Ben Cairns
12 Duncan Hodge (captain)
11 Simon Webster
10 Alistair Warnock
9 John Senio
1 Alasdair Dickinson
2 Andrew Kelly
3 Geoff Cross
4 Matt Mustchin
5 Chris Bentley
6 Alasdair Strokosch
7 Ross Rennie
8 Allister Hogg

Substitutes:
16 Steven Lawrie
17 Allan Jacobsen
18 David Young
19 Simon Cross
20 Fraser McKenzie
21 Greig Laidlaw
22 Peter Jorgensen

Unavailable for selection: Mike Blair (collar-bone), Alan MacDonald (knee), Fergus Pringle (suspended), Craig Smith (neck).