Chris Dean returns from injury at outside centre where he's partnered by Sam Beard who comes back into the mix at 12.
Phil Burleigh retains his spot at stand-off with Sam Hidalgo-Clyne moving up from the bench to start in the number 9 jersey.
Meanwhile in the pack, the front row of Rory Sutherland, Neil Cochrane and John Andress remain at loosehead, hooker and tighthead respectively with Anton Bresler and Fraser McKenzie retained at lock.
Captain Mike Coman leads the team on the blindside, Roddy Grant returns at openside and Nasi Manu keeps his no 8 berth from last week.
The capital club will be looking for a repeat of their away win over the Irish province from last January, where a David Denton try and 11 points from the boot of Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, in challenging conditions, came on the back of Edinburgh's 1872 Cup victory.
After last week's defeat away to Zebre, however, head coach Alan Solomons is looking for a major step up in performance this Saturday.
He said: "We dropped off too much after [the win over] Ulster. We gave away too many penalties and this week's challenge will be much tougher."
With the exception of Hidalgo-Clyne and Helu, who returned to the squad following Tonga's exit at the pool stages, Edinburgh are still without the services of their Rugby World Cup players.
Solomons said: "We have nine frontline players out. The cavalry will be back next week however we have a number of players on the injured list with Stuart McInally and Ben Toolis, for example, missing longer term.
"The team need to perform strongly to put right last week's performance as Zebre was a game we should have won."
Connacht currently lie second in the Guinness PRO12, the same four from five win ratio as Edinburgh but having accumulated more bonus points. The capital club have won two of the last three visits to the province and have beaten two Irish sides already this season, Ulster and Leinster.
Edinburgh return to BT Murrayfield on Saturday 7 November against Munster (kick-off 5.15pm). Looking to welcome back our Rugby World Cup players into the Edinburgh family, the emphasis is on a family afternoon out with the return of our popular 'kids for a quid' ticket offer.
Players not considered due to injury
Michael Allen (shoulder), Grant Gilchrist (groin), Stuart McInally (neck), Matt Scott (back), Grant Shiells (back), Jade Te Rure (knee), Greig Tonks (groin), Ben Toolis (elbow)
Rugby World Cup players being rested
David Denton, Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford, John Hardie, WP Nel
Edinburgh Rugby v Connacht
Saturday 31 October 2015, Sportsground, kick-off 6.45pm
15 Blair Kinghorn
14 Damien Hoyland
13 Chris Dean
12 Sam Beard
11 Will Helu
10 Phil Burleigh
9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
1 Rory Sutherland
2 Neil Cochrane
3 John Andress
4 Anton Bresler
5 Fraser McKenzie
6 Mike Coman (captain)
7 Roddy Grant
8 Nasi Manu
Substitutes
16 George Turner
17 Allan Dell
18 Simon Berghan
19 Alex Toolis
20 Cornell Du Preez
21 Sean Kennedy
22 Dougie Fife
23 Nick McLennan
63x46.png){kind=logo}