Stade Francais set for Edinburgh
Recalled French star Mathieu Bastareaud has been named on the benchs for Stade Francais big Heineken Cup clash with Edinburgh this Saturday.
The French giants need just a single point to secure their place at the top of the pool but will be motivated by the prospect of a home quarter-final if they can secure a win at Murrayfield.
Bastareaud has been in great form recently and, according to reports, is being rested ahead of Stade’s big Top 14 clash with Castres on Wednesday.
Scotland international Simon Taylor returns from action after a long layoff with Geoffrey Messina the man to slot in for the French side.
Scotland fullback Hugo Southwell once again will act as scrumhalf, having filled in there last weekend.
Edinburgh are still without captain Mike Blair, who has an ankle injury and have nothing but pride to play for this weekend.
Flyhalf Chris Patterson though does have something to play for – the points machine stands just two points from becoming the team’s all-time record point scorer.
“Breaking the record would be a nice accolade, but it not first and foremost in my mind,” said Paterson.
“Over the years, we have beaten the likes of Toulouse in the Heineken Cup and it would be great to be able to add another big French club’s name to that list.”
Wing Simon Webster is called into the Edinburgh match squad for the first time this season.
His fellow wing Mark Robertson, centre Nick De Luca, prop Kyle Traynor, hooker Andrew Kelly, prop Geoff Cross and flanker Ross Rennie have all been reintroduced into the starting line-up for the team’s final Pool match.
Meanwhile, Scotland international Webster has been named amongst the replacements after recovering from a hamstring injury which had prevented him from playing throughout the opening half of the campaign.
Webster admits he is relieved to be back in the squad after his lay-off through injury.
Webster said: “I’m really pleased to be back to be back in the squad; this is where the hard work starts.
“Obviously it has been really frustrating for me. But I’m just looking forward to getting a lot of work done over the next couple of months.”
The teams:
Edinburgh: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Mark Robertson, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Jim Thompson, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Roddy Grant, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 Alan MacDonald, 5 Scott MacLeod, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Andrew Kelly, 1 Kyle Traynor.
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Davey Young, 19 Craig Hamilton, 20 Scott Newlands, 21 Ross Samson, 22 John Houston, 23 Simon Webster.
Stade Français:15 Lionel Beauxis, 14 Djibril Camara, 13 Geoffrey Messina, 12 Guillaume Boussès, 11 Marc Gasnier, 10 Ignacio Mierès, 9 Hugo Southwell, 8 Juan Leguizamon, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 James Haskell , 5 Pascale Papé, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Ryno Gerber, 2 Dimitir Szarzewski, 1 Rodrigo Roncero (captain).
Replacements:16 Benjamin Kayser, 17 Rabah Slimani, 18 Pedro Ledesma, 19 Pierre Vigouroux, 20 Simon Taylor, 21 Aristide Barraud, 22 Mathieu Bastareaud, 23 Mirco Bergamasco
Date: Saturday, January 23
Venue: Murrayfield
Time: 15.45 GMT
Referee: Wayne Barnes
