Edinburgh pick Jason Tovey ahead of Duncan Weir for Euro tie

Edinburgh's Jason Tovey has been selected at stand-off for the game against La Rochelle. Picture: Paul Devlin/SNS

Tovey is one of four changes made by acting head coach Duncan Hodge following the disappointing defeat in Wales by the Dragons last week.

Weir drops to the bench.

The other changes come in the pack, with Murray McCallum starting at loosehead prop in place of Allan Dell who has concussion. Grant Gilchrist is promoted from the bench to play at lock and Scotland flanker Hamish Watson returns to the side after a successful stint with the national team and is named in the No 7 jersey.

La Rochelle will present a formidable challenge. They are currently ten points clear at the summit of the French Top 14 and Hodge said: “Games don’t come much bigger than a European quarter-final and there is no more thrilling an occasion than knockout rugby, so there’s a real feeling of excitement in camp.

“We’ve taken some big scalps in this year’s competition and we’re confident in our ability to take another tomorrow night. We’ve played some exceptional rugby to finish top of a tough Challenge Cup pool and we’ll look to carry that form into the knockout stages.

“La Rochelle come to BT Murrayfield sitting at the top of the French league but this is a different competition and the first meeting of the clubs, so we’re looking forward to taking them on.”

Edinburgh (v La Rochelle, European Challenge Cup quarter-final, BT Murrayfield, Friday, 8pm)

15. Blair Kinghorn

14. Damien Hoyland

13. Chris Dean

12. Phil Burleigh

11. Tom Brown

10. Jason Tovey

9. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne

1. Murray McCallum

2. Ross Ford CAPTAIN

3. Simon Berghan

4. Anton Bresler

5. Grant Gilchrist

6. Viliame Mata

7. Hamish Watson

8. Cornell du Preez

Substitutes

16. Stuart McInally

17. Kyle Whyte

18. Kevin Bryce

19. Fraser McKenzie

20. Viliami Fihaki

21. Nathan Fowles

22. Duncan Weir

23. Glenn Bryce