A sort of homecoming for Richard Cockerill as Edinburgh take on Wasps in Coventry

WP Nel will make his first Edinburgh appearance of the season when the capital side take on Wasps in Coventry. Picture: SNS

Nel returns from injury in a revamped front-five from the one which featured in last week’s bonus-point home win over the same opposition.

Loosehead Rory Sutherland packs down on the other side of hooker Michael Willemse, with locks Sam Thomson and Lewis Carmichael starting in front of Fijian No 8 Viliame Mata. Scrum-half Nic Groom has been named captain in his first start for over a month, while winger Jamie Farndale and full-back Damien Hoyland also get the nod.

“He [Nel] has been training well for the last couple of weeks and it’s a long time since we have seen him play for us,” said Cockerill.

“It’s good to have him back and out on the field and it will be interesting to see how long he lasts from a fitness point of view. It is pleasing to get a player of his quality back with the Christmas games [against Glasgow] coming up.

“Rory has a big afternoon ahead of him. He’s been working really hard at his game and this is a big opportunity for him to show what he can do.

“It is a big opportunity for guys like Sam Thomson and Lewis Carmichael to stake their claims for those second-row positions. Nine changes from last week and we have prepared as well as we can and want to go there and get the result as we always do.”

The reshuffle prompts suggestions that Cockerill isn’t putting too much emphasis on Europe’s second-tier competition but the coach said: “You have to give guys opportunities. Every game we try and win. You have to take a little bit of risk with selection sometimes.

“I expect us to go with a positive mentality to win the game. If we do, we put ourselves in a very good position to qualify for the quarter-finals.”

This afternoon’s game takes place at Coventry’s Ricoh  Arena, home for five years now of the “London” Wasps, and is a bit of a homecoming for  Midlander Cockerill.

“Yes I spent many a pleasant hour in Coventry in my youth,” said the former England hooker. “I’m a Coventry City [football] supporter so it will be nice to go to their home stadium.

“I was born in the town of Rugby but my mum was born and bred in Coventry, my dad’s from Rugby so I’m a half Coventronian. I played for Coventry RFC for four years before I joined Leicester in 1992.”

Asked if any old muckers would be at today’s game, Cockerill joked: “You know me, I don’t have any mates.”

If Edinburgh’s focus this season is on the Guinness Pro14, then today’s opponents are even more concerned with domestic matters. “It’s difficult for them for obvious reasons,” said Cockerill. “They’ve got Harlequins, Bristol and Northampton the next three games [in the Gallagher Premiership] and the bottom of that table is going to get congested as the season goes on.

“Look, in the Premiership you’re always under pressure to win whether it’s this week or next week in the league. So I think they’ll pick a strong team. They did that last week and it didn’t quite work for them.

“The way the dynamic works in the Premiership you don’t care about the competition, you just need to keep winning. They’ll want to get momentum back and I expect them to pick a strong team and to be fair they’ve got a strong squad.

“Whoever they pick will be half-decent players and they’re at home. If they win with five points that puts them right back in the mix. We need to make sure we get as much out of the game as we possibly can.”