Richard Cockerill’s Edinburgh are in great form and full on confidence following their 29-19 1872 Cup win over Glasgow Warriors. They have only been beaten once in their last eight matches in all competitions and they’re unbeaten at BT Murrayfield this season. Enter Isuzu Southern Kings. The Kings have just one win to their name this campaign, in Round 6 at Ospreys, but recent history is on their side as they did win the most recent meeting of these sides in January, and in some style too. Stand-off Jaco van der Walt returns to the Edinburgh starting XV to make his 50th appearance for the capital club as Cockerill makes 11 changes. A rotated backline sees Van der Walt partnered with Henry Pyrgos at half-back, with an all-new centre pairing of Matt Scott and James Johnstone selected in midfield. Fijian international Eroni Sau returns on the wing. For the Kings the experienced Schalk Ferreira will taste his first bit of Guinness PRO14 action for the 2019⁄20 season when he earns a starting berth at prop, the 35-year-old returning from a back injury that has sidelined him since pre-season. Kick-off: 19:45, BT Murrayfield How to watch: Live on Premier Sports 1, SuperSport 1, eir Sport 2, DAZN & www.pro14.tv Players to watch out for: Matt Scott vs Howard Mnisi Scotland star Scott – who enjoyed an impressive 24-minute appearance from the bench in last weekend’s 1872 Cup derby win – links-up with Johnstone in midfield, in what will be a key area of the battle on Saturday. Scott helped take the game away from Glasgow in that scintillating derby last week, only prevented from what would have been a scorching try by an excellent bit of Ruaridh Jackson defence, can the Kings also keep him out? Up against Scott in the 12 shirt is Kings skipper Howard Mnisi, a reliable and consistent performer who is at the heartbeat of everything the Kings do. Key stat: The two sides have met on four previous occasions with Edinburgh winning the first three and Kings taking the most recent clash last January in South Africa. Edinburgh Rugby: Blair Kinghorn; Eroni Sau, James Johnstone, Matt Scott, Duhan van der Merwe; Jaco van der Walt, Henry Pyrgos (Capt); Jamie Bhatti, Mike Willemse, WP Nel; Lewis Carmichael, Grant Gilchrist; Magnus Bradbury, John Barclay, Nick Haining. Replacements:Dave Cherry, Pierre Schoeman, Simon Berghan, Ben Toolis, Luke Crosbie, Charlie Shiel, Simon Hickey, Mark Bennett. Isuzu Southern Kings: Courtney Winnaar, Yaw Penxe, Sibusiso Sithole, Howard Mnisi (Capt), Erich Cronje; John-Thomas Jackson, Stefan Ungerer; Schalk Ferreira, Jacques du Toit, Pieter Scholtz, Jerry Sexton, Aston Fortuin, Ruaan Lerm, Thembelani Bholi, Elrigh Louw. Replacements: Alandre van Rooyen, Xandre Vos, De-Jay Terblanche, John-Charles Astle, Bobby de Wee, Theo Maree, Bader Pretorius, Andell Loubser
