Dragons switch Hughes to full-back

Versatile Adam Hughes moves to full-back as cover for injuries

Chris Paterson returns to the starting line-up for Edinburgh’s Magners League clash with the Dragons.

Jim Thompson moves to 13, to partner Nick De Luca, while flankers Ross Rennie and Stuart McInally will be at openside and blindside respectively.

For the visitors, 18-year-old scrum-half Jon Evans gets his second league start of the season and Matthew Pewtner is on the wing.

Promising Adam Hughes moves to replace the injured Will Harries at full-back.

Martyn Thomas’ season is over after breaking his leg for a second time, while Harries is suffering with a knee injury.

Hughes switches from his place on the wing in the 32-28 win over Ospreys to fill the gap.

Edinburgh are targeting a third successive win on home soil, but have only beaten the Dragons once at Murrayfield in the last seven meetings.

The hosts are without injured skipper Roddy Grant and Fraser McKenzie, hence the opportunities for Rennie and McInally, with neither man having started a match since February.

Shoulder injuries see Ben Cairns and James King miss out, forcing the midfield reshuffle and accommodating Paterson’s first start since the Six Nations.

“The quality of player coming in means we’re more than happy with the team we’ll be sending out,” said interim coach Nick Scrivener.

“Ross and Stuart have been chomping at the bit to get back on the rugby field, and I’m sure that desire and energy will shine through in the way that they perform.

“We’ll once again need everyone to be right at the top of their game, because Dragons will be going all out to force a repeat of what happened the last time we met.

“We got outdone up front that day, and our watchword this week has to be control. We need to control the pace of the game, control the physicality of the game and deal with the pressure Dragons will bring to bear at the set-piece and through their counter-rucking at the breakdown.

“The talent we have in the backs was there to see against Aironi, so it’s about giving those players a platform to achieve all that we know they can.”

The Dragons have not won on the road since February but they go into the clash at Murrayfield having recorded back-to-back home wins against Treviso and the Ospreys.

They also have the Scarlets in their sights as they battle for the last of three Welsh Heineken Cup spots.

The seventh-place Dragons have a game in hand over the Scarlets in sixth and bonus-point victory would leave them just three points behind.

Forwards coach Danny Wilson believes the pitch will suit the Welsh region.

“It’s a big wide pitch and that means there’s plenty of room to go and play running rugby which is exactly what we’re after and what we’re about,” he said.

“We try and instil confidence in players to attempt to play – to play a Welsh style of rugby and a style of rugby that suits our players and probably more importantly a style that gets supporters through the door.

“To do that, you’ve got to give a little bit of a licence to players to try things.

“You’ve seen them have the confidence to do it and when it comes off it’s great but if it doesn’t, we’re not too critical or hard on them, just to keep trying to execute them and do it better.

“They are a group who have helped mould that philosophy and they are a group of players who want to play rugby and want to show what we’re capable of.”

Edinburgh: Chris Paterson, Simon Webster, Jim Thompson, Nick De Luca, Tim Visser, Greig Laidlaw, Mike Blair, Kyle Traynor, Andrew Kelly (captain), Geoff Cross, Scott MacLeod, Esteban Lozada, Stuart McInally, Ross Rennie, David Denton. Replacements: Alun Walker, Lewis Niven, Robin Hislop, Steven Turnbull, Scott Newlands, David Blair, Lee Jones, Tom Brown.

Dragons: Adam Hughes; Matthew Pewtner, Tom Riley, Ashley Smith (capt), Aled Brew; Jason Tovey, Jon Evans; Hugh Gustafson, Steve Jones, Dan Way, Andrew Coombs, Adam Jones, Dan Lydiate, Gavin Thomas, Joe Bearman. Replacements: Lloyd Burns, Phil Price, Ben Castle, Lewis Evans, Toby Faletau, Matthew Watkins, Wayne Evans, Matthew Jones.

Ref: David Wilkinson (IRFU).

Assistant referees: Iain Heard, Ian Bruce (Scotland).