Edinburgh v Leinster (Fri)

Scrum-half Greig Laidlaw will replace Mike Blair

Date: Friday, 18 April
Kick-off: 1930 BST
Venue: Murrayfield
Coverage on BBC Radio Scotland and online

Edinburgh scrum-half Greig Laidlaw will be handed his first start of the season against Leinster as captain Mike Blair missing the game with a head knock.

Centre Nick De Luca has recovered from an ankle injury in time for Friday's Magner's League clash at Murrayfield.

Brian O'Driscoll could feature for Leinster after being left out of his team's 21-12 victory over Munster.

The visitors' only change from that tie is the inclusion of back Gary Brown in the 27-man squad.

Laidlaw, 22, has enjoyed a fantastic couple of weeks with his first-team call up following his success with the Scottish Thistles at the Melrose Sevens.

"It has been an unbelievably eventful couple of weeks for me," he said.

"About a week ago I was in Australia with the Scotland Sevens squad, then I flew back to play for Edinburgh Accies against the Barbarians before winning the Melrose Sevens on Saturday.

"Now I have been given my first start for Edinburgh this season and hopefully I can use all the experiences I've picked up on my travels and put them to good use."

De Luca the Scotland international believes Edinburgh can halt the Irish province's march to the title.

"We proved that we can beat them after our Heineken Cup win over their full strength side in December," he said.

A bonus-point win will virtually guarantee Leinster the title.

Michael Cheika's side go into this weekend's round of games 12 points ahead of second-placed Cardiff Blues.

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Edinburgh: Hugo Southwell, Simon Webster, Ben Cairns, Nick De Luca, John Houston, Phil Godman, Greig Laidlaw, Augusto Allori, Ross Ford, Gavin Kerr, Matt Mustchin, Ben Gissing, Allister Hogg (capt), Alan MacDonald, David Callam. Replacements: Andrew Kelly, Geoff Cross, Craig Hamilton, Scott Newlands, Ben Meyer, David Blair, Calum MacRae.

Leinster (from): Cian Healy, Ollie le Roux, Brian Blaney, Bernard Jackman, Stephen Knoop, Stan Wright, Leo Cullen, Trevor Hogan, Malcolm O'Kelly, Cameron Jowitt, Stephen Keogh, Keith Gleeson, Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip, Chris Keane, Chris Whitaker, Felipe Contepomi, Jonathan Sexton, Luke Fitzgerald, Rob Kearney, Michael Berne, Christian Warner, Brian O'Driscoll, Eoin O'Malley, Gary Brown, Shane Horgan, Girvan Dempsey

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)