| Hooker Dougie Hall has been sidelined with a shoulder injury so prop Craig Smith, who’ll win his 150 appearance for the club tomorrow, provides cover for Andrew Kelly. On that selection Blackadder said: “Craig put his hand up straight away to cover hooker so I was really pleased with that. It’s great for a player to reach 150 games for his club – it’s fantastic for Smithy.”
Speaking about the injury he received on test duty Hall said: “I have been advised by surgeon Gordon Mackay to take a few weeks off to recover from this injury. I am very disappointed to be missing Edinburgh’s next few crucial matches but I hope to be back as soon as possible.”
Amongst the changes Francisco Leonelli returns on the right wing for Chris Paterson, who is being rested. Marcus Di Rollo is reinstalled at outside centre as Peter Jorgensen takes the No 12 jersey inside him. Alasdair Dickinson joins the front row for Dave Hewett while Alasdair Strokosch starts at openside flanker.
Blackadder added: “Munster will provide a huge challenge for us but we’ve got a good game plan and we’ll give them a go. We’ve shifter a few players around and that is part of our plan to attach Munster tomorrow night.”
On reaching his landmark, Craig Smith said: “It’s a big achievement for me and I’m happy to be playing and playing for Edinburgh.”
Edinburgh Gunners team:15 Hugo Southwell; 14 Francisco Leonelli,13 Marcus Di Rollo, 12 Peter Jorgensen, 11 Simon Webster; 10 Duncan Hodge, 9 Mike Blair; 1 Alasdair Dickinson, 2 Andrew Kelly, 3 Craig Smith; 4 Alastair Kellock, 5 Scott Murray CAPTAIN; 6 Allister Hogg, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Alasdair Strokosch
Substitutes:16 Allan Jacobsen, 17 Dave Hewett, 18 Dave Duley, 19 Alan MacDonald, 20 Rory Lawson, 21 Phil Godman, 22 Nick De Luca
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