Edinburgh prepare for must win game against Northampton Saints
Edinburgh will play Northampton Saints in their second game of the Heineken Cup at Hampden Park on Saturday 16 October.
The Saints will travel to Scotland in confident mood after they opened up their Heineken Cup campaign with an 18-14 win over French side Castres at home.
Despite a nervous display against the French team, Northampton will look at the positives after picking up four points.
Ben Foden and Bruce Reihana scored the crucial tries, but the Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder will know his side can ill afford to make the same mistakes as they did against Castres.
"We've had poor kicking performances in the past, but hopefully not this coming Saturday”, said Mallinder.
"For you to challenge for a top four position in the league, or to win a European competition, your kicker needs to be kicking consistently,” added the Saints boss.
Mallinder admitted that his side would be up against it this weekend.
"It's a big tournament for Edinburgh. They've got a good home record and they're a good side," said Mallinder.
The Saints' line up will look very similar to the line up Jim Mallinder fielded last week as he has no new injury worries and a relatively fresh squad.
Edinburgh opened up their Heineken Cup campaign with a defeat. The Scottish club lost by one point to the Cardiff Blues away from home.
The 18-17 defeat and a bonus point will encourage the Edinburgh side and they will expect to beat Northampton at home after last week’s showing.
Edinburgh coach Rob Moffat has named his side and he has made just one change to the side that were narrowly beaten in Wales.
James King will come at inside centre to replace Alex Grove. The 24-year-old was a summer signing for Edinburgh and was playing with Scottish club Melrose last season.
However, King has taken the promotion in his stride.
, "To be honest, though, I'm not finding it too difficult a step-up. You just go out there and play your game. It's just rugby, at the end of the day."
Edinburgh coach Moffat has insisted that his side can ill afford to lose against the English side.
"It's definitely a must-win game against Northampton. We played pretty well last weekend but lost by a point so we have to win on Saturday,” Moffat told BBC Scotland.
The Edinburgh coach added, "We don't want to be looked upon as brave losers. We want to be winners and that's what it's about this week."
Moffat will take heart that his side won their home games last year and said, "We won our home games last year. That's what we have to do.”
Edinburgh will go into the match as favourites and the Scottish team should be capable of winning by 10 or more points.
Northampton will have a tough day and know that Edinburgh need a victory to keep their hopes alive.
Moffat knows the Scottish club will then have to win away if they are to progress.
"We also have to win one or two away to qualify. The players have that mindset," he said.
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