TONGAN internationalist Will Helu will make his first start for Edinburgh Rugby in Italy this afternoon when they take on Zebre.
The 29-year-old joined the capital club in the summer from Wasps, but was soon called up to his national squad for the Rugby World Cup.
He returned to the Guinness PRO12 outfit after the pool stages and made his debut off the bench against Ulster last week for 40 minutes.
With Chris Dean injured, Helu will start at outside centre in the Stadio Lanfranchi in Parma as Edinburgh go looking for their fifth win out of five.
Jack Cuthbert and Rory Sutherland also come into the Edinburgh side.
Cuthbert replaces the injured Greig Tonks at full-back while, after his 48-hours with the Scotland squad last weekend, Sutherland replaces Allan Dell at prop with the latter on the bench.
Scotland man Sam Hidalgo-Clyne returns to the bench alongside Dougie Fife and teenager Blair Kinghorn, who could make his debut.
Having lost on their last two visits to Zebre, Edinburgh are ready for the test.
They have not won in Parma since March 2013 when now Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw kicked them to a 9-7 success.
In 2013/14 they lost 26-13 and last season they went down 18-10.
Head coach Alan Solomons said: “We’re pleased with where we are at the moment, but are under no illusions about the task we face this weekend.
“It will be a tough match as the Italian sides are always a completely different challenge at home.
“Zebre will benefit from their returning Rugby World Cup players following Italy’s exit at the pool stages.”
Zebre, who have lost their first four matches, welcome back 10 Italian internationalists for the match and they are captained by George Biagi, who was brought up in Scotland, from the second-row.
Teams
Zebre: Kayle Van Zyl; Dion Berryman, Michele Visenti, Matteo Pratichetti, Leonardo Sarto; Carlo Canna, Marcello Violi; Andrea Lovotti, Andrea Manici, Dario Chistolini, Quinten Geldenhuys, George Biagi, Jean Cook, Andries Van Schalkwyk, Johan Meyer. Subs: Oliviero Fabiani, Andrea De Marchi, Pietro Ceccarelli, Valerio Bernabò, Jacopo Sarto, Luke Burgess, Guglielmo Palazzani, Edoardo Padovani.
Edinburgh Rugby: Jack Cuthbert; Tom Brown, Will Helu, Andries Strauss, Damien Hoyland; Phil Burleigh, Nathan Fowles; Rory Sutherland, Neil Cochranee, John Andress, Anton Bresler, Fraser McKenzie, Mike Coman, Nasi Manu, Hamish Watson. Subs: George Turner, Allan Dell, Simon Bergan, Alex Toolis, Cornell Du Preez, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Dougie Fife, Blair Kinghorn.
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