Damien Hoyland and Mark Bennett return as Edinburgh take on Cardiff

Damien Hoyland has been out for a year with a toe injury

Winger Hoyland will return after a year-long absence with a toe injury and Bennett is named on the bench after five months out with a ruptured hamstring.

Richard Cockerill makes six changes to the side that overcame Dragons last weekend, mainly because of Scotland commitments.  Recent Scotland call-up Dougie Fife has been  released by the national squad to start at full-back but Edinburgh lose internationalists Darcy Graham, Chris Dean, Henry Pyrgos, Ross Ford, Ben Toolis and Magnus Bradbury.

Hoyland starts on the wing and Juan Pablo Socino replaces Dean in midfield.

Nathan Fowles starts at scrum-half with Pyrgos rested, while Scotland’s most-capped player, Ross Ford, drops to the bench as Dave Cherry replaces him at hooker.

Callum Hunter-Hill steps in for Toolis while Ally Miller plays in the back-row in place of Bradbury.

Cockerill, whose side sit second in Conference B as they chase a place in the play-offs and a spot in next season’s Heineken Champions Cup, said: “We’re missing a few more bodies this week due to international call-ups, but we have a strong desire to win and the capability to do so.

“These games are all important in the run towards the play-offs, so I’m expecting the boys to leave everything out there in order to get the right result.”

Edinburgh: 15. Dougie Fife; 14. Damien Hoyland; 13. James Johnstone; 12. Juan Pablo Socino; 11. Duhan van der Merwe; 10. Jaco van der Walt; 9. Nathan Fowles; 1. Pierre Schoeman; 2. David Cherry; 3. Pietro Ceccarelli; 4. Fraser McKenzie (c); 5. Callum Hunter-Hill; 6. Ally Miller; 7. Luke Crosbie; 8. Viliame Mata. Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Jamie Hodgson, 20 Senitiki Nayalo, 21 Charlie Shiel, 22 Simon Hickey, 23 Mark Bennett.