Edinburgh v Benetton: TV channel; kick-off time; team news; form guide; odds

Edinburgh Rugby continue their United Rugby Championship campaign at home to Benetton on Saturday. Here is all you need to know:

Match details

Who: Edinburgh v Benetton. What: BKTUnited Rugby Championship. Where: DAM Health Stadium, Edinburgh. When: Saturday, October 15. Kick-off 5.15pm. Referee: Marius van der Westhuisen.

TV and ticket info

Blair Kinghorn in action for Edinburgh during December's United Rugby Championship clash with Benetton at the DAM Health Stadium. Picture: Ross Parker / SNS

Premier Sports is screening the match live. You can also watch on Eurosport, Discovery +, SuperSport & URC.tv. Tickets (From £20 to £40 for adults and £20 to £5 for children) are available at edinburghrugby.org

Team news

Scotland winger Duhan van der Merwe will make his second Edinburgh debut after re-joining the club this week in a line-up that includes seven changes to the side that faced Emirates Lions last week. Argentine international Emiliano Boffelli moves to full-back, and Mark Bennett returns from injury to start at outside centre. A revamped front-row combination sees hooker Dave Cherry pack down alongside props Pierre Schoeman and WP Nel. Sam Skinner returns to the second-row. Nick Haining comes into the back-row, as Luke Crosbie shifts to the openside. Stuart McInally, Jamie Ritchie, Ben Vellacott and Hamish Watson are unavailable.

Edinburgh team

Emiliano Boffelli; Darcy Graham, Mark Bennett, James Lang, Duhan van der Merwe; Blair Kinghorn, Henry Pyrgos; Pierre Schoeman, Dave Cherry, WP Nel, Sam Skinner, Grant Gilchrist (CAPT), Nick Haining, Luke Crosbie, Viliame Mata. Replacements: Adam McBurney, Boan Venter, Luan de Bruin, Jamie Hodgson, Ben Muncaster, Charlie Shiel, Charlie Savala, Chris Dean.

Benetton team

Edoardo Padovani; Mattia Bellini, Tommaso Menoncello, Marco Zanon, Ratuva Tavuyara; Tomas Albornoz, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne; Thomas Gallo, Gianmarco Lucchesi, Nahuel Tetaz, Marco Lazzaroni (CAPT), Carl Wegner, Abraham Steyn, Toa Halafihi, Henry Time-Stowers. Replacements: Manuel Arroyo, Federico Zani, Tiziano Pasquali, Nicola Piantella, Alessandro Izekor, Manfredi Albanese, Filippo Drago, Dewi Passarella

Form guide

Edinburgh won their first game of the season at home to the Dragons, but lost their next three against South African opposition, including last week’s agonising 22-19 loss to the Lions in the Capital. Benetton, on the other hand, have made an impressive start. The Italians have won their three home games, including an opening-day victory over Glasgow, lost away to Leinster and go into this one fourth in the table after back-to-back wins over Scarlets and Dragons.

Head-to-head

The home teams tends to win when these two meet. That’s been the case in the last five matches. Benetton’s last win in the Capital came in October 2017. Edinburgh won 24-10 when they met at DAM Health in December, after Benetton had edged the first fixture in Italy by one point last October.

Coach thoughts

Edinburgh Rugby head coach Mike Blair said: “We were obviously disappointed with last weekend’s result but, after further review, there were a lot many positives to take into this week’s training and the squad have reacted brilliantly. We’ve had a really strong week of training and the guys have been switched on and fully focussed, ready take the field again this Saturday night where’ll face a Benetton side full of confidence. We’re delighted to name Duhan [van der Merwe] in the starting line-up and he’ll no doubt get an excellent reception from our supporters who’ll be excited to see him back in Edinburgh colours. The squad are eager to get back to winning ways and the crowd at DAM Health Stadium will have a huge part to play in driving us forward for the full 80 minutes.”

Benetton head coach Marco Bortolami said: “Against Edinburgh will be a very difficult game. They are a team that bases own game on set pieces, scrum, touch and in these phases it will be a very important clash to have dominion over the control of the field and game situations. Playing on the synthetic pitch so we’ll have a very fast game ahead of us and we will have to be ready. We go there enthusiastic, with the desire to challenge them because we come from two victories. We need to be confident and enter the field confidently to get the most.”

Bookies’ odds

Home 4/5, Draw 18/1, Away Evens, with Paddy Power.

Another thing

After four rounds of the URC, Edinburgh winger is the top player in the league on a number of counts. He is the leading try scorer with six touchdowns to his name. He also tops the stats lists for defenders beaten (18) and metres gained (330).