DU PREEZ WARY OF BEING TRIPPED UP BY TREVISO
ITALIAN club rugby may be in the doldrums but Cornell du Preez insists Edinburgh are not taking tonight’s Pro12 encounter with lowly Treviso lightly. Ever since head coach Alan Solomons took up his role at the capital club in 2013, his side have performed better when they have been considered underdogs. However, they head into this league match flying high in fourth place in the table and coming off the back of two wins over their close rivals Glasgow Warriors. As he prepares to run out for Edinburgh for the 50th time, though, No 8 du Preez has revealed how meticulously he and his team-mates have prepared for what — if it goes with form — should be a one-sided affair. ‘We did the reviews of the 1872 Cup matches and we are pleased with how we did, but we moved on very quickly,’ said the 24-year-old. ‘I think we are more focused this week against a team at the bottom of the table because we don’t want to fall into a trap. When you are expected to win, that can be dangerous, so we know what Treviso will throw at us. ‘They haven’t won a game this season, but they almost beat Glasgow at Scotstoun a few weeks ago and are still a difficult team to play against. ‘We are definitely up for this one and we won’t be taking them lightly at all.’ Du Preez’s importance to Edinburgh is certainly not lost on Solomons, especially with Nasi Manu still out with a neck injury. And the South African-born back-rower could one day pull on the dark blue of Scotland — he becomes eligible in October — but, for now, Solomons believes there are others in his squad that could still force their way into the Six Nations reckoning. There are five Edinburgh players who will definitely be linking up with Vern Cotter’s squad later this month barring injury, but the likes of Rory Sutherland, Damien Hoyland and Ben Toolis will also be on the radar. ‘It will be up to Vern to decide what he wants to do — they have to play the best that they can for us first,’ said Solomons. ‘However, I would say there are certainly some guys who must be in with a shout. I’ll leave it up to the national coach, but those Glasgow games were big games and the guys did well.’ Yesterday, it was announced that another of Edinburgh’s young players, Chris Dean, has signed a new deal to keep him at the club until May 2018. The centre is not included in the squad to face Treviso, though, with Solomons making just three changes to last weekend’s starting XV.
EDINBURGH: Cuthbert, Fife, Allen, Scott, Hoyland; Tonks, Hidalgo-Clyne; Sutherland, Cochrane, Nel, Bresler, A Toolis, Coman, Hardie, du Preez. Replacements: McInally, Dell, Andress, Ritchie, Bradbury, Kennedy, Kinghorn, Strauss.
TREVISO: McLean, Pratichetti, Christie, Sgarbi, Ragusi; Ambrosini, Smylie; Zanusso, Santamaria, Manu, Paulo, Montauriol, Barbini, Zanni, Barbieri. Replacements: Gega, Traorè, de Marchi, Palmer, Minto, Lazzaroni, Lucchese, Bacchin.