Robinson opts to leave Blair out of Castres clash
With little chance of reaching the last eight, the Scottish side have decided to promote Greig Laidlaw to the No.9 shirt, with Blair named on the bench.
Nick de Luca does return along with Gavin Kerr, Ben Gissing and Scott Newlands.
Castres have also opted to rest a number of players for the trip to Murrayfield — including France skipper Lionel Nallet. Sébastien Tillous-Borde, Anthony Lagardère and Luc Ducalcon also remain at home so New Zealander Kevin Senio, Romain Teulet and Italian Fabio Staibano all start.
Edinburgh have also been left with a second row headache, after being forced to reshuffle their replacements for tonight’s clash.
Lock Jim Hamilton (groin) and flanker Alan MacDonald (head injury) have failed to recover in time, and competition rules do not allow head coach Andy Robinson to replace them with national academy players.
The loss of Hamilton in particular means there is no available cover at second row, with Matt Mustchin set to undergo surgery to repair ankle ligament damage.
Robinson branded the rules “archaic”, after he was refused permission to draft in cover. He has instead been forced to call upon Roland Reid — who began his career in the back row but now plays in the back three — and hooker Steve Lawrie.
EDINBURGH: H Southwell; A Turnbull, B Cairns, N De Luca, S Webster; P Godman, G Laidlaw; A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Kerr, C Hamilton, B Gissing, S Newlands, S Cross, A Hogg (capt).
Replacements: A Kelly, K Traynor, R Reid, S Lawrie, M Blair, C Paterson, J Houston.
CASTRES: T Bouquié; L Milford, C Sika, T Sanchou, M Bourret; R Teulet, K Senio; G Lensing, R Terrain, F Staibano, R Capo Ortega, C Gaston (capt), L Tomiki, S Malonga, J Tekori
Replacements: A Giorgadze, C Hoeft, D Saayman, K Kulemin, C Masoe, S Kefu, P Bonnefond.
Referee: James Jones (Wales).
Montpellier 24 Northampton 28
BEN FODEN celebrated his England call-up in style as Northampton gained a narrow European Challenge Cup win over Montpellier.
The uncapped scrum-half set up first-half tries for Chris Mayor and Stephen Myler before Sean Lamont’s late strike at the Stade Yves du Manoir.
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