Edinburgh Rugby have to go big or go home against Gloucester in ultra-tight Champions Cup pool

The head coach believes his team need a bonus-point victory at the Hive - otherwise they will find themselves in a very tricky position with one round of games to go in Pool 2. And, in an unusually bullish assertion on the eve of the contest, Everitt insisted he was confident his players could get the desired result.

A glance at the pool table suggests Everitt is right to target the five-point maximum. Edinburgh and Gloucester are two of the five teams who are locked on five points, a point behind Finn Russell’s Bath, who the capital club visit next Friday.

The top four teams in each pool of six will progress to the last 16 in the cup. A bonus-point victory would see Edinburgh place one foot in the knockout stages, but anything less could see them head to the Rec in search of an improbable upset against a team who won three trophies last season - including the Challenge Cup, in which they knocked out Edinburgh in the semi-final.

Everitt’s side performed dismally in their last home game, scoring just one penalty as Glasgow retained the 1872 Cup with embarrassing ease. However, a much-improved performance six days ago saw them win at Benetton, and that result has bolstered the coach’s belief in his players.

“Being at home, and [given] the improvements that we made last week, we're confident that we can get a result tomorrow night,” Everitt said after naming a line-up showing three changes from the 15 who started in Treviso. “We need to get five points at home if we want to stay in the race for the last 16.

“Ten will keep you in the hunt and then it's a difficult game away to Bath. So that's the reason why we need five. If we don't get five, we make it really difficult next week.

“I'm sure that our attack will function this week. You saw glimpses of it last week - it's something that doesn't just go away. Last season we were in the top five for tries, so hopefully we get that mojo back.”

The three Edinburgh Rugby changes

Two of the coach’s three changes are essentially rotational: Liam McConnell returns at blindside in place of Tom Dodd, while James Whitcombe is at loosehead instead of Pierre Schoeman. But the third is potentially more important, as Duhan van der Merwe returns after recovering from a hip injury. Wes Goosen reverts to full-back to accommodate the Scotland wing, while Jack Brown drops out.

Van der Merwe has been a peripheral figure in recent club outings, but Everitt is confident that, having put his injury worries behind him, he is on course to rediscover his best form. “I think it's just the injuries that have plagued him,” he said. “I have chatted to him around the consistency of performance, but that will come with game time. Hopefully he can get a good run in before the Six Nations which will get him back to his best.”

Other significant changes to the matchday 23 see Ewan Ashman and Ben Muncaster return from injury to a six-two bench, while former Scotland Under-20s cap Euan McVie is in line to make his debut. However, Grant Gilchrist is still out with a slight quad injury that is also likely to rule him out of the Bath game.

Meanwhile, Gloucester - who lost to Edinburgh at the Hive but then got revenge at Kingsholm in last season’s Challenge Cup - will be without Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams, who is still injured. Second-row Arthur Clark and wing and vice-captain Ollie Thorley are also out after being given three-match bans yesterday for offences in last week’s league defeat by Newcastle.

That loss to the Prem’s bottom club was the Cherry and Whites’ eighth in nine league games this season, and has left them just four points off the foot of the table. Nonetheless, Everitt does not expect an easy evening.

“They're a ball-in-hand team and they've got a dangerous attack when they get it going,” he said. “They're still very much alive in the Champions Cup and they could get redemption from that.”

In fact, all six teams in the pool are still very much alive, and it would be no surprise if two or more of them finished level on match points. In that event, points differential would be used to separate them, which is another reason Edinburgh could do with a big win this evening. Of the five clubs locked on five points, they are currently bottom on -20, below Gloucester on -8, Toulon on -2, Munster on 2 and Castres on 13. Bath’s points differential is 15.

Edinburgh Rugby v Gloucester teams

Edinburgh: W Goosen; D Graham, M Currie, J Lang, D van der Merwe; R Thompson, B Vellacott; J Whitcombe, H Morris, O Blyth-Lafferty, C Hunter-Hill, G Young, L McConnell, F Douglas, M Bradbury (captain). Replacements: E Ashman, P Schoeman, P Hill, E McVie, T Dodd, B Muncaster, C Shiel, P O’Conor.

Gloucester: G Barton; J Cotgreave, W Butler, S Atkinson (captain), J Hathaway; C Atkinson, M Austin; V Rapava Ruskin, W Crane, N Laulala, F Thomas, M Alemanno, D Gwynne, L Ludlow, J Clement. Replacements: G Knowles, C Knight, A Fasogbon, C Jordan, J Venter, R Price, R Byrne, J Morris.

Referee: Luc Ramos (France).