Edinburgh take on the Ospreys this team and despite both squads losing players to international duty, Edinburgh look fairly familiar with Cockerill opting for form over reputation quite often this season.
Ben Toolis, Stuart McInally and WP Nel are the biggest losses for Edinburgh’s pack while Alun Wyn Jones will be absent for Ospreys. They do have lion-tamer Scott Baldwin back the right side of the cage though, along with some seasoned players like James Hook in the backline.
In the Edinburgh back row, Jamie Ritchie gets the openside berth in place of Hamish Watson (international) and John Hardie (suspension) which gives Luke Crosbie another start at blindside.
Richard Cockerill has handed the outside centre spot to James Johnstone despite the presence of Chris Dean in the team and continues with Jason Tovey at standoff. No sign of Duncan Weir who hasn’t featured much during Edinburgh’s recent run of wins – Sam Hidalgo-Clyne will cover both half-back slots from the bench.
The loss of McInally and Ford to Scotland means a potential debut off the bench for young hooker Cameron Fenton. Also lurking in the replacements is deposed skipper Magnus Bradbury, who will be hoping to begin his rehabilitation sooner rather than later.
Edinburgh: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 James Johnstone, 12 Phil Burleigh, 11 Tom Brown, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Nathan Fowles; 1 Michele Rizzo, 2 Neil Cochrane, 3 Simon Berghan, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 6 Luke Crosbie, 7 Jamie Ritchie, 8 Cornell du Preez.
Replacements: 16 Cameron Fenton, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Murray McCallum, 19 Magnus Bradbury, 20 Lewis Carmichael, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Glenn Bryce, 23 Chris Dean.
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Dafydd Howells, 13 James Hook, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Tom Habberfield, 10 Sam Davies, 9 Brendon Leonard; 1 Paul James (CAPT), 2 Scott Baldwin, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 4 Lloyd Ashley, 5 Bradley Davies, 6 Olly Cracknell, 7 Guy Mercer, 8 Rob McCusker.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Rory Thornton, 20 James King, 21 Reuben Morgan-Williams, 22 Luke Price, 23 Kieron Fonotia
Saturday 4 October, kick-off 5.30pm, live on Sky Sports Arena.