Everitt expecting fierce Bayonne battle

The capital side go into the match-up – which is a repeat of last season’s EPCR Round of 16 encounter – off the back of a tough opening match in Gloucester which saw Edinburgh take home a losing-bonus point.

Sean Everitt’s side will be keen to get back to winning ways at home having picked up bonus-point victories in their last three matches at Hive Stadium.

“We expect Bayonne to be full strength,” said Everitt. “If they’ve set out to say that this is a competition they want to win, and they feel that they can, then I would expect them to bring the best team.”

Bayonne come into Friday night’s clash having beaten Scarlets 17-16 in Round 1. The Basque side have been impressive at home in the French Top 14 – beating Toulouse, Stade Francais and La Rochelle – but have struggled on the road so far this campaign.

Everitt continued: “Bayonne have recruited really well this year. You know, Manu Tuilagi is one of the big signings that they’ve made. And they rely on him to get going forward.

“They’ve made it clear that they wanted an improvement this year, and they wanted to give EPCR a good go – they saw that as an opportunity for them

“They’re sitting fifth in the top 14. And they’re a much-improved team, as I said earlier. They are a big challenge for us. With the X Factor players that they have, particularly in the back three. So, we’re going to have to be fully switched on to be able to win this one.”

With a number of the club’s Scotland internationalists missing out on last weekend’s tight defeat at Kingsholm due to rest protocol, Everitt is looking forward to getting some of those stars back in the mix at home.

“We’re going to rotate in certain positions where we’re able to. We are welcoming the Scottish internationals back from a break last week and thoroughly deserved. We’d like to get them into the mix this weekend.

“We’ve got another two big games post the EPCR as well and we’d like to build momentum and consistency in our selection.”

For Everitt, European rugby is always is a special occasion with the opportunity for players to take on opposition and styles of rugby they have never faced before.

“Simply put, you’re playing against teams that you don’t normally play against,” continued Everitt. “We did play Gloucester in a friendly. Other than that, we wouldn’t play against Gloucester.

“We don’t often get an opportunity to play against the Top 14 teams and particularly a team like Bayonne, who we played against last year, they’ve made big improvements and they’re sitting fifth in the French Top 14.

“So it’s going to be a good game and one that everyone’s looking forward to.”