Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt admits he’ll have someone keeping a close eye on the game between Stormers and Lions - likely play-off opponents for the capital club if they make it through their own trip to Benetton.
The battle of the two South African sides starts quarter of an hour before Edinburgh kick off in Treviso, and begins with Stormers fifth in the URC table.
But a victory for the Lions can push them into the play-offs, with the Johannesburg side currently in ninth and level on points with both Edinburgh and Benetton.
The straight shootout between the capital side and their Italian opponents begins at 1pm on Saturday and the winners will guarantee themselves a place in the play-offs.
But Everitt insists it makes sense to have someone checking what is happening in case their game is close and the outcome impacts his side's decision-making.
He said: “Obviously our focus is on us but if our game becomes tight, we need to know what’s going on there.
“They kick off 15 minutes before us so when those crucial decisions have to be made in a tight game at the end - whether to go for the corner, whether to go for the posts - that will come into play, so we’ll definitely have one ear on that game coming into the last 20 minutes of ours.”
READ MORE: James Lang handed key Edinburgh role as Sean Everitt names team to face Benetton
Injuries have hampered Edinburgh over recent months and in particular in their back three. It was made worse when Wes Goosen was injured against Munster, with the Edinburgh Players' Player of the Year unlikely to play again this season.
With Emiliano Boffelli also out, it meant Everitt needed to find a solution at fullback and he’s decided to go for James Lang in that role.
The former Harlequins centre has played at fullback before and has covered the position for Edinburgh from the bench, thought he hasn't been required to play as the last line of defence.
Cammy Scott and Mark Bennett were other options but both of them are among the replacements with Everitt making four changes from the side that was beaten by Munster two weeks ago.
Everitt explained why Lang was the player picked: "I think the strength in our group is that we've got players that can cover most positions, except for scrum-half.
"James Lang [is] a guy that has played 15 for Harlequins. He played fly-half for Harlequins and he's used to and understands the backfield quite well because of that.
"In saying that, you know, we have prepared all along. James Lang has, when Cammy Scott has not been on the bench, has covered 10 and 15 anyway.
"So it's not as though it's going to be totally new to him. If anything, it could add a different dimension to how we play.
“We’ve got two guys coming with us, young Jack Brown and Charlie Shiel. Charlie is comfortable in most positions in the backline anyway.
“The injuries have taken their toll and we are thin at the moment, but we’ve dealt with that over the last six or seven weeks so it’s nothing new.
“We haven’t had Harry Paterson or Darcy Graham for a period of time now. The unfortunate one is Wes but James is an able replacement and we are fortunate to have him in our group.
Lang is joined by Jake Henry and Duhan van der Merwe in the back three while Matt Currie has moved back to his usual position of centre to play alongside Chris Dean.
Ali Price is also back in to start at scrum-half with Ben Healy at fly-half.
The front row sees Pierre Schoeman and WP Nel - who could be playing the last match of his career depending on results - join fellow Scotland cap Ewan Ashman, with Sam Skinner and Grant Gilchrist in the engine room.
Luke Crosbie, who makes his 100th appearance in place of the benched Hamish Watson, joins Jamie Ritchie and Bill Mata in the back-row.
Benetton have an excellent home record but Edinburgh do have some good wins away, including against Ulster and Cardiff and Everitt is hopeful they can get another in Italy to make up the five away victories they set as a goal at the start of the season.
Everitt continued: “It’s something we spoke about when we came in. If we want to be in the top eight, we’ve got to win games away from home.
“We set a goal of winning five games away from home, we’ve managed four so this is the one we need to win to achieve our goals - five wins away from home as well as 12 wins in the competition.
“The confidence we got out of the Ulster game is massive. The team now believe they can win on the road. South Africa was a tough tour for us. We got no points out of it so that was disappointing.
“We lost to Benetton here at home, which was probably not our best performance of the year. We allowed them into the game in the last 10 minutes. But then we had to beat Ulster away with the pressure on, and we got that result by putting in a great performance.
“There is belief that we can win and we’ll be taking that into Saturday’s game.”
Edinburgh: James Lang, Jake Henry, Matt Currie, Chris Dean, Duhan van der Merwe, Ben Healy, Ali Price, Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, WP Nel, Sam Skinner, Grant Gilchrist (C), Jamie Ritchie, Luke Crosbie, Viliame Mata
Replacements: Dave Cherry, Boan Venter, Javan Sebastian, Marshall Sykes, Hamish Watson, Ben Vellacott, Cammy Scott, Mark Bennett
Benetton: Rhyno Smith, Ignacio Mendy, Tommaso Menoncello, Ignacio Brex, Onisi Ratave, Tomas Albornoz, Andy Uren; Thomas Gallo, Giacomo Nicotera, Simone Ferrari, Niccolo Cannone, Eli Snyman, Alessandro Izekor, Michele Lamaro (c) Toa Halafihi
Replacements: Gianmarco Lucchesi, Mirco Spagnolo, Giosue Zilocchi, Edoardo Iachizzi, Lorenzo Cannone, Alessandro Garbisi, Jacob Umaga, Marco Zanon
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