There are few better places to kick off a brand-new Guinness PRO14 season than BT Murrayfield, and Edinburgh Rugby will once again do just that when they welcome Zebre to the stadium on Saturday evening.

Bookending the weekend’s fixtures, both sides will be desperate to start things off on the right foot as they target improvements on last season; Edinburgh narrowly missing out on a play-off berth in Conference B; Zebre finishing seventh in Conference A.

And the hosts have made an early statement of intent in naming their starting XV: summer signing Nic Groom not only starts but takes up the captain’s armband at scrum-half, while Nick Haining gets the nod at No.8 and Murray Douglas returns to the Edinburgh ranks for the first time in seven years after re-joining this summer.

For the visitors, it is a similar story, with no less than eight exciting signings set to make their competitive debuts, among them Ian Nagle – who will skipper the side.

Kick-off: Murrayfield, Edinburgh | 19:35 (UK) 20:35 (ITA), Saturday 28 September

How to watch: Live on Premier Sports & DAZN

Players to watch out for: Nic Groom and Ian Nagle

All eyes will be on the armband on Saturday evening in the Scottish capital.

Two debutants with exceptional pedigree looking to lead from the front and immediately make their presence felt; Groom and Nagle may not have much in common with regards to their positions, but in terms of their experience, they are of similar stock.

A former Barbarian, South African Groom is set for his Guinness PRO14 bow, slotting in for Henry Pyrgos as another canny operator at No.9.

Towering lock Nagle, on the other hand, is a veteran of the competition, with stints at Munster, Leinster and Ulster all under his belt, but Saturday’s run-out will herald the start of a new challenge.

Key stat: The Scotsmen have lost their last two matches against Italian opponents, but both were on visits to Italy. They have not been defeated by an Italian side at BT Murrayfield since Zebre visited in October 2016.

Edinburgh Rugby: Damien Hoyland, Jamie Farndale, Mark Bennett, Matt Scott, Duhan van der Merwe, Jaco van der Walt, Nic Groom ©; Pierre Schoeman, Dave Cherry, Pietro Ceccarelli, Fraser McKenzie, Murray Douglas, Lewis Carmichael, Luke Crosbie, Nick Haining

Replacements: Mike Willemse, Jamie Bhatti, Murray McCallum, Mesu Kunavula, Ally Miller, Charlie Shiel, Simon Hickey, George Taylor

Zebre: Charlie Walker, James Elliott, Ludovico Vaccari, Enrico Lucchin, Paula Balekana, Francois Brummer, Joshua Renton; Giovanni Licata, Johan Meyer, Iacopo Bianchi, Ian Nagle ©, Mick Kearney, Alexandru Tarus, Marco Manfredi, Danilo Fischetti

Replacements: Massimo Ceciliani, Daniele Rimpelli, Giosue Zilocchi, George Biagi, Apisai Tauyavuca, Nicolo Casilio, Pierre Bruno, Federico Mori