It has been a summer of landmarks for Chris Paterson, who broke the Scotland caps and points record in June and, in his first game back at Edinburgh, will make his 150th appearance for the club where he has played almost all his senior rugby.

Predictably, after all the fuss about the possibility of playing at fly half against Munster in the opening game of the Magners League tomorrow night, Paterson is slotted in on the wing, a position in which he has much more recent experience. That allows Phil Godman, who regained his Scotland place in June, to retain the No10 shirt, in an experienced back division. Up front, there are rewards for a couple of forwards who have played their way into the side during the pre-season campaign that brought wins over London Wasps and Bath. While Geoff Cross had his moment of glory with a brilliant try against the former, Craig Hamilton won his promotion with a solid display against the latter.

Andy Robinson, the Edinburgh coach, has warned however that unless they can back up those performances with a win against Munster, the Heineken Cup holders, then the whole exercise will have counted for nothing. “A loss this weekend would make the pre-season friendly results pointless,” he said. “It is important that the guys who have the experience and the talent really deliver.

“We are now facing our biggest test of the year so far because we are facing Munster. We didn't beat them last year and they play a tough brand of rugby. We need to be able to cope with the way they play as well as imposing our game plan on them.”

There is a lower profile start for Glasgow, who open their campaign away at Newport Gwent Dragons. While the Dragons have often been their bogey side, they did win at Rodney Parade last season and are putting a lot of store on Massimo Cuttitta, the Italian scrummaging coach who has been working with Edinburgh for the past two years and has added Glasgow to his portfolio, to give them the platform to use the speed of their backs.

Mark McMillan and Tim Barker, who have returned to the club, are given their starts, with Sean Lineen, the Glasgow coach, backing both to make a real difference, though the focus is bound to be more on McMillan, the former Wasps scrum half.

“He has been great for the squad,” Lineen said. “He brings a professional edge and demands the same from the players around; he does not settle for second best. He will drive the forwards onwards. He has good skills and has come back a more mature player.”

Glasgow: B Stortoni; L Fa'atau, M Evans, G Morrison, T Evans; D Parks, M McMillan; J Va'a, D Hall, M Low, T Barker, A Kellock (C), K Brown, J Barclay, J Beattie. Replacements: E Milligan, K Tkachuk, O Palepoi, S Swindall, C Gregor, A Henderson, R Jackson.

Edinburgh: H Southwell; C Paterson, C MacRae, N De Luca, S Webster; P Godman, M Blair (C); A Jacobsen, R Ford, G Cross, C Hamilton, B Gissing, M Mustchin, A MacDonald, A Hogg. Replacements: A Kelly, G Kerr, S Newlands, D Callam, G Laidlaw, M Robertson, A Turnbull.