It was Rob Moffat, the Edinburgh backs coach, who offered the judgment this week that Heineken Cup rugby can be tougher than international rugby, particularly matches against lower-ranked nations, such as Scotland's recent encounter with Canada. Anybody wanting to scoff has only to look at the back divisions facing each other tonight when London Wasps visit Edinburgh.

The entire Edinburgh midfield is the one that did duty for Scotland throughout last month and they are well matched on paper by a unit with just as good a pedigree, including the Murrayfield debut of Danny Cipriani eight months after he had expected to make his international bow there, only to get himself axed from the England squad as a disciplinary measure after visiting a nightclub.

For Ben Cairns, the Edinburgh centre, however, the challenge is exactly what gets him excited about games like this. This will be his 50th game for the club, despite having made his debut only three seasons ago, and he is relishing the chance to take a leading role in tackling the English challenge. “I suppose I'm quite an experienced player now,” he said. “Since my debut, coming on to play against Brian O'Driscoll, I have been happy with my form, my consistency and the amount of game time I have had. I don't think it could have gone any better.

“When you start you are coming into games trying not to make mistakes but as you get more experience your mindset changes and you want to try things and make things happen. That is definitely my mentality and is also true of the other young guys in the side. We feel we are starting to build a run, and can take that confidence into the game against Wasps.”

It has been a frustrating season for Cairns, who damaged a knee in the pre-season warm-up game against tonight's opponents, but he managed to return to action in time to cement the Scotland place he had won in the summer. Now he feels that, after coming up against the best of New Zealand and South Africa in the last month, he is more than ready.

There are half a dozen in the Edinburgh side who know what it takes to beat Wasps in the Heineken Cup. They are the survivors from the 2005 game when Simon Webster, who starts tonight, came off the bench to snatch victory with an injury-time try after the lead had changed hands regularly throughout the second half.

This is a crucial match for both sides, who have each won one and lost one of their opening matches. Only twice in the history of the competition has any team gone through to the knockout stage after two defeats, so whoever loses tonight is effectively out of the tournament.

Almost all of the Edinburgh squad also gained some experience of winning against Wasps in that pre-season match. Though no one is reading anything into the result, it makes sure that Edinburgh have not mentally lost the game before it has even started.

As Cairns points out, it also gave his side crucial experience of facing the unusual defensive system Wasps use. “They come up very hard with their blitz defence,” he said. “It was ideal to have played the Ospreys last week because they use the same style and gave us a chance to get used to it again. When they do that the important thing is not to be afraid, but to keep attacking the line. Any defence has its weakness, it's our job to find it.”

It has all the makings of a cracking match. Three years ago Edinburgh were behind more often than they were in front but stole it at the death. They would settle for the same again.

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

London Wasps: M van Gisbergen; P Sackey, D Waldouck, R Flutey, J Lewsey; D Cipriani, E Reddan; T Payne, R Webber, P Vickery (capt), G Skivington, R Birkett, S Betsen, T Rees, J Haskell. Replacements: D Varley, T French, S Shaw, J Hart, J Simpson, D Walder, L Mitchell.

Referee: C Berdos (France).