With eight Edinburgh players in the Scotland squad to to tour Australia there is massive potential for the club to go from strength to strength next season.

Edinburgh captain and Scotland flyhalf Greig Laidlaw admitted that, while the tour is the prime focus for those heading for Australia, the players can't help but be enthused by the potential of the squad when they're back in black and red this July.

"Edinburgh Rugby have a long history of providing quality players with the platform to earn representative honours so it was great to see guys like Dave Denton, Lee Jones and Matt Scott carry that on in the Six Nations," said Laidlaw.

"It's obviously disappointing that Dave [Denton] and Lee [Jones] have been ruled out of the tour but it's good to see that Tim Visser and Tom Brown have picked up the mantle and earned selection.

"There's no doubting the quality of the players in the Edinburgh Rugby squad but it's a long, hard season and, if you want to challenge for silverware, you need depth.

"The players already in place, combined with the new talent coming in, will mean the squad will have quite a different look about it next season. We'll be a tough team to handle, all season long, and that's something the fans and players are rightly excited about," he added.

Last season Edinburgh's average attendance grew by around 50%, with Scottish club rugby record crowds in both the Pro12 and Heineken Cup getting much closer to the action in the new east stand seating and pitch-side standing areas introduced last season.

With mounting support from the east of Scotland’s rugby community and beyond, and increased investment in the playing squad, Laidlaw believes the 2012/13 campaign has the potential to be the best yet.

He explained: "The fans have been fantastic all year. The east stand and pitch-side standing areas have worked really well and the re-opening of the Presidents' Suite has been very popular.

"It's great that we've been in a position to increase the player budget because it means we're better placed to reward the increased support we’ve had this season with improved performances on the pitch.

"Our season tickets are selling fast already so hopefully the supporters will again come out in force and we'll all enjoy another record-breaking year," he said.