Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has made one change to the starting Scotland team for this Saturday’s NatWest 6 Nations Test against Ireland at Aviva Stadium in Dublin (10 March, kick-off 2.15pm) – live on ITV / STV.
Glasgow Warriors wing Tommy Seymour is an injury-enforced change to the back division, having failed to recover sufficiently from the back injury sustained in the national team’s Calcutta Cup win in round three.
In-form Edinburgh Rugby back Blair Kinghorn will earn his first start for Scotland on the wing in place of Seymour, with Glasgow winger Lee Jones taking his vacated place on the bench.
Click here for the complete 2018 NatWest 6 Nations fixture list
Townsend has made one further change to the replacements bench, with Glasgow hooker Fraser Brown – who featured in all but two Scotland Tests last year – returning from injury to replace Scott Lawson.
Townsend commented: “We were delighted with the result against England and backing up our win against France with an improved performance.
“The intent we showed in attack and defence in the first half was very encouraging and we continued to work hard in the second half. The effort that went into denying England a second try in the closing minutes was great to see.
“Our players had prepared very well for the challenge of taking on England and there has been a similar focus and commitment this week at training.
“There are a few areas of our game that we are working to improve and we are aware that we will have to be better if we are to beat a very good Ireland side in Dublin.”
Scotland team to face Ireland in Dublin on Saturday: 15. Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 58 caps 14. Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) – 1 cap 13. Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 14 caps 12. Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 31 caps 11. Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 32 caps 10. Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 35 caps 9. Greig Laidlaw VICE CAPTAIN (Clermont Auvergne) – 61 caps 1. Gordon Reid (London Irish) – 30 caps 2. Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby) – 15 caps 3. Simon Berghan (Edinburgh Rugby) – 7 caps 4. Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) – 21 caps 5. Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 41 caps 6. John Barclay CAPTAIN (Scarlets) – 69 caps 7. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 18 caps 8. Ryan Wilson VICE CAPTAIN (Glasgow Warriors) – 35 caps Replacements
16. Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 29 caps 17. Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) – 6 caps 18. Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) – 20 caps 19. Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 34 caps 20. David Denton (Worcester Warriors) – 37 caps 21. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 14 caps 22. Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors) – 2 caps 23. Lee Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 7 caps
