Duncan Weir starts for Scotland in Ireland - Ruck

Duncan Weir starts for Scotland in Ireland

  • Scotland coach Vern Cotter has made three changes to his starting line-up for their final game of the Six Nations campaign against Ireland
  • Glasgow Warriors fly-half Duncan Weir will make his first start of the Championship
  • Lock Tim Swinson also benefits from an injury, replacing Jonny Gray
Scotland coach Vern Cotter has made three changes to the team for Saturday’s final Six Nations game against Ireland in Dublin.

Duncan Weir comes in at stand-off after his Glasgow team-mate Finn Russell failed to recover from the head knock he suffered early in Sunday’s 29-18 win over France.



With Jonny Gray also unavailable after suffering a torn pectoral muscle against Les Bleus, Tim Swinson steps up from the bench to partner Gray’s brother Richie in the second row.

Ryan Wilson also returns to the starting line-up in place of Josh Strauss, who drops to the bench despite a decent display against Guy Noves’ men.



Cotter said: “We were pleased with our sustained effort against France. I was happy with the way we adapted to losing Finn so early in the game. The team came together and was rewarded for their endeavor with the end result.

“The challenge for us now is to keep constructing our game and enjoy the last coming together of the championship in a Scotland jersey, against an Ireland team full of confidence after a convincing win over Italy.”

Cotter has made two further changes to the replacements, with Rob Harley taking the place on the bench place vacated by the promoted Swinson, while Henry Pyrgos has been named as replacement scrum-half for what could be his first Scotland appearance since his post-World Cup wrist surgery.

Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Duncan Weir,  9 Greig Laidlaw, 1 Alasdair Dickinson, 2 Ross Ford, 3 Willem Nel, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Tim Swinson, 6 John Barclay, 7 John Hardie, 8 Ryan Wilson

Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Moray Low, 19 Rob Harley, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Sean Lamont