Scotland Head Coach Gregor Townsend has named his match-day 23 to face Ireland in the Stade de France on Saturday. Captain Jamie Ritchie makes his return from injury to start on the blindside flank, with just three players retaining their places from the 84-0 win over Romania.
Ritchie took a blow to the head against Tonga, and sat out Scotland’s dominant victory over the Oakes. He replaces Luke Crosbie in the back row, as Townsend has shuffled the deck of his Scotland squad. Fullback Blair Kinghorn is set to make his 50th cap for Scotland, and take on the side whom he scored against on his first test start.
Darcy Graham once again starts on the right wing, after scoring four tries against Romania last weekend. Graham’s efforts equalled the all-time best try-scoring performance record by a Scotland player in a single Rugby World Cup match, with Gavin Hastings scoring four tries against Ivory Coast in 1995. Graham currently leads the Rugby World Cup’s try-scoring charts, with five.
There are four survivors from the starting XV that featured in Scotland’s last win over Ireland in the 2017 Six Nations (27-22), as Zander Fagerson, Richie Gray, Finn Russell and Huw Jones all start.
SCOTLAND TEAM TO FACE IRELAND – 2023 RUGBY WORLD CUP
15. Blair Kinghorn
14. Darcy Graham
13. Huw Jones
12. Sione Tuipulotu
11. Duhan van der Merwe
10. Finn Russell
9. Ali Price
1. Pierre Schoeman
2. George Turner
3. Zander Fagerson
4. Richie Gray
5. Grant Gilchrist
6. Jamie Ritchie (c)
7. Rory Darge
8. Jack Dempsey
Replacements:
16. Ewan Ashman
17. Rory Sutherland
18. WP Nel
19. Scott Cummings
20. Matt Fagerson
21. Luke Crosbie
22. George Horne
23. Ollie Smith