Scotland name team to play Ireland as Lions back misses out through injury

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has named his side to face Ireland on Saturday with Blair Kinghorn coming in for the injured Tommy Seymour the only change from the Scottish team that defeated England last month.

The 25-13 win over the English represented Scotland's first win over England since 2008 with Townsend's side still in contention despite their opening day defeat to Wales. A win for Scotland this weekend would see the Six Nations contested until the final round with Townsend insisting that his side will have to improve if they are to topple tournament leaders Ireland in Dublin.

“We were delighted with the result against England and backing up our win against France with an improved performance," said Townsend.

https://twitter.com/Scotlandteam/status/971341185129304065

“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.”

Elsewhere Scotland have made one further change to the replacements bench with Glasgow Warriors hooker Fraser Brown – who featured in all but two Scotland Tests last year – returning from injury to replace Scott Lawson.

Scotland team to face Ireland in Dublin

NatWest 6 Nations Round 4: Saturday 10 March (kick-off 2.15pm) - live on ITV

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

Substitutes

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