Scotland name team to play Ireland

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has named his match-day 23 to face Ireland in Stade de France on Saturday, 7 October. Second-row Grant Gilchrist, scrum-half Ali Price and right-wing Darcy Graham retain their places in the starting XV after the 84-0 win over Romania, with captain Jamie Ritchie passed fit to return at blindside flanker after suffering a head knock in their previous match against Tonga. 

1 Pierre Schoeman 
2 George Turner 
3 Zander Fagerson 
4 Richie Gray 
5 Grant Gilchrist 

7 Rory Darge 
8 Jack Dempsey 
9 Ali Price 
10 Finn Russell 
11 Duhan van der Merwe 
12 Sione Tuipulotu 
13 Huw Jones 
14 Darcy Graham 
15 Blair Kinghorn 

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

• Jamie Ritchie captains Scotland for the 15th time on the occasion of his 46th cap after replacing Luke Crosbie at blindside. He has led Scotland to victory in eight of his 14 previous appearances as captain.

• Blair Kinghorn wins his 50th cap for Scotland, more than five-and-a-half years after he made his debut as a replacement against England in February 2018. Kinghorn scored a try against Ireland in his first test start two weeks later.

• Pierre Schoeman and Zander Fagerson are the props either side of hooker George Turner, while Richie Gray and Grant Gilchrist form the second row. Rory Darge joins Ritchie on the flanks with Jack Dempsey at the back of the pack.

• There are four survivors from the starting XV that featured in Scotland’s last win over Ireland in 2017 – Zander Fagerson, Richie Gray, Finn Russell and Huw Jones.

• Darcy Graham scored a Scotland RWC record-equalling four tries and beat 14 opposition defenders v Romania, the joint-most defenders beaten of any player in a single match at this year’s Rugby World Cup, alongside teammate Duhan van der Merwe, who beat 14 against Tonga.

• Graham matched Gavin Hastings’ record of four tries in a RWC match (v Ivory Coast in 1995) in the 84-0 win v Romania and now has five for the tournament, putting him joint top in the RWC 2023 try-scoring stakes with five.