Grant Gilchrist and Max Williamson will come into the Scotland second row for Saturday's Guinness Six Nations final round against Ireland at Aviva Stadium, as Gregor Townsend makes three changes to his side from last week’s win against France.
The Scottish head coach was forced into replacing his starting second row pair of Scott Cummings and Gregor Brown, after both departed last week’s 50-40 victory due to injury.
Gilchrist replaced Brown in the opening half at Murrayfield last week, and the 35-year-old steps into the starting side for first time since the opening round defeat to Italy in Rome.
Williamson didn’t feature in last week’s famous win against the French, but the 23-year-old Glasgow Warriors lock had been involved in the three previous Scottish internationals.
The only other changes comes at tighthead, where Zander Fagerson returns to the starting lineup, with D’Arcy Rae dropping to the bench.
George Turner continues at hooker, while Pierre Schoeman is at loosehead for his 49th cap.
Jack Dempsey is retained at number eight, having made a surprise injury return last week, with Matt Fagerson and Rory Darge starting on the flanks.
The backline is unchanged from last week, with Kyle Steyn and Huw Jones both shaking off injury to start.
Steyn and Darcy Graham are named on the wings, after scoring a pair of tries each last week, with Blair Kinghorn patrolling the backfield at full-back.
Captain Sione Tuipulotu, who missed last year’s meeting with Ireland, starts at inside centre alongside Jones, while Ben White and Finn Russell team up in the half-backs as normal.
A win for Scotland on Saturday could potentially see them win the Six Nations outright, providing they better France’s match points against England, while they are also looking to secure a first Triple Crown since 1990.
Scotland: Blair Kinghorn; Darcy Graham, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Steyn; Finn Russell, Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, George Turner, Zander Fagerson; Max Williamson, Grant Gilchrist; Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, D’Arcy Rae, Alex Craig, Magnus Bradbury, George Horne, Kyle Rowe, Tom Jordan.
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Watch Wales v Italy (4.40pm) and France v England (8.10pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player this Saturday.
