Scotland team v Ireland: Gregor Townsend gambles on New Zealand rookie back to fill Sione Tuipulotu’s void as experienced forwards return
Scotland utility back Tom Jordan and head coach Gregor Townsend.
Rookie utility back Tom Jordan has been promoted to Scotland’s run-on side for Sunday’s Six Nations Test with Ireland along with experienced forward duo Rory Sutherland and Jack Dempsey.
Jordan, who made his international debut off the replacements bench against Fiji in last year’s Autumn Nations Series, comes in to head coach Gregor Townsend’s starting XV at inside centre as a replacement for Stafford McDowall.
That means Jordan, who can also operate at fly-half and full-back, will form a centre pairing with Scotland‘s hat-trick hero and Player of the Match in their Six Nations opener against Italy, Huw Jones.
Just one backline alteration
Apart from Jordan’s inclusion, Scotland’s backline remain unchanged with Blair Kinghorn (full-back) and wings Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe making up the back three.
Co-captain Finn Russell and Ben White continue as the starting half-back duo.
In the forwards, Sutherland takes over from Pierre Schoeman at loosehead prop and joins hooker Dave Cherry and tighthead Zander Fagerson in the front-row, while Jonny Gray and Grant Gilchrist retain their positions in the second-row.
Meanwhile, Dempsey comes in at number eight which means Matt Fagerson switches to the blindside flank where he replaces Jamie Ritchie, with co-captain Rory Darge starting on the openside.
Scotland will use six forwards and two backs on their replacements bench this week, with Schoeman, Ewan Ashman and Will Hurd named as front-row reinforcements.
Recent call-up Sam Skinner is also included in the matchday 23 with his last appearance coming in last year’s Six Nations.
Gregor Brown and Ritchie round off the forward replacements and the squad is completed by the addition of Jamie Dobie and McDowall as backline cover.
Scotland team v Ireland
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 Jamie Ritchie, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall
Date: Sunday, February 9
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Luc Ramos (France)
TMO: Richard Kelly (New Zealand)
READ MORE: Six Nations Round Two: Fixtures, kick-off times, referees and global TV channels
