Scotland coach Townsend makes three changes for Ireland challenge
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Head coach Gregor Townsend has made three changes to his starting XV for the final round of the 2026 Six Nations, as Scotland travel to Dublin to face Ireland in a Triple Crown decider.
Injuries have ruled out Gregor Brown and Scott Cummings in the second row, so in come Max Williamson and Grant Gilchrist, the latter set to win an 88th cap and break Scott Murray’s all-time Scottish international appearance record in the position.
Zander Fagerson comes in to start at tighthead prop, having been a replacement in last weekend’s thrilling win over France, where he is joined in the front row by loosehead Pierre Schoeman and hooker George Turner.
Scotland’s back row remains unchanged with Glasgow Warriors trio Matt Fagerson (blindside flanker), vice-captain Rory Darge (openside) and No.8 Jack Dempsey linking up for the third time in this year’s competition.
Townsend has named an unchanged back division from the one that combined to such effect against France, with last week’s Player of the Match Kyle Steyn joining fellow double try-scorer Darcy Graham, who took his tally to 37 to top Scotland’s all-time men’s list.
Blair Kinghorn is once more named at fullback, with captain Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones forming the centre partnership for the fifth straight championship match.
Scrumhalf Ben White is named alongside vice-captain and flyhalf Finn Russell, ensuring that the same halfbacks have also started each of Scotland’s matches in this year’s competition.
Among the replacements, there are first involvements of 2026 for second row Alex Craig, back row Magnus Bradbury and Kyle Rowe, who will cover the back-three positions.
D’arcy Rae reverts to the bench having started last week, with the remaining substitutes – hooker Ewan Ashman, loosehead prop Rory Sutherland, scrum-half George Horne and stand-off/centre Tom Jordan – undertaking the same roles as in the previous penultimate round of fixtures.
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (captain), 11 Kyle Steyn, 10 Finn Russell (vice-captain), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (vice-captain), 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Max Williamson, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 D’arcy Rae, 19 Alex Craig, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 George Horne, 22 Kyle Rowe, 23 Tom Jordan,
Date: Saturday, March 14
Venue: AVIVA Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 14.10 (14.10 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (England)
