Starting XV and replacements as Gregor Townsend names Rugby World Cup 2023 line-up
Scrum-half Ali Price has been handed a surprise start for Scotland’s must-win Rugby World Cup match against Ireland on Saturday evening, as head coach Gregor Townsend makes 12 changes to the team that thumped Romania 84-0 last weekend.
After making changes for his side’s match against Pool B strugglers Romania, Townsend has opted to field nearly the same XV that started against South Africa on the opening weekend of the tournament as his side aim to keep their quarter-final hopes alive by pulling off a win against their unbeaten opponents in Paris.
Price at No 9 is the one exception to that, coming into the line-up in place of Ben White who drops out of the matchday squad entirely.
White had previously taken over as first-choice scrum-half at the start of this year’s Six Nations, but it is Price who will partner No 10 Finn Russell in the half-backs after a try-scoring run-out against Romania.
Lock Grant Gilchrist and four-try-man Darcy Graham are the other two names from the Romania match to keep their spots, on the right wing and in the second row, respectively.
Richie Gray is back in at No 4 beside Gilchrist as full-back Blair Kinghorn starts for his 50th Scotland cap, lining up in the back three alongside wingers Graham and Duhan van der Merwe.
Skipper Jamie Ritchie returns as blindside flanker to lead his country after suffering a concussion against Tonga, with the Scotland captain joined in the back row by openside flanker Rory Darge and No 8 Jack Dempsey.
In the centre, the familiar partnership of Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones is renewed, while props Pierre Schoeman (loosehead) and Zander Fagerson (tighthead) make up the front row on either side of hooker George Turner.
Kick-off for Saturday’s box-office clash between Scotland and Ireland is scheduled for 8pm BST on Saturday 7 October, with Townsend and co knowing only a win (and a sizeable one at that) will do at the Stade de France if they are to progress to the knockout stages.
Scotland team to play Ireland
- 15. Blair Kinghorn (49 caps)
- 14. Darcy Graham (38 caps)
- 13. Huw Jones (42 caps)
- 12. Sione Tuipulotu (21 caps)
- 11. Duhan van der Merwe (33 caps)
- 10. Finn Russell – vice-captain (74 caps)
- 9. Ali Price (65 caps)
- 1. Pierre Schoeman (25 caps)
- 2. George Turner (39 caps)
- 3. Zander Fagerson (61 caps)
- 4. Richie Gray (77 caps)
- 5. Grant Gilchrist – vice-captain (67 caps)
- 6. Jamie Ritchie – captain (45 caps)
- 7. Rory Darge (14 caps)
- 8. Jack Dempsey (14 caps)
Replacements
- 16. Ewan Ashman (11 caps)
- 17. Rory Sutherland (27 caps)
- 18. WP Nel (60 caps)
- 19. Scott Cummings (32 caps)
- 20. Matt Fagerson (39 caps)
- 21. Luke Crosbie (6 caps)
- 22. George Horne (25 caps)
- 23. Ollie Smith (8 caps)
Scotland ready to ‘fire every bullet’
Ritchie has vowed his side will “fire every bullet in our gun” in Saturday’s shootout.
Given the circumstances – Scotland must beat Ireland with a bonus point, or deny the world No 1 any bonus points of their own – Ritchie added that there is no chance the Scots turn up to the Stade de France with a cautious approach in what the captain described as the biggest game of his career.
“I don’t see it as the pressure being off, but I do see it as us not having anything to lose in this game,” he said.
“If we lose the game, we’re going home. We’ve been written off against the top two teams in the world but, for us, we’re not going to die wondering – we’ve got to fire every bullet in our gun and we’ve got to go out there and play our best game. It is in our hands from now.
“The pressure is off in that sense, in that we know where we stand and we’re not relying on anyone else other than ourselves.”
Meanwhile, Scotland’s head coach said his side are “ready to play their best rugby” as they aim to overcome an opponent who they have not beaten in more than six years.
“[The team] are in great physical shape, they have been training really hard for weeks and months and I believe we have had enough experiences now – both good and bad – to handle this occasion,” Townsend said. “We are really behind this team.”
Asked what makes him believe that Scotland can defeat a team who have bettered them in their last eight meetings (a run stretching back to 2017) Townsend replied: “Well, why not? The players have performed in massive games before.
“We were underdogs but we have broken records before, whether it was not winning in Paris [for 22 years, before doing it in 2021], not winning at Twickenham [for 38 years, before doing it in 2021], we hadn’t beaten England for 10 years [before doing it in 2018].
“This is another opportunity to break another record. We believe in them, we believe in where they are mentally as a group and where they are physically. They are ready to play their best rugby.”
On the selection of Price at scrum-half, Townsend added that a return to form for the 30-year-old Glasgow back was a “real boost”.
The Scotland boss said: “We feel Ali is in the best form of the three nines. [Price] was excellent over in Saint-Etienne [in Scotland’s August warm-up match against France], he was very good off the bench against South Africa [in Scotland’s World Cup opener] and we saw what he’d been doing in training during that Romanian game.
“The accuracy in his pass, the confidence in where he is in terms of taking on defenders and making passes which lead to tries, and that is great as he’s been a key player for us over the last six or seven years.”
