Price in for White as Scotland name side for Ireland

Scrum-half Ali Price has been handed a surprise start for Saturday's World Cup Pool B qualification shootout with Ireland, with regular number nine Ben White dropping out of the 23 altogether.

Price lost his place to White at the start of this year’s Six Nations but, after scoring a try when a much-changed XV defeated Romania last Saturday, the 30-year-old has remained in the team for this weekend’s Paris showdown (8pm).

Captain Jamie Ritchie returns to lead the team after going off with concussion in the first half of the Tonga match a fortnight ago.

Price in place of White is the only change to the team that started the South Africa game on the opening weekend of the tournament.

Former Munster out-half Ben Healy, who scored 11 conversions and a try against Romania, does not make the squad.

Ireland will qualify for the knock-out stages with a win or a draw, while a series of other results could see them progress. Defeat by eight points or more without getting a try bonus point would see Ireland crash out.

Scotland have not beaten Ireland in eight games stretching back to 2017.

The scrum-half had spoken in Nice earlier this week about how his improved maturity had helped him deal with losing his place just two years after being selected for British and Irish Lions duty.

But he now appears to have convinced Gregor Townsend that he is worthy of being pitched back into the thick of it for one of Scotland's biggest games in years as they bid to get a bonus-point win over the Irish or deny their opponents a losing bonus in order to reach the quarter-finals.

Hamish Watson, another 2021 Lion who has fallen from prominence this year, has not made the 23 despite impressing against Romania last weekend.

Scotland: Blair Kinghorn; Darcy