Price is right for Scotland as Gregor Townsend names side to face Ireland

Regular scrum-half Ben White drops out of the 23.

NINE DARTER: Scotland's Ali Price who has been selected to face 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.

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.

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 Graham, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe; Finn Russell, Ali Price; Pierre Schoeman, George Turner, Zander Fagerson; Richie Gray, Grant Gilchrist; Jamie Ritchie (capt), Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey.

Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, WP Nel, Scott Cummings, Matt Fagerson, Luke Crosbie, George Horne, Ollie Smith.