Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend insists he has no fears about pitching Edinburgh No.8 Nick Haining and lock Scott Cummings into a Six Nations baptism of fire.
Townsend has made 10 changes from the side which faced Japan in the final match of a poor World Cup campaign ahead of the Ireland clash at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, writes Gordon Parks in Dublin .
Haining joins Cummings in being handed debuts and Glasgow Warriors’ Adam Hastings replaces Finn Russell after the Racing 92 fly-half was banished from the squad for a breach of discipline.
Warriors scrum-half Ali Price and Saracens wing Sean Maitland are starting in place of international retirees Greig Laidlaw and Tommy Seymour and Edinburgh's Blair Kinghorn replaced the injured Darcy Graham on the wing with Warriors outside centre Huw Jones making a return.
But Townsend has backed his new boys to shine in Dublin after impressing during their week long training camp in Spain.
He said: "We have managed to cover a lot of work in the two weeks we've been together and we've been impressed with how our players have taken on information and bonded as a team.
"We must be a relentless collective on the pitch and a nightmare for the Irish to deal with while having the ability and awareness to impose our game at that intensity."
FULL TEAM
Hogg (Exeter, capt); Maitland (Saracens), Jones (Glasgow), Johnson (Glasgow), Kinghorn (Edinburgh), Hastings (Glasgow), Price (Glasgow); Sutherland (Edinburgh), Brown (Glasgow), Fagerson (Glasgow), Cummings (Glasgow), Gray (Glasgow), Ritchie (Edinburgh), Watson (Edinburgh), Haining (Edinburgh).
Replacements: McInally (Edinburgh), Dell (London Irish), Berghan (Edinburgh), Toolis (Edinburgh), Du Preez (Worcester), Horne (Glasgow), Hutchinson (Northampton), Harris (Gloucester).
