Ireland captain Johnny Sexton believes Scotland have found a like-for-like replacement for fly-half Finn Russell by handing Adam Hastings the no10 shirt.
Russell will miss Saturday's Six Nations opener at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin after a breach of team protocol earlier this month.
In his absence, Glasgow's Hastings, son of ex-Scotland captain Gavin, will start at fly-half — and his opposite number believes he is capable of filling Russell’s shoes.
“It’s like for like, really. When you talk about Finn Russell’s strengths, you’re talking about Adam Hastings’ strengths, they’re the same,” said Sexton.
“They’ve sort of played it down a little bit but they seem happy with where they’re at and he’s a quality player and one that we are going to have to be fully switched on for.”
