Nick De Luca, the Edinburgh centre, who impressed off the bench against France, returns with Sean Lamont moving to take up his customary wing berth in place of his injured younger brother, Rory.

On the bench meanwhile, there are three changes with Euan Murray, Ruaridh Jackson and Max Evans replacing Ed Kalman, Duncan Weir and De Luca respectively.

Scotland head coach Andy Robinson said: “We did many good things in the game against France but we need to be better, especially in our accuracy and execution at breakdown, in order to beat Ireland.

“If we do the basic things well and are ruthless in contact then we can put ourselves in a position to defeat a very good Ireland team.”

Robinson is asking De Luca to replicate the form he showed against France by handing him the starting berth, while he also welcomes back Jackson. “Ruaridh has worked hard and done well in his games with Glasgow.

“He had a tough time with injury following the Rugby World Cup but he has the strength of character required in international rugby.

“We are also delighted to see Max and Euan back in the squad and look forward to their contribution this weekend.”

Scotland team (sponsor RBS) to play Ireland in the RBS 6 Nations Championship at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin on Saturday 10 March, kick-off 5pm

15 Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors), 2 caps, 1 try, 5 points

14 Lee Jones (Edinburgh Rugby) 3 caps, 1 try, 5 points
13 Nick De Luca (Edinburgh Rugby) 32 caps, 1 try, 5 points
12 Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors) 33 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
11 Sean Lamont (Scarlets) 63 caps, 8 tries, 40 points

10 Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh Rugby) 5 caps, 1 try, 2 conversions, 3 penalties, 18 points
9 Mike Blair (Edinburgh Rugby) 78 caps, 7 tries, 35 points

1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh Rugby) 63 caps
2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby) 56 caps, 2 tries, 10 points CAPTAIN
3 Geoff Cross (Edinburgh Rugby) 11 caps
4 Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 19 caps
5 Jim Hamilton (Gloucester) 37 caps, 1 try, 5 points
6 John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors) 35 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
7 Ross Rennie (Edinburgh Rugby) 14 caps
8 David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby) 4 caps

Substitutes
16 Scott Lawson (Gloucester) 32 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
17 Euan Murray (Newcastle Falcons) 42 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
18 Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), 39 caps, 1 try, 5 points
19 Richie Vernon (Sale Sharks) 16 caps
20 Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors) 58 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
21 Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors) 11 caps, 2 conversions, 2 penalties, 2 drop-goals, 16 points
22 Max Evans (Castres) 26 caps, 3 tries, 15 points

Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand). Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France) and Greg Garner (England). TMO: Giulio de Santis (Italy)

ENDS