No 'needle' with Ireland despite winless run - Townsend

Guinness Six Nations: Scotland v Ireland

When: Sunday, 9 February Where: Scottish Gas Murrayfield, Edinburgh Kick-off: 15:00 GMT.

Coverage: Watch on BBC One, iPlayer & BBC Sport website, listen on BBC Sounds

Tom Jordan makes his first Six Nations start as Scotland make three changes for Sunday's visit of Ireland.

Rory Sutherland comes in at loose-head prop and Jack Dempsey is at number eight, while Jordan is chosen at inside centre.

Pierre Schoeman, Jamie Ritchie and Stafford McDowell drop to the bench following last weekend's opening win over Italy.

Matt Fagerson switches to the blindside flank to accommodate Dempsey's return.

Sam Skinner is among the replacements, having been added to the squad this week, and Jamie Dobie is preferred to George Horne as back-up to scrum-half Ben White.

Scotland have lost the past 10 meetings with Ireland, with just one victory in 15.

New Zealand-born Jordan, 26, made his Scotland bow during the autumn series, having qualified on residency grounds. Both of his international starts to date have been at full-back, while he primarily plays at fly-half for club side Glasgow Warriors.

Sutherland's previous Test start came last summer against Uruguay, while he hasn't started a Six Nations match since February 2022 in a win over England.

Ireland, led by interim head coach Simon Easterby, beat England in their tournament opener last weekend as they attempt to win a third successive title.

Scotland: B Kinghorn, D Graham, H Jones, T Jordan, D Van der Merwe, F Russell, B White; R Sutherland, D Cherry, Z Fagerson, J Gray, G Gilchrist, M Fagerson, R Darge, J Dempsey.

Replacements: E Ashman, P Schoeman, W Hurd, S Skinner, G Brown, J Ritchie, J Dobie, S McDowall.