Scotland drop Finn Russell for Six Nations clash with Ireland

Finn Russell has been dropped for Scotland's game with Ireland Credit: PA

Scotland talisman Finn Russell has been dropped to the bench for this Saturday's Six Nations showdown with Ireland in Dublin.

The Irish can still win the title if they win at the Aviva Stadium and England defeat France.

Edinburgh's Blair Kinghorn takes the place of the highly-regarded Racing 92 stand-off, whose performances in this year's tournament have been the subject of scrutiny from some critics.

The omission of Russell, who is named among the replacements, is particularly notable since head coach Gregor Townsend has made only two changes to the side that started last weekend's bonus-point victory away to Italy.

The other alteration is in the second-row, where Jonny Gray, who has missed the last two games through injury, returns in place of his Exeter colleague Sam Skinner, who drops to the bench.

London Irish's Ben White and Glasgow's Fraser Brown are both listed among the replacements as the Scots bid to pull off an upset and finish their campaign with three wins from five matches.

The game kicks off at 4.45pm and is live on UTV