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Hooker Brown gets rare start for Scotland against Ireland

Rugby Union - Saracens v Wasps - European Rugby Cup Semi Final - Madejski Stadium, Reading - 15/16 - 23/4/16 Will Fraser of Saracens Action Images via Reuters / Henry Browne (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) - Fraser Brown will get a rare start at hooker for Scotland in their opening Six Nations match against Ireland on Saturday, with 102-cap Ross Ford covering from the bench, coach Vern Cotter said on Thursday. It will be Brown's 21st international appearance, but only his fourth start, and is a reward for an impressive season at Glasgow as they have reached the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup for the first time. Richie and Jonny Gray are together in the second row while Ryan Wilson is moved to blindside flanker alongside number eight Josh Strauss and Hamish Watson. There is a familiar look to the backline, where captain Greig Laidlaw and Finn Russell are the halfback pairing. Huw Jones and Alex Dunbar are back together in the centres with an impressive back three of Stuart Hogg, Sean Maitland and Tommy Seymour. Uncapped Edinburgh prop Simon Berghan is named among the replacements. "Although it's a reasonably settled squad, it's nice to have an uncapped player and some reasonably new players in the team, who bring their enthusiasm along with the others," said coach Vern Cotter, who is in charge for his final Six Nations ahead of being replaced by Gregor Townsend in June. "We've been growing our depth and our versatility within that, so we have a number of different options that allow us to continually attack the opposition, which is our main focus.” Scotland have a dismal Six Nations record, having finished in the bottom two 11 times in the 17 seasons since Italy joined the fold, and will have to hit the ground running at Murrayfield in the first game of the championship on Saturday. "Facing Ireland first up doesn't get much harder," Cotter said "They are at the top of their game and will come here with confidence after beating some of the best teams in the world, including the All Blacks and Wallabies and having won the tournament twice in the past three years." Scotland team to face Ireland Stuart Hogg, Sean Maitland, Huw Jones, Alex Dunbar, Tommy Seymour, Finn Russell, Greig Laidlaw (captain), Allan Dell, Fraser Brown, Zander Fagerson, Richie Gray, Jonny Gray, Ryan Wilson, Hamish Watson, Josh Strauss. Replacements: Ross Ford, Gordon Reid, Simon Berghan, Tim Swinson, John Barclay, Ali Price, Duncan Weir, Mark Bennett. (Reporting by Mitch Phillips, editing by Angus MacSwan)