When is it, where is it on, who else is playing this weekend?
Scotland will play Ireland at 3pm at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on Sunday, March 12th in the fourth game of the 2023 Six Nations. A day earlier, Italy will play Wales at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome at 2.15pm. Later on Saturday, England will play France at Twickenham in London at 4.45pm.
How can I watch it?
The game is on free to air on RTÉ2 in Ireland. You can also watch the game on BBC One. If you can’t be by a TV or want additional coverage, check out our live blogs on Irish Times Sport.
What is the state of play in the table?
Ireland are on top of the table by five points after three bonus-point wins and are well ahead on points difference. A bonus-point win for Scotland on Sunday, without Ireland getting a bonus point themselves, would bring Scotland level on points with a round to go, while a bonus point win for England or France would also bring them to 15 points.
Should Ireland get a bonus point win in Scotland, and England or France fail to win with a bonus point, Ireland would win the Six Nations on Sunday, with just the Grand Slam to go for the following weekend against England at the Aviva.
[ Six Nations: Cohesion at the breakdown will be crucial for Ireland in ScotlandOpens in new window ]
What happened in this fixture last year?
Ireland beat Scotland 26-5 at the Aviva Stadium, clinching the Triple Crown for the first time since 2018. Ireland’s try scorers included man-of-the-match Dan Sheehan, Cian Healy, Josh van der Flier and Conor Murray. At that point it put Ireland top of the Six Nations table on the final day, but France beat England in Paris later that evening to secure the Grand Slam and the Six Nations Championship. Writing at the time, Gerry Thornley said “It was the first time Ireland had lifted this trophy, or any kind of one, on home soil since 2004 and it was never in too much doubt, although Scotland were resilient and will rue some chances they left behind.”
What sort of threat will Scotland pose to Ireland?
A considerable threat. Despite Ireland’s excellent form, a trip away to Murrayfield against this Scotland team is one of their toughest of the competition. Andy Farrell’s men will face a side that dominated territory and had 60 per cent possession against France. Despite their loss, coach Gregor Townsend said Scotland side had delivered “their best performance of the season.”
Johnny Watterson writes that they will face a Scottish team that can play with tempo as well as vary the points of contact. With players like conductor Russell, Stuart Hogg, van der Merwe and outside centre Huw Jones, who scored his 13th try against England and carried 12 times for 138 metres with two more tries in Stade de France, Scotland can play with threat and a cutting edge.
Team news
Andy Farrell has made six changes to the Irish starting XV with Tadhg Furlong returning at tight-head for his first game since early December.
Garry Ringrose, Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray, Dan Sheehan and Peter O’Mahony are all restored as well, with Bundee Aki and Caelan Doris each reverting to their more familiar positions of inside centre and number ‘8′ respectively.
The match-day 23 has also been strengthened by the return from injury of Jamison Gibson-Park and Robbie Henshaw to the replacements, where Cian Healy is preferred to David Kilcoyne. Ronan Kelleher, Jack Conan and Ross Byrne revert to the bench after starting in Ireland’s 34-20 win over Italy in Rome a fortnight ago.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan (Leinster); Mack Hansen (Connacht), Garry Ringrose (Leinster), Bundee Aki (Connacht), James Lowe (Leinster); Johnny Sexton (Leinster), Conor Murray (Munster); Andrew Porter (Leinster), Dan Sheehan (Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster); Iain Henderson (Ulster), James Ryan (Leinster); Peter O’Mahony (Munster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster), Caelan Doris (Leinster).
Replacements: Ronan Kelleher (Leinster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Tom O’Toole (Ulster), Ryan Baird (Leinster), Jack Conan (Leinster), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster), Ross Byrne (Leinster), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster).
Scotland: Stuart Hogg; Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe; Finn Russell, Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, George Turner, Znder Fagerson; Richie Gray, Jonny Gray; Matt Fagerson, Jamie Ritchie (capt), Jack Dempsey
Replacements: Fraser Brown, Jamie Bhatti, Simon Berghan, Scott Cummings, Hamish Watson, Ali Price, Blair Kinghorn, Chris Harris
