Six Nations: Scotland v Ireland match preview, team news and statistics

Team news & line-ups

Scotland have dropped last weekend’s hat-trick hero Blair Kinghorn in one of four changes to their starting XV for Saturday’s match at Murrayfield.

Sean Maitland replaces wing Kinghorn, while lock Jonny Gray, prop Simon Berghan and back-row Josh Strauss come into the pack.

Rob Kearney’s return at full-back is one of five Ireland changes from last weekend’s defeat by England.

Kearney is in for Robbie Henshaw while Chris Farrell replaces Garry Ringrose.

The other three changes come in the pack. Two are injury enforced – Quinn Roux replacing lock Devin Toner and CJ Stander making way for Jack Conan – while Sean O’Brien comes in for Josh van der Flier in the back row.

Scotland: 15-Hogg, 14-Seymour, 13-Huw Jones, 12-Johnson, 11-Maitland, 10-Russell, 9-Laidlaw (capt); 1-Dell, 2-McInally, 3- Berghan, 4-Gilchrist, 5-J Gray, 6-Wilson, 7-Ritchie, 8-Strauss

Replacements: 16-Brown, 17-Bhati, 18-Rae, 19-Toolis, 20-Harley, 21-Price, 22-Horne, 23-Kinghorn

Ireland: 15-Kearney, 14-Earls, 13-Farrell, 12-Aki, 11-Stockdale, 10-Sexton, 9- Murray; 1-Healy, 2-Best (capt), 3-Furlong, 4-Ryan, 5-Roux, 6-O’Mahony, 7-O’Brien, 8-Conan

Replacements: 16-Cronin, 17-Kilcoyne, 18-Porter, 19-Dillane, 20-Van der Flier, 21-Cooney, 22-Carbery, 23-Larmour

Commentator’s notes

Eddie Butler: “This game always has its unique flavour – this particular game promises something extra: Scotland yearning for the consistency that would confirm their credentials as serious challengers, Ireland conscious that two defeats would be no way to start a title defence.

“Scotland do not embrace caution, and Ireland will surely rediscover the controlled fury that took a strange day off against England. The following prediction may well crush its potential, but it’s going to be one of the games of many a year.

“And who might win? If only the answer to that could be so easily written down. So… but… anyway… Scotland to win by the odd point in an overall tally of 60 plus.”

View from both camps

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend: “They (Ireland) are very well coached, have some outstanding players and will test us in a number of areas – defensively, set-piece, attack and kicking game. It is a challenge that brings an extra edge and focus to training and something our players relish taking on.

“Our players have risen to the challenge of playing New Zealand, England and other world-class teams and they are aware that we must rise once more to produce one of our best ever performances for 80 minutes.”

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt: “We are expecting them to be very tough to beat. They play at a very high tempo with fast rucks. I see Sean Maitland has been called back in. It gives them strength in depth, he is a super athlete. The back three pose real threats across the board.”

Match facts

Head-to-head

• Scotland have won three of the past four meetings at Murrayfield, including 27-22 in the most recent encounter in Edinburgh.

Scotland

• Scotland could win eight consecutive championship home matches for the first time since 1975.
• They are aiming for three successive victories in the tournament, a feat they last achieved in 1996.
• They have won four of their past five Six Nations matches, scoring 15 tries in the process.

Ireland

• Ireland’s defeat against England was their first at home in the Six Nations under Joe Schmidt, and just a second in their last 20 matches in all competitions.
• Jacob Stockdale’s Six Nations record of seven tries in the 2018 tournament included two against Scotland.
• Jack Conan has scored five tries in eight starts for Ireland at number eight.

Standings after week one

Match officials

Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Touch judges: Pascal Gauzere (France) & Federico Anselmi (Argentina)

TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)

Content provided by the BBC. Original piece can be found here https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/47151078