Ireland captain Johnny Sexton returns to the side to face Scotland this Sunday at BT Murrayfield in Round 4 of the 2023 Guinness Six Nations Championship (Kick-off 3pm). Sexton missed the Round 3 fixture in Rome against Italy having picked up a knock against France in the previous round. Sexton is currently seven points behind the all-time leading Six Nations points scorer, fellow Irishman Ronan O’Gara (557 Six Nations points). Conor Murray is also restored to the starting line up having impressed off the bench against Italy. In the midfield, Bundee Aki shifts to inside centre with Garry Ringrose returning to the starting line-up. The back three that has started every game of this Championship campaign lines out again with Hugo Keenan at full-back and Mack Hansen and James Lowe on the wings. Up front, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong are introduced to the front row to join Andrew Porter. James Ryan and Iain Henderson lock down at second row with Peter O’Mahony starting at blindside flanker, Caelan Doris shifting to number eight and Josh van der Flier lining out at openside. Cian Healy, Jamison Gibson-Park and Robbie Henshaw are included amongst the replacements alongside Ronan Kelleher, Tom O’Toole, Ryan Baird, Jack Conan and Ross Byrne.

IRELAND team to play Scotland - Round 4, 2023 Guinness Six Nations Championships, BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh, Sunday 12th March, 2023, KO 15.00 (IST):

15. Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 28 caps 14. Mack Hansen (Connacht/Corinthians) 12 caps 13. Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 49 caps 12. Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 44 caps 11. James Lowe (Leinster) 18 caps 10. Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 111 caps (c) 9. Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 103 caps 1. Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 51 caps 2. Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne) 15 caps 3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 63 caps 4. Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 71 caps 5. James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 51 caps 6. Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 92 caps 7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 48 caps 8. Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 26 caps Replacements: 16. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 20 caps 17. Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 121 caps 18. Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 7 caps 19. Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University) 9 caps 20. Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 36 caps 21. Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 23 caps 22. Ross Byrne (Leinster/UCD) 17 caps 23. Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 61 caps

2023 Guinness Six Nations Fixtures & Results:

Wales 10 IRELAND 34 Principality Stadium, Saturday 4th February 2023 IRELAND 32 France 19 Aviva Stadium, Saturday 11th February 2023 Italy 20 IRELAND 34 Stadio Olimpico, Saturday 25th February 2023 Scotland v IRELAND Sunday 12th March 2023, KO 15:00 (IST) RTE TV / BBC / RTE Radio / BBC Radio IRELAND v England Saturday 18th March 2023, KO 17:00 (IST) VIRGIN / ITV / RTE Radio / BBC Radio