Ireland have happy memories of their last visit to BT Murrayfield when they were crowned RBS 6 Nations champions in 2015. Could another victory at the home of Scottish Rugby inspire the best out of Joe Schmidt’s men in the coming weeks?
2017 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, February 4
SCOTLAND v IRELAND, BT Murrayfield, 2.25pm (live RTÉ Two/BBC One/RTÉ Radio 1/IRFU Live Blog)
Team News: Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has made three personnel changes and two positional switches to the team that battled their way to a thrilling 27-24 win over Australia in November’s third and final GUINNESS Series match.
Robbie Henshaw is reunited with his Leinster centre partner Garry Ringrose in midfield, covering the absence of the sidelined Jared Payne (kidney), with Six Nations debutant Ringrose swapping the number 12 jersey for 13.
The second change in the backs sees groin injury victim Andrew Trimble make way for Simon Zebo who starred as a replacement against the Wallabies and has scored six tries in his last nine appearances for Munster.
Moving to the right wing, Keith Earls completes the back-three with Zebo and full-back Rob Kearney, while Ulster out-half Paddy Jackson, who made his debut away to Scotland four years ago, will win his 20th cap at half-back alongside Conor Murray. Jonathan Sexton is ruled out with a calf injury.
The front five is unchanged from Ireland’s most recent Test, with hooker Rory Best – captaining his country for the 16th time on the occasion of his 101st cap – joined by Leinster props Jack McGrath and Tadhg Furlong in the front row. It will be Furlong’s first Six Nations start.
Iain Henderson gets the nod in the second row where he partners Devin Toner, while Sean O’Brien, who has shaken off a calf injury, returns to the openside flanker berth, forming a powerful row combination with CJ Stander and vice-captain Jamie Heaslip.
Munster’s in-form hooker Niall Scannell (24) is standing by to win his first Ireland cap. He is part of a strong bench that includes fellow Six Nations newcomer John Ryan, Cian Healy, Ultan Dillane, Josh van der Flier, Kieran Marmion, Ian Keatley, who could make his first international appearance in two years, and fit-again winger Tommy Bowe who was last involved in the 2015 Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Argentina.
Meanwhile, Scotland head coach Vern Cotter has made three personnel changes to the team to play Ireland at a sold-out BT Murrayfield.
Stormers centre Huw Jones is back in the starting line-up in place of Mark Bennett, having recovered from the foot injury that ruled him out of Scotland’s third and final November Test against Georgia.
Jones hit the headlines when he became the first Scot to score a brace of tries against Australia in his first start for Scotland before being injured in the act of creating a try for Sean Maitland against Argentina a week later.
Jones will reform the midfield partnership he forged in those two Tests with Alex Dunbar, in between returning half-backs Greig Laidlaw and Finn Russell, and the back-three trio of Stuart Hogg, Maitland and Tommy Seymour, who contributed half of Scotland’s 10-try tally in the autumn.
The remaining changes are in a pack which sees Glasgow Warriors hooker Fraser Brown promoted from the bench in place of centurion Ross Ford and back rower Josh Strauss replaces his Warriors club-mate Rob Harley.
Strauss’ inclusion at number 8 sees Ryan Wilson make a positional switch to blindside flanker, with Hamish Watson holding down the openside role he occupied throughout the autumn.
Second row brothers Jonny and Richie Gray return to the engine room with young props Allan Dell and Zander Fagerson packing down either side of Brown in the front row.
There are four further changes to the bench, with Edinburgh tighthead Simon Berghan in line to make his debut if called upon. Elsewhere, Tim Swinson, Duncan Weir and Bennett also come in for Grant Gilchrist and injured Warriors pair Peter Horne and Rory Hughes.
SCOTLAND: Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors); Sean Maitland (Saracens), Huw Jones (Stormers), Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors), Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors); Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors), Greig Laidlaw (Gloucester) (capt); Allan Dell (Edinburgh), Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), Richie Gray (Toulouse), Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors), Hamish Watson (Edinburgh), Josh Strauss (Glasgow Warriors).
Replacements: Ross Ford (Edinburgh), Gordon Reid (Glasgow Warriors), Simon Berghan (Edinburgh), Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors), John Barclay (Scarlets), Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors), Duncan Weir (Edinburgh), Mark Bennett (Glasgow Warriors).
IRELAND: Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster); Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster), Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster); Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), CJ Stander (Munster), Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster).
Replacements: Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster), Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht), Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster), Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht), Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster), Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster).
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Nick Briant (New Zealand)
Television Match Official: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Scotland to win: 15/8; Draw: 20/1; Ireland to win: 1/2
Pre-Match Quotes: Joe Schmidt (Ireland) – “I think that once you’re playing in a national side that it very much becomes focused on a new beginning and a new team against a new team. I know there’s a number of Munster guys on our team and there’s a number of Glasgow Warriors in theirs but it’s a different environment, Ireland against Scotland and that in itself puts a different hue on the whole thing.
“I think we’ve got two of probably the best kicking nines in the game so they will be conscious of looking after Greig (Laidlaw) and we’ll be conscious of looking after Conor (Murray).
“I don’t think we’ve spent any more time on it, just because you don’t really have that much time so there’s lots of other elements of the game that we have to put together to be as ready as we can be.”
Vern Cotter (Scotland) – “It’s an exciting start to the Championship. Ireland have just beaten the All Blacks, they’ve beaten Australia and South Africa. These are not one-off results.
“Consistently they’re a good team, so we get the chance to measure ourselves against them. I can feel a nervousness within the group. They know it’s a big game. They’re ready to roll their sleeves up and have a go.
“I think being a little bit nervous means you’re sharper and more on edge. You need that. You need to be wary of the opposition. Especially against these guys. We need to be sharp. We need to be able to adapt. They’ll have plays we haven’t seen, we need to adapt to them.”
Pre-Match Links –
Head-To-Head: Ireland v Scotland
Ireland v Scotland: Facts & Figures
In Touch: RBS 6 Nations Edition Out Now
Win A VIP Match Experience To Ireland v France With Glenisk
Recent Meetings –
2014: RBS 6 Nations: Ireland 28 Scotland 6, Aviva Stadium
2015: RBS 6 Nations: Scotland 10 Ireland 40, Murrayfield; Rugby World Cup Warm-Up: Ireland 28 Scotland 22, Aviva Stadium
2016: RBS 6 Nations: Ireland 35 Scotland 25, Aviva Stadium
Support Ireland on www.irishrugby.ie/facebook or search #TeamOfUs, #ShouldertoShoulder and #SCOvIRE on www.twitter.com/irishrugby.
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