Ireland will be hoping to get back to winning ways when they renew rivalries with Scotland at Murrayfield this afternoon. You can keep up-to-date with this weekend’s final Six Nations match via our O2 MatchDay Live service right here on IrishRugby.ie.
This afternoon’s match is the 119th Test between the two sides in the Championship. Historically, Scotland had the upper hand for much of the 20th century but results have gone Ireland’s way in recent years.
The home side can count on 58 Championship wins against Ireland, compared to the visitors’ 55 victories. There have been five draws.
Ulster youngsters Paddy Jackson and Luke Marshall, who are both 21 years of age, will make their Test debuts this afternoon in Edinburgh.
The last time Ireland had two players making their debuts in a Six Nations match was back in 2002 when Keith Gleeson and Paul O’Connell made their debuts in a 54-10 win over Wales.
Jackson and Marshall’s provincial colleague, prop Tom Court, comes in for his first start for Ireland since appearing in a 22-10 win over the USA during the 2011 Rugby World Cup 2011. It will be his 30th Test cap.
Scotland had make one change to the side that beat Italy last time out, with Edinburgh’s Geoff Cross joining the front row in place of Euan Murray.
Ireland will field their youngest Six Nations back-line in 13 years with an average age of just 24.4. Ireland’s famous 27-25 win over France in Paris in March 2000 was the last time the men in green fielded a younger back-line (24) in the Six Nations.
Scotland have not beaten Ireland at Murrayfield in the Six Nations since 2001, when they defeated the visiting side 32-10. They have only beaten the Irish twice since the Six Nations began in 2000.
Donncha O’Callaghan wins his 93rd cap today, making him Ireland’s most capped second row and overtaking the previous record of 92 caps set by Malcom O’Kelly.
In spite of the youthfulness of Ireland’s starting back-line, the visitors’ boast a more experienced starting line-up with a total of 545 caps compared to Scotland’s 371.
Ireland have scored 29 tries against Scotland in the last 10 years and have only failed to score a try on one occasion during that period, when they won 15-9 at Lansdowne Road in 2006.
We will have live text commentary direct from Murrayfield, so plug in your laptop or turn on the PC and enjoy a flavour of the game live on IrishRugby.ie.
There will be full live text and score updates throughout the coverage, with our pre-match build-up getting underway at 1.30pm.
You can watch live TV coverage of the match on RTÉ Two and BBC One. Michael Corcoran will also be providing live commentary of the game on RTÉ Radio 1 (FM, DAB, LW 252 and RTÉ.ie), with their coverage beginning shortly before kick-off.
You can feel part of the action on IrishRugby.ie with MatchDay Live – today’s mouth-watering Celtic clash kicks off at 2pm.
Look out for the MatchDay Live button in the Ireland section or simply click on the link below:
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