Opta Match Facts Preview: Scotland v Ireland

Opta bring you all the team and player facts you need as the build-up continues to Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations showdown with table-topping Scotland at BT Murrayfield today (kick-off 2.15pm).

SCOTLAND v IRELAND – TEAM FORM & FACTS:

– Ireland have won four of their last five Six Nations games against Scotland, however their one loss in that run did come on their last visit to BT Murrayfield in 2017

– Scotland have failed to score a second half try in eight of their last 10 Six Nations matches against Ireland, including each of their last six Six Nations games at BT Murrayfield against them

– Scotland have won their last seven home games in the Six Nations, a victory in this match against Ireland will equal their longest ever winning run at home in the tournament’s history (8 wins, 1972-1975)

– Ireland have won their last two away clashes in the Six Nations (versus France and England, 2018). They have not won three consecutive away games in the Championship since 2010-2011, the third of those victories eight years ago coming at BT Murrayfield

– Ireland’s 32-20 defeat to England last weekend was just their second loss in their last 20 fixtures in all competitions (18 wins). They have not lost back-to-back matches since their tour to South Africa in June 2016

– Scotland made 16 line-breaks against Italy in the opening round of the 2019 Six Nations, twice as many as any other side with Stuart Hogg and Blair Kinghorn both making four breaks each

– Greig Laidlaw (658) needs 10 points to overtake Gavin Hastings (667) as Scotland’s second top points scorer behind Chris Paterson (809)

– Ireland’s Conor Murray has assisted 16 tries in the Six Nations, one more assist will draw him level with Jonny Wilkinson and Ronan O’Gara at the top of this ranking in the competition’s history

– Scotland’s Stuart Hogg was the only player to gain over 100 metres on the opening weekend, it was the third Six Nations game in a row he has tallied 100-plus metres

– Scotland’s Stuart Hogg has beaten 98 defenders in his Six Nations career, only two other players (Brian O’Driscoll with 163 and George North with 105) have reached a century of defenders beaten in the Championship since 2000 (Rob Kearney is on 97)

IRELAND – PLAYER NOTES:

– Jonathan Sexton slotted all four of his shots at goal last weekend, the only player in the opening round to attempt more than two kicks at goal without missing

– Only Braam Steyn (seven) won more lineouts than Peter O’Mahony in round 1 (six including one steal). O’Mahony was also one of just three players to steal an opposition lineout – Braam Steyn and Wenceslas Lauret were the others to do so

– Joey Carbery has slotted his last 20 kicks at goal in all competitions for Munster. No player in the GUINNESS PRO14, Gallagher Premiership or Top 14 is currently on a longer run without missing in the league and Europe

– Since the beginning of 2007, Ireland have played 61 Six Nations games. Rory Best has featured in 60 of those games, only missing out against Italy in 2017

– Cian Healy’s try against England was his second in his last four Six Nations games, as many as he had scored in his previous 37 games in the tournament

SCOTLAND – PLAYER NOTES:

– Jonny Gray has missed just eight of 325 tackle attempts in his Six Nations career. He made exactly 100 tackles in the tournament last year, the first player ever to make a century of tackles in a Six Nations campaign

– Blair Kinghorn has scored six tries in seven starts for Scotland and last weekend became the first Scotland player to score a hat-trick in the Five/Six Nations since Iwan Tukalo against Ireland in 1989

– Finn Russell assisted two tries last weekend, the only player to assist more than one try in round 1

– Stuart Hogg and Blair Kinghorn each made four clean breaks in round 1, more than any other player and two more than the entire Ireland team combined (six)

SCOTLAND v IRELAND – HEAD-TO-HEAD:

– Three of Scotland’s four victories against Ireland in the Six Nations have come at home, including a win the last time they hosted Ireland in 2017

– Scotland will be aiming to win consecutive matches against Ireland at Murrayfield in the Five/Six Nations for the first time since winning eight such matches in a row from 1987 to 2001

– Ireland and Scotland beat the most defenders of any sides in round 1, while Scotland’s tally of 16 clean breaks was at least double that of any other team

– In round 1, Scotland made over four times as many offloads as Ireland, who made the fewest of any side

– Scotland’s victory over Italy in round 1 was just the third time they had won their opening game in the Six Nations (17 defeats), although two of those occasions have come in the last three years

– After winning in the opening round of 13 of their first 16 Six Nations campaigns, Ireland have now picked up just one win in their last four following the defeat to England (one draw and two losses)