After being ambushed by a fast-starting England side last Saturday, Ireland will look to get their Guinness Six Nations campaign back on track when they renew rivalries with Scotland, one of their Rugby World Cup pool opponents, at a packed-out BT Murrayfield.
2019 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, February 9
SCOTLAND (1st) v IRELAND (5th), BT Murrayfield, 2.15pm (live Virgin Media One/BBC One/FR2/DMAX/NBC/RTÉ Radio 1/BBC Radio Ulster/IRFU Live Blog)
Team News: Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has made five changes – four of them enforced by injury – to the team to play Scotland in the Guinness Six Nations at BT Murrayfield this afternoon.
A dead leg has ruled out Robbie Henshaw, who joins Garry Ringrose (tight hamstring), Devin Toner (rolled ankle) and CJ Stander (facial injury) in missing the second round clash. However, Ireland are boosted by the return of a fully-fit Rob Kearney and Sean O’Brien to the starting XV.
Kearney makes his 88th appearance for Ireland, taking the reins from Henshaw at full-back, with the only other change in the backs seeing Munster’s Chris Farrell replace Ringrose at outside centre. It will be Farrell’s second Six Nations start – his first also came alongside Bundee Aki and in an identical back-line against Wales last February.
Jonathan Sexton and Conor Murray, who scored 13 points between them against Scotland last year, continue at half-back with Keith Earls shaking off a hip injury to retain the number 14 jersey. Fellow winger Jacob Stockdale bagged a brace of tries in last season’s 28-8 home win over Scotland, while Earls touched down against them in both 2016 and 2017.
The unchanged front row of Cian Healy, captain Rory Best and Tadhg Furlong is backed up by James Ryan and Toner’s replacement Quinn Roux. It is a tenth cap and a first Six Nations start for the powerful Connacht lock who started against Italy, most recently, in the November internationals.
Following his appearance off the bench against England, O’Brien gets the nod at openside flanker for his first Six Nations start since the 2017 tournament. The back row is completed by vice-captain Peter O’Mahony and Leinster number 8 Jack Conan, who makes his second Championship start in place of the sidelined Stander.
Seven players on the bench for today saw action during the 32-20 defeat to England, including flanker Josh van der Flier who makes way for O’Brien this week. Connacht’s Ultan Dillane, who last featured against Fiji in November 2017, has been added to the replacements and could win his twelfth cap.
Commenting on some of the personnel changes, Schmidt said: “Robbie Henshaw’s unavailable, he’s got a dead leg and it hasn’t recovered sufficiently. But it’s a pretty exciting opportunity to give Chris Farrell the chance to play against Scotland. He stepped in only once last year, got man-of-the-match, and he’s a guy that’s coming back to form after the long lay-off that he’s had.
“Quinn will share the lineout calling, probably with Pete. There’s a fair bit of experience with Pete but Quinn came on and did it when he replaced Dev (last week), and he’s done it for us a lot in training and he’s done it a lot in Connacht this year. It’s a fantastic opportunity for guys to try to transition in as seamlessly as possible.
We’re expecting them to be very tough to beat. They play at a very high tempo and I think they will be looking to play with very fast rucks. We know the counter attack threat they that have. I see that Sean Maitland has been brought back in. I feel a bit sorry for Blair Kinghorn, I think he’s a super young player.
“Sean Maitland is a super athlete, a really good player, so that back-three present real threats across the board and Finn Russell has the ability to get them into the game via Sam Johnson and via Huw Jones. And Huw Jones is a real strike threat himself, so I’ve no doubt they’ll try to get those guys involved, and then just harassing and getting into your face and carrying – guys like Ryan Wilson, Josh Strauss, I think he came on and made an impression (against Italy).
“Jonny Gray’s back in, he’s a real bit of bedrock for them. Very high tackle counts in game, very high tackle accuracy in games. Simon Berghan coming in at tighthead, I thought he got a fantastic poach. He’s good around the park as well as working hard as a scrummager. I think they’ll play with tempo and I think they’ll try to vary it up, particularly looking to get the ball in behind us at times as well.
“We have to build our way into the game, we can’t be chasing things and trying to get instant results. You’ve got to earn whatever you get up there because they give so little away. (Last week’s defeat) doesn’t change the mentality too much, we just want to take it one game at a time. We’re not going to chase a tournament when we’ve got such a tough task in front of us.”
Meanwhile, in making four changes in personnel, Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend welcomes the added experience of last year’s top try-scoring Saracens winger Sean Maitland, who has recovered from a hamstring injury to start in place of Blair Kinghorn, the scorer of three tries last Saturday against Italy.
Maitland will form a familiar back-three with fellow British & Irish Lions Tommy Seymour and full-back Stuart Hogg. Up front, prop Simon Berghan and back rower Josh Strauss start in place of injured forwards Willem Nel (calf) and Sam Skinner (ankle) respectively, while Jonny Gray’s recovery from a shoulder injury sees him replace Ben Toolis in the second row.
The bench sees four further changes with uncapped prop D’Arcy Rae promoted to the matchday 23, experienced Glasgow Warriors pair Fraser Brown and Pete Horne returning from injury, and fellow Warrior Rob Harley drafted in from outside the wider squad.
Townsend said: “We picked up two injuries from last week with WP and Sam missing out, which is disappointing for us and them, but we have had a boost with a number of proven Test players returning from injury and available to us this week. To have that calibre of player and experience around the group in the build-up this week, and during a game of such magnitude, is very important.”
Glasgow centre Sam Johnson has been handed the chance to build on an impressive debut against Italy alongside fellow Warrior Huw Jones, and Berghan’s selection alongside Allan Dell and Stuart McInally means an all-Edinburgh front row will take to the field once more, in spite of Nel’s absence.
Townsend added:
It’s massive. It’s probably the biggest challenge we’ll face in the Six Nations, given the way Ireland have been playing in the last few years – they are Grand Slam champions and the number two team in the world. They’re 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.”
SCOTLAND: Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors); Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors), Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Maitland (Saracens); Finn Russell (Racing 92), Greig Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne) (capt); Allan Dell (Edinburgh), Stuart McInally (Edinburgh), Simon Berghan (Edinburgh), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh), Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors), Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh), Josh Strauss (Sale Sharks).
Replacements: Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors), D’Arcy Rae (Glasgow Warriors), Ben Toolis (Edinburgh), Rob Harley (Glasgow Warriors), Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors), Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh).
IRELAND: Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster); Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster), Chris Farrell (Young Munster/Munster), Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht), Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), James Ryan (UCD/Leinster), Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster), Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster).
Replacements: Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster), Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht), Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster), John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster), Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Munster), Jordan Larmour (St. Mary’s College/Leinster).
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees: Pascal Gaüzère (France), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Television Match Official: Rowan Kitt (England)
Match Odds (Paddy Power): Scotland to win: 21/10; Draw: 25/1; Ireland to win: 2/5
Pre-Match Quotes: Rory Best (Ireland) – “We were very disappointed with the result and parts of the performance last week. We’ve worked very hard on looking at how we can improve and how we need to improve because we’ve looked at the Scots and how dangerous they are. We’re going to have to produce something significantly better than last week.
“But that’s always the goal for us and we fell down last week – it doesn’t mean we throw everything out and attempt to start again. We’ve built a lot of things over the last number of years and it’s times like this where you have to stick to what you know. You just ask a little bit more individually from the players to produce something collectively with a few players coming in who didn’t play last week.
“They’ll be looking to make a point that they should have been involved last week. We have to make sure we get our things right because if we produce something similar, the Scots are a great team and they’ve shown us that as recently here as two years ago.
“There’s a lot of frustration in the camp after last week and it was a bit around the way we were perceived to be bullied, but it was probably mostly around our accuracy. We felt that to get into the game we need to be accurate, that sort of comes hand in hand with physicality for us because it allows us to get phases, it allows us to get carries, it allows us to get ruck cleans.
“So the accuracy last week was the thing we felt let us down the most and that’s what made the review tough, but they’re always tough with Joe anyway. The good thing is it’s a seven-day turnaround to go again, and it wasn’t one of the fallow weeks that you have to wait two weeks.
“It’s due to be quite windy so we’ll tailor our game-plan accordingly and we’ll try to play the conditions as best we can. I’d imagine Scotland will be taking a look at that as well. Being out here today, it’s good to get a run out and get a feel for it, how the pass comes to you when you’re catching it and those bits and pieces.
“But ultimately, we have a game-plan and we might tailor it a little bit over the next 24 hours but the weather conditions are going to be the same for both teams. We have to make sure we look after all of our bits and pieces to make sure we’re in this game.”
Greig Laidlaw (Scotland) – “I think it’s good for us being at home when the weather is like this. The way the wind is at Murrayfield, sometimes it can be pretty tricky. Hopefully our experience of playing here a little bit more than the Irish boys, we can use that to our advantage.
“If it comes in like it’s meant to, it’s difficult – certainly more difficult for your nines and 10s trying to judge your passing game, your kicking game, everything really. Could the weather be the narrative of the game? Potentially, yeah. Everybody knows the way Scotland want to play the game.
“We won’t really deviate from that, but we’ve got to be smart and pick the times when we play, so we will get a gauge on the weather when we arrive tomorrow (Saturday) and set a game-plan for that. If we want to go on and take the next step, it’s games like this we need to win against quality opposition.
“Ireland are certainly that, they’ve proved that over the last couple of years in the competition and are one of the best teams in the world. We have a lot of respect for them and if we want to win tomorrow we’ll need to play one of our best games. We’ve looked back at 2017 at little bit but ultimately we’ve got to look forward.
“It’s a new game and a clean slate. We can take a few learnings from last year over there where we missed a few opportunities to score. Against a quality team like Ireland you have to take your opportunities. I’m sure they were disappointed to lose at home last week. But that’s not our worry. Ours is about ourselves, our record here at home that we’re extremely proud of.
“It’s very important we play our own game and try not to worry about copying what England did. Last week’s game is gone. We feel we can cause any team in the world problems with our attacking game and plan to do that tomorrow.
“We want a strong defensive performance as well. We were disappointed with the way we finished the game last week against Italy, conceding those three late tries. There’s no way we can have a last 15 to 20 minutes like that against Ireland.”
Pre-Match Links –
Head-To-Head: Ireland v Scotland
Ireland To Hold Open Training Session In Aviva Stadium
In Pics: Ireland Training On Team Announcement Day In Maynooth
In Pics: Ireland Finish Training Week With Murrayfield Captain’s Run
Irish Rugby TV: Tadhg Furlong Stresses Need For Accuracy
Irish Rugby TV: Ireland v Scotland Team Announcement Press Conference
Irish Rugby TV: ‘We Have To Trust In Our Process’ – Best
Irish Rugby TV: Andy Farrell Previews Scotland v Ireland
Recent Meetings –
2016: RBS 6 Nations: Ireland 35 Scotland 25, Aviva Stadium
2017: RBS 6 Nations: Scotland 27 Ireland 22, BT Murrayfield
2018: NatWest 6 Nations: Ireland 28 Scotland 8, Aviva Stadium
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