USA News Hub

Ireland can further strengthen their Six Nations title hopes as they take on Scotland at Murrayfield this afternoon. The defending Six Nations champions are eyeing a third straight title and victory here would see them take a major step towards securing the Triple Crown.

History is not on Scotland’s side Ireland have won the last ten matches between these two nations, with it now eight years since Scotland last came out on top in this fixture. Tom Jordan makes his first Six Nations start for the home side, while Rory Sutherland and Jack Dempsey also come into the starting XV.

Ireland overcame a sluggish start to beat England a week ago and they are the firm title favourites once again. Peter O’Mahony did not make the squad in Dublin last weekend but starts at Murrayfield today and there has been a late change on the wing, with Calvin Nash brought in after Mack Hansen withdrew from the squad due to a hamstring issue. Follow all the action with Standard Sport’s LIVE blog below!

Scotland vs Ireland latest news

• TRY! Van der Merwe gives Scotland hope

• TRY! Doris extends lead for Ireland

• TRY! Nash gives Ireland perfect start

Scotland 11-17 Ireland

16:27 , Matt Verri

51 mins: Scotland knock-on and that gives Ireland a chance to get some momentum back. Scrum just outside the 22.

Free-kick for Ireland, but Scotland then turn it over!

PENALTY! Scotland 11-17 Ireland | Blair Kinghorn 49′

16:25 , Matt Verri

Easy as you like for Kinghorn.

Momentum firmly with Scotland as they get themselves within six points.

Scotland 8-17 Ireland

16:25 , Matt Verri

48 mins: Still a great position for Scotland. Scrum just over 5m out.

Penalty advantage – will it be more than that? Dobie makes a lunge for the line, great defence to stop him.

Back for the penalty we go. Right in front of the posts on the five metre line.

Scotland going for the points.

Scotland 8-17 Ireland

16:23 , Matt Verri

48 mins: Henshaw’s arm was definitely stretched out as he made contact with the ball – referee says that was a natural action.

Looooud boos around Murrayfield. It’s just a scrum.

Scotland 8-17 Ireland

16:21 , Matt Verri

47 mins: Scotland break and it’s a massive chance, Kinghorn has Van der Merwe on his outside.

Kinghorn throws a dummy and then goes by himself, but he’s stopped short of the line.

Knock-on advantage… boos around Murrayfield.

TMO will check to see if this knock-on was in the natural or an unnatural action.

Scotland 8-17 Ireland

16:19 , Matt Verri

45 mins: Sheehan’s first lineout since coming on at half-time – Scotland steal it. Does feel like there’s been a momentum shift.

Gibson-Park and Prendergast both spill the ball, but referee says it was backwards both times.

PENALTY! Scotland 8-17 Ireland | Blair Kinghorn 43

16:17 , Matt Verri

Kinghorn with the simplest of kicks to get Scotland within nine points.

This one isn’t done yet…

Scotland 5-17 Ireland

16:16 , Matt Verri

42 mins: More like it from Scotland, they are firmly on the front foot early in this half.

Penalty advantage, in front of the posts just inside the 22.

Kinghorn decides to go for the points.

Back underway!

16:14 , Matt Verri

Second-half up and running!

Hope for Scotland?

16:06 , Matt Verri

Scotland still have a mountain to climb, but they are now at least within two scores.

It’s going to take a much, much better performance in the second-half if they are to trouble Ireland.

HT: Scotland 5-17 Ireland

15:59

It’s ridiculously good from Van der Merwe.

Flings himself in the air and stretches out an arm to get it down in the corner.

Kinghorn pulls the conversion attempt wide, but Scotland at last have something to cheer.

And that’s half-time.

TRY! Scotland 5-17 Ireland | Duhan van der Merwe 40′

15:58 , Matt Verri

40 mins: Ireland have the ball from the scrum but it’s a Scotland penalty at the breakdown!

Taken quickly, as Scotland try and snatch something before half-time.

Out wide… did Van der Merwe get that down?

If he did, it’s a stunning finish!

Scotland 0-17 Ireland

15:56 , Matt Verri

38 mins: Scotland kick to touch and this time the lineout is good.

Maul is starting to move, edging towards five metres out.

But it will be an Irish scrum! Kelleher was in the middle of things and disrupted the maul.

Scotland 0-17 Ireland

15:53 , Matt Verri

36 mins: Sums things up for Scotland – Ireland steal it at the lineout.

But Scotland come again, building the phases and this time they are making ground.

Penalty won too, Ryan not rolling away.

Scotland 0-17 Ireland

15:51 , Matt Verri

35 mins: Relentless from Ireland in defence, Scotland forced back and they have to settle for a scrum.

That’s switched to a penalty, Aki offside.

Kicked to touch and it will be a Scottish lineout 10m out. This is as good as it’s got for them all match.

Scotland 0-17 Ireland

15:50 , Matt Verri

33 mins: Prendergast adds the extras.

Problems grow for Scotland – Russell has failed his HIA and his afternoon is over.

TRY! Scotland 0-15 Ireland | Caelan Doris 31′

15:48 , Matt Verri

Penalty advantage for Ireland as the scrum falls apart for Scotland.

Prendergast skips towards the 5m line, before Doris powers his way over the line.

Ireland utterly dominant.

Scotland 0-10 Ireland

15:46 , Matt Verri

30 mins: Prendergast’s pass is loose, Dobie smashes the kick upfield and he is after it.

Foot race cut short by a whistle – ball was knocked on in the tackle.

Irish scrum just inside the 22.

Scotland 0-10 Ireland

15:44 , Matt Verri

29 mins: Scotland need to wake up.

White takes too long with the clearing kick, Porter is there to charge it down.

Very nearly breaks free for Porter to claim and go over for a try, but it’s into touch.

Scotland lineout on their own 5m line. Maul gets them a couple more metres, but the kick from McDowall isn’t great.

Irish lineout 15m out.

Scotland 0-10 Ireland

15:42 , Matt Verri

27 mins: Jordan scuffs his kick, Nash charges it down and it bobbles into touch in Scotland’s 22.

The home side just can’t build any pressure.

Scotland 0-10 Ireland

15:41 , Matt Verri

26 mins: Jordan at 10 now for Scotland, as Russell continues to have his HIA.

Boos around Murrayfield as Kinghorn and Nash challenge in the air – was a heavy landing for Kinghorn.

Referee waves play on, before then giving Scotland a penalty as Aki blocks off Dobie.

PENALTY! Scotland 0-10 Ireland | Sam Prendergast 23′

15:38 , Matt Verri

Utter dominance from Ireland so far and they now move their lead beyond a score.

Prendergast makes no mistake from about 35 metres out.

Scotland 0-7 Ireland

15:37 , Matt Verri

22 mins: Discipline has been a problem for Scotland, another penalty for Ireland.

This time Prendergast points to the posts,

Scotland 0-7 Ireland

15:36 , Matt Verri

21 mins: Graham in a neck brace as he is lifted onto the buggy on a stretcher.

Big ovation for the Scottish winger as he is driven off the pitch.

Scotland 0-7 Ireland

15:34 , Matt Verri

21 mins: Dobie and McDowall are on for Scotland. They are the only two backs on the bench this afternoon.

Medical team continue to treat Graham.

Scotland 0-7 Ireland

15:31 , Matt Verri

21 mins: Graham and Russell will both certainly have to off for HIAs.

Russell is able to walk off, but Graham is still down and receiving treatment. He looks to have come off worse in that collision.

Scotland 0-7 Ireland

15:29 , Matt Verri

21 mins: Henshaw flings a poor pass out to Lowe, who does brilliantly to claim it and then skip past his man on the outside.

Gibson-Park on his inside, but Lowe can’t quite pick him out.

Heavy collision between Russell and Graham as they tried to get across to cover Gibson-Park. Nasty clash of heads.

Scotland 0-7 Ireland

15:27 , Matt Verri

20 mins: Beirne now back on, replacing Conan.

Kinghorn’s kick is charged down, ball bounces towards the try line… Kelleher can’t quite claim it.

Russell hacks a kick away, but it’s pulled back for a penalty. Offside against Scotland as the ball bounced off Darge and forward to Russell.

Ireland forwards tap and go, but Scotland hold it up again over line!

Scotland 0-7 Ireland

15:25 , Matt Verri

18 mins: Scotland enjoying a bit more of the ball, even with 14 men. Russell wide to Kinghorn, who does well to stay in touch.

But it’s turned over, Kinghorn was isolated. Lowe smashes a kick up the field.

Scotland 0-7 Ireland

15:22 , Matt Verri

15 mins: Here comes the driving maul from Ireland, marching towards the line.

Ireland piling green shirts into it… is it over?

Held up! Huge effort from Scotland. Kelleher couldn’t quite get it down. Goal-line clearance for Scotland.

Baird was on for Beirne, due to an HIA. But Baird is now off for an HIA of his own, so Conan is introduced.

Scotland 0-7 Ireland

15:19 , Matt Verri

14 mins: Officials taking their time with this.

Was definitely a nudge from Van der Merwe, as Nash was trying to gather the bouncing ball.

“We do have foul plays,” says the referee.

Yellow card for Van der Merwe and a penalty, but not a penalty try.

Scotland 0-7 Ireland

15:17 , Matt Verri

13 mins: White back up and fine to continue.

Second Irish lineout in a row goes astray, as Kelleher’s throw sails over everyone.

Russell tries to get Scotland going, but Kinghorn has spilled it and Ireland can break.

The kick forward is into open space, Nash looks to be there… was he shoved in the back by Van der Merwe?

Every chance Nash would have got to that ball without the contact. TMO checking it.

Scotland 0-7 Ireland

15:15 , Matt Verri

12 mins: It’s all very messy from Scotland on the rare occasion they do get possession. Haven’t got going at all.

White is down now, looks to be a problem with his eye. Play is paused.

Scotland 0-7 Ireland

15:12 , Matt Verri

9 mins: O’Mahony spills the restart, but it’s a penalty for Ireland as Fagerson is penalised for a shove.

Boos around Murrayfield, Scottish players complaining… have to accept it.

Scotland 0-7 Ireland

15:10 , Matt Verri

Prendergast drills the conversion through the posts and it’s a perfect start for Ireland.

Ominous signs already for Scotland.

TRY! Scotland 0-5 Ireland | Calvin Nash 8′

15:09 , Matt Verri

Scotland collapse the maul, penalty advantage again.

Aki spills the ball forward to halt the attack, so it’s back for the penalty. Prendergast again goes to the corner.

No maul this time, but it’s a clever move and Ireland are right on the try line again. Yet another penalty advantage.

Eventually it’s played wide and Nash has all the time in the world to stroll over.

Scotland 0-0 Ireland

15:07 , Matt Verri

6 mins: Aggressive option from Ireland, as Prendergast kicks to the corner.

It’s a 5m lineout for Ireland, Scotland under real pressure already.

Scotland 0-0 Ireland

15:06 , Matt Verri

5 mins: First scrum of the match, solid from Ireland and they are on the front foot.

Henshaw bounces off a couple of tackles, Ireland into the 22.

It’s O’Mahony on the wing, he’s brought down five metres out. Scotland scrambling back.

Aki with good hands, Henshaw gets Ireland to within a metre or too. Penalty advantage now.

And it goes back to that, as Aki’s offload goes loose.

Scotland 0-0 Ireland

15:04 , Matt Verri

2 mins: Kinghorn does brilliantly to get on the end of his own kick, but it’s knocked on.

Scotland briefly think they are away on the over wing, but it’s pulled back for that advantage.

KICK-OFF!

15:02 , Matt Verri

We’re underway at Murrayfield!

15:01 , Matt Verri

Sir Chris Hoy in a Scottish rugby shirt as he walks out with the match ball – huge roar from the Murrayfield crowd.

Applause from both sets of players too.

Rory Darge has spoken about Scotland wanting to be inspired by him this afternoon.

14:59 , Matt Verri

Andy Farrell in the crowd watching on. Does he have to pretend to be neutral now he’s the Lions coach?

We’re about to find out…

Here we go…

14:56 , Matt Verri

Teams are out, Murrayfield bouncing as ever.

Time for the anthems – both elite. I’d imagine the long line of bagpipe players might have a bit more interest in one of them than the other…

Ten-minute warning!

14:51 , Matt Verri

Kick-off fast approaching at Murrayfield.

Russell has been strolling around the pitch as ever for his warm-up, airpods in and phone in hand. Not a care in the world.

‘Confrontational’ O’Mahony makes return

14:46 , Matt Verri

Big call for Ireland as Peter O’Mahony starts this afternoon.

Interim head coach Simon Easterby has backed the 35-year-old to “lead by example” in his typically confrontational manner.

“He has that ability, doesn’t he, to play big when it’s needed,” Easterby said.

“He had the edge around him in training last week when he wasn’t involved and brought a lot of competition to the group to those who were starting. He was disappointed not to get the selection in the 15 or 23 for England.

“I think what he does do when he plays against sides like Scotland is he plays right on the edge, he’s confrontational.

“He leads by example, other players will certainly follow that example and he brings the type of experience that takes time and caps to build the know-how and knowledge.”

Pre-match thoughts from Townsend

14:39 , Matt Verri

More here from the Scottish head coach, as he looks ahead to the action at Murrayfield.

Townsend plays down needle talk

14:25 , Matt Verri

Gregor Townsend has been keen to play down the rivalry between Scotland and Ireland, insisting it is no different to the other Six Nations fixtures.

“Teams want to build up something to provide extra motivation, so maybe it’s more on the Irish side or the Irish media side that there’s this rivalry or needle to give them extra motivation on why they want to win again,” Townsend said.

“Obviously they’ve won this fixture a number of times but we say this every game, we respect Ireland a lot, admire what they’ve done over the last few years, but it doesn’t stand out as a needle game for us.”

Atmosphere building!

14:16 , Matt Verri

Plenty of noise outside Murrayfield as the Ireland squad arrive.

Easterby: Ireland not necessarily favourites

14:06 , Matt Verri

Ireland head coach Simon Easterby has played down the suggestion that his side are the favourites at Murrayfield, despite their dominant record against Scotland.

“I don’t think we go in there necessarily as favourites when they had such a good autumn and a good win last week at home against Italy, and we’re playing away from home,” said Easterby.

“It’s finely balanced in terms of favourites, underdogs, I don’t think there’s that much in it at the moment.

“We just know we have to be a lot better than we were last weekend in a lot of areas because of the threats they have and their ability to play attacking rugby, but also the way they can stop teams playing as well.”

In the building!

13:56 , Matt Verri

The Scotland players have arrived at Murrayfield…

How it stands…

13:47 , Matt Verri

Whoever wins this afternoon will move to the top of the Six Nations standings.

No side has two wins to their name yet, in what is already shaping up to be a very competitive championship.

If Scotland win, the stage will be set for what could be a four-way title race. Should Ireland come out on top, they’ll be big favourites to defend their crown.

Irish dominance in this fixture

13:36 , Matt Verri

Ten wins on the bounce for Ireland against Scotland.

That run includes three victories in a row at Murrayfield, with the unbeaten streak stretching back to 2017.

Ireland retained their Six Nations by beating Scotland in Dublin last year, in what was a nervy 17-13 victory.

Darge urges Scotland to take Hoy inspiration

13:28 , Matt Verri

Sir Chris Hoy will deliver the match ball this afternoon at Murrayfield.

The Scottish cycling legend announced last year he has terminal cancer and says raising awareness of the disease has given him a new purpose.

Scotland’s Rory Darge has urged the team to take inspiration from Hoy.

“It will be really special,” Darge said. “He’s a massive inspiration for his achievements in cycling, but also what he’s going through personally is really inspiring too.

“I’m sure the Murrayfield crowd will get behind that and make it an even more special moment.

“That energy will hopefully be something that we can feed off as players and put into the performance.”

Doris: We have trust in Nash

13:20 , Matt Verri

Caelan Doris was adamant Ireland’s plans have not been disrupted by Mack Hansen’s injury problem, as he backed Calvin Nash to deliver this afternoon.

“Not at all really,” Doris said when asked about the impact on the team’s rhythm.

“It’s disappointing for Mack obviously. He’s been integral to what we’ve been about over recent years but I think he’s made the right call.

“There’s a lot of trust in Calvin in how he’s been when he’s been with us over the last number of years and also with how he’s played for Munster this year, so I think it’ll be a seamless transition.”

Stage is set!

13:12 , Matt Verri

Typically warm afternoon in Edinburgh…

Standard Sport prediction

13:04 , Matt Verri

There are promising signs for Scotland, but taking the next step to become legitimate title contenders has proved a step too far in recent years.

Ireland’s fearsome record will be in the minds of the Scottish players and they can add to that here.

Ireland to win by ten points.

Ireland team news

12:54 , Matt Verri

Ireland have been forced into a late change after Mack Hansen withdrew from the squad due to hamstring injury, with Calvin Nash starting on the wing in his place.

Peter O’Mahony makes his return to the side, having not been in the squad a week ago, and Robbie Henshaw gets the nod over Garry Ringrose at outside centre

Hooker Dan Sheehan and back row Jack Conan will once again provide plenty of quality off the bench, as they did against England.

Ireland XV: Keenan; Nash, Henshaw, Aki, Lowe; Prendergast, Gibson-Park; Porter, Kelleher, Bealham; Ryan, Beirne; O’Mahony, Van der Flier, Doris

Replacements: Sheehan, Healy, Clarkson, Baird, Conan, Murray, Crowley, Ringrose.

Scotland team news

12:47 , Matt Verri

Tom Jordan comes in for his first Six Nations start as one of three Scotland changes to the staring XV.

The New Zealand-born 26-year-old starts at centre, having played at full-back in the autumn.

Rory Sutherland and Jack Dempsey are introduced into the pack, while Pierre Schoeman, Jamie Ritchie and Stafford McDowell drop to the bench.

Matt Fagerson switches over to blindside flank as a result of Dempsey’s return.

Scotland XV: Kinghorn, Graham, Jones, Jordan, Van der Merwe, Russell, White; Sutherland, Cherry, Fagerson, Gray, Gilchrist, Fagerson, Darge, Dempsey.

Replacements: Ashman, Schoeman, Hurd, Skinner, Brown, Ritchie, Dobie, McDowall.

How to watch Scotland vs Ireland

12:37

TV channel: The game will be broadcast on BBC One and RTE. Coverage starts at 2pm GMT ahead of a 3pm kick-off.

Live stream: Subscribers will be able to watch on live streams on the BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport Website and the RTE Player. All are free with a subscription.

LIVE coverage: Follow all the action right here!

Good afternoon!

12:30 , Matt Verri

Hello and welcome to Standard Sport’s LIVE of Scotland vs Ireland!

It’s a massive match to bring an end to the second weekend of Six Nations – whoever wins this will go to the top of the table as the only side with two wins to their name.

We’ll have all the latest updates and build-up ahead of kick-off, which comes at 3pm GMT from Murrayfield!