Ireland host Scotland in what is a Triple Crown shootout at Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon, while both teams retain an interest in the Six Nations title race.
A madcap renewal comes to a conclusion in Paris on Saturday night with the victor in Dublin (please don’t be a draw) hoping that England can upset the odds and beat France.
First up we get a tasty clash with silverware on the line as Andy Farrell’s men take on Gregor Townsend’s visiting Scots.
Find out all you need to know here.
TV
Ireland v Scotland (Saturday, 2.10pm) is live on Virgin Media.
Wales v Italy (Saturday, 4.40pm) and France v England (8.10pm Irish time) are live RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player with coverage starting at 4.15pm.
Highlights of all of the weekend’s games are on Against The Head, Monday, 8pm, RTÉ2.
ONLINE
Follow a live blog of Ireland v Scotland on RTE.ie/sport and the RTÉ News App followed by report, reaction and player ratings.
RADIO
Listen to live commentary from Ireland v Scotland on RTÉ Radio 1’s Saturday Sport.
WEATHER
Met Éireann forecasts partly cloudy conditions with 10% chance of rain in Dublin on Saturday afternoon in temperatures of around 9C.
The teams meet for the 145th time ever with Ireland edging the head-to-head 72 to 67, while there have been five draws.
This time there’s silverware on the line with the winner taking home the Triple Crown. It would be Ireland’s ninth of the Six Nations era whereas Scotland have not taken that prize since 1990.
A win might even be good enough for either side to claim the Six Nations title but that will come down to how France fare in the late game against England.
A bonus-point win for Les Bleus, tied with Scotland on 16 points but with a vastly superior points difference, keeps the prize in Paris.
The hosts are on an 11-match winning streak, eight coming in the Six Nations, against Scotland.
The visitors’ last win in Dublin was the 2010 clash in Croke Park; they’ve never won at the new Aviva Stadium in the championship, and Townsend has yet to lead his team to victory against the Irish.
Farrell’s men have won 15 of their 17 Six Nations encounters in Dublin since the start of 2020. Their only two losses in that period were both against France.
They lost their opening game of this year to France but bounced back with wins over Italy, England and Wales.
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Scotland have won their last three Six Nations games, against England, Wales and France, and could win four on the bounce in a single tournament for the first time since winning the Grand Slam in the 1990 Five Nations.
Ireland, five-point favourites, are without the injured James Ryan, who is replaced by Joe McCarthy.
Hooker Dan Sheehan, back row Josh van der Flier and wing Tommy O’Brien replace Rónan Kelleher, Nick Timoney and Jacob Stockdale in three other changes.
There is likely to be a Six Nations debut for Connacht lock Darragh Murray, who starts on the bench.
Scotland are missing locks Gregor Brown and Scott Cummings, who both started the 50-40 win over France. Grant Gilcrhist and Max Williamson come in to the second row, while their third change sees tighthead, Zander Fagerson starting for D’Arcy Rae.
TEAMS
Ireland: Jamie Osborne; Rob Baloucoune, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, Tommy O’Brien; Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Tom O’Toole, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne; Jack Conan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Michael Milne, Finlay Bealham, Darragh Murray, Nick Timoney, Craig Casey, Ciarán Frawley, Bundee Aki
Scotland: Blair Kinghorn; Darcy Graham, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Steyn; Finn Russell, Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, George Turner, Zander Fagerson; Max Williamson, Grant Gilchrist; Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, D’Arcy Rae, Alex Craig, Magnus Bradbury, George Horne, Kyle Rowe, Tom Jordan.
OFFICIALS
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referee 2: Damian Schneider (UAR)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (RFU)
FPRO: Ian Tempest (RFU)
WHAT THEY SAID
Andy Farrell (Ireland head coach): “You would love to dream [of championship glory]. Obviously, the rest of it is out of our hands, but there’s something that’s in our hands. We concentrate on our performance first and foremost of trying to win something that’s pretty special to us, that’s the Triple Crown.”
Gregor Townsend (Scotland head coach): “Those that have been selected know that it is a big opportunity. It’s not a cup final, there’s not just two teams in this championship, but there is an element of that. It’s the last game of the tournament, so we’ll leave everything out there.”
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
Scotland 18-32 Ireland – Murrayfield (9 February 2025) Six Nations
Ireland 17-13 Scotland – Aviva Stadium (16 March 2024) Six Nations
Ireland 36-14 Scotland – Stade de France (7 October 2023) World Cup Pool B
Scotland 7-22 Ireland – Murrayfield (12 March 2023) Six Nations
Ireland 26-5 Scotland – Aviva Stadium (19 March 2022) Six Nations
Elsewhere, Wales host Italy in the middle game and the championship will be decided in Paris when France welcome England in the late kick-off.