Ireland v Scotland
Venue: Aviva Stadium
Kick-off: 2.10pm
On TV: Live on Virgin Media One and ITV
Is this it already? As with most good things, the Six Nations seems to have flown by. Maybe it’s just the reduced six-week itinerary with only one fallow week.
But perhaps it’s also because this 2026 tournament as also been so gloriously unpredictable. In any event, the most intriguing Super Saturday in 11 years is suddenly upon us.
Since the Six Nations came into being with the addition of Italy, never has an Ireland–Scotland match had so much riding on it.
The winner will claim the Triple Crown and become clubhouse leaders, and while there are various permutations hinging upon bonus points and draws, in effect they will then need England to beat France in Paris (kick-off 8.10pm, Irish time) in order to have a second trophy presentation in the evening as champions.
After first round losses which prompted all manner of outside noise, Andy Farrell and Scottish counterpart Gregor Townsend kept their cool and their sides have responded with three wins.
Clockwise from left: Billy Bohan, Robert Baloucoune, Bundee Aki and Ciaran Frawley at the captain’s run training session on Friday. Photograph: Dan Clohessy/INPHO
Hence, when the dust settles, Ireland and Scotland will finish in the top half and be able to extract positives from this campaign.
But a fourth win a row, a trophy and a top two finish would generate huge momentum for either side before the inaugural Nations Championship and next year’s Rugby World Cup.
Either way, Farrell maintains that the result of this game should not define Ireland’s Six Nations.
“No, you guys will write about that anyway, but for us, like I said before, what a story for a good handful of these lads to be in this type of situation. We probably wouldn’t have thought, or they might not have thought, they’d be in this type of situation.
“So it’s been fantastic, along with all the experienced lads, and we’ve got a good few within our team who’s been there in this cup final type of week and won a few trophies along the way. But to add to that, that’s going to be fantastic down the line anyway.”
Now, he said, it was about seeing whether this Irish team “can perform when it matters”.
Thankfully the horrendous rains of Thursday have relented and, while showers are forecast, it should be a reasonably dry day and, with pace aplenty on the edges in both teams, that should make for a better spectacle.
“Yeah, it should be a fantastic game, two sides that want to play rugby and I think everyone can see that,” Farrell said.
Finn Russell will be Scotland’s man to watch. Photograph: Ben Brady/INPHO
There’s no doubting the potency of this Scottish side, as they showed in scoring 40 uninterrupted points against France. The truly gifted Finn Russell, after being the Lions Test series outhalf and last season’s treble with Bath, seems less frazzled by things going wrong, less inclined to over-reach for miracle plays and, as he showed in Cardiff, calmer in a cauldron.
Their supporters will travel with more optimism than ever since their 1999 title success and hopefully this might even prompt the Aviva home crowd into life, so emulating the Green Army in Twickenham to make home advantage a real factor.
After all, a trophy and a title are on the line for Ireland, too. The team has looked re-energised and has added quality and pace on the flanks. The combined selection of Robert Baloucoune and Tommy O’Brien, two previously injury-prone flyers who are taking part in their first Six Nations at the ages of 28 and 27, for the first time after that eye-catching hour together in Twickenham is genuinely exciting.
“I suppose you’ve seen it in action what it can do,” Farrell said, but he added: “I’ve seen plenty of wingers who’ve got plenty of pace but not get that much ball because the team has not got the front foot ball that they crave. We’ve to make sure we find that for them and obviously they’ve got to find it within themselves to go hunting for the ball and not just stick down the wings themselves.”
On a form line through France, Scotland would be 33-point favourites, but use comparative results against Italy, England and Wales as yardsticks, and then Ireland would be 13-point, 11-point or seven-point favourites.
All of which shows how wildly fluctuating this Six Nations has been. Throw in home advantage being worth a score or so and one can see why the bookies make Scotland narrow, five point underdogs.
Edwin Edogbo and Tadhg Furlong in training at the Aviva on Friday. Photograph: Ben Brady/INPHO
By roughly 4pm on Saturday we’ll have a better idea whether the record Twickenham win was an outlier or not, but Ireland will most likely have to be better than they were in beating Italy and Wales at home.
Ireland’s unprecedented 11-match winning streak against Scotland probably counts for little come kick-off, for whatever confidence it may imbue in this Irish side is countered by the motivational juices it assuredly stirs in Scotland. This, for them, has become bigger than sending England homeward bound to think again. This is their Ben Nevis.
With Jack Conan against starting alongside Caelan Doris and Josh van der Flier, and Dan Sheehan and Joe McCarthy also restored, as well as Stuart McCloskey, Ireland are packed with ball-carrying ballast. Although it doesn’t look like the most impactful bench ever, Bundee Aki can add to that mix as well.
In Tadhg Beirne, Van der Flier, Doris, Conan et al, Ireland have the ability over the ball to make the breakdown a scrap and deny Scotland the lightning-quick ruck ball which was the latter’s lifeblood in dissecting France.
That winning Irish run also demonstrates how styles make fights and how the style of some fighters works with greater effectiveness against specific opponents.
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, Mike Milne, Finlay Bealham, Darragh Murray, Nick Timoney, Craig Casey, Ciarán Frawley, Bundee Aki.
SCOTLAND: Blair Kinghorn; Darcy Graham, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu (capt), Kyle Steyn; Finn Russell (vice-capt), Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, George Turner, Zander Fagerson; Max Williamson, Grant Gilchrist; Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge (vice-capt), Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, D’Arcy Rae, Alex Craig, Magnus Bradbury, George Horne, Kyle Rowe, Tom Jordan.
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Assistant Referee 1: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referee 2: Damian Schneider (UAR)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (RFU)
FPRO: Ian Tempest (RFU)
Overall head-to-head: Played 143. Ireland 72 wins, Scotland 66 wins, 5 Draws.
Last five meetings: (2022 6N) Ireland 26 Scotland 5; (2023 6N) Scotland 7 Ireland 22; (2023 RWC) Ireland 36 Scotland 14; (2024 6N) Ireland 17 Scotland 13; (2025 6N) Scotland 18 Ireland 32.
2026 Six Nations results so far: Ireland: Lost 14-36 v France (a); Won 20-13 v Italy (h); Won 42-21 v England (a); Won 27-17 v Wales (h). Scotland: Lost 15-18 v Italy; Won 31-20 v England (h); Won 26-23 v Wales (a); Won 50-40 v France (h).
Betting: 1/2 Ireland, 20/1 Draw, 9/5 Scotland. Handicap odds (Scotland + 5 pts) Evens Ireland, 16/1 Draw, Evens Scotland.
Forecast: Ireland to win, but it could be squeaky.
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