Triple Crown decider and possible Championship clincher looks set to be a cracker
Ireland Head Coach Andy Farrell (Image: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne)
Ireland and Scotland are set to do battle for the 2026 Triple Crown today.
Andy Farrell’s home side are actually looking to retain the large silver dish – funny thing, their last winning of the venerable trophy was somewhat hidden away because of the Grand Slam disappointment involved.
This time around Ireland are in position after picking themselves off the floor in the wake being given a torrid time and losing 42-21 on opening day in France.
A furious coach has since dropped 10 of those who started that match, those escaping Paris Punishment being Jamie Osborne, Gary Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, Caelan Doris (albeit taken away from no8 for a game) and Jeremy Loughman who succumbed to injury.
The winners of today’s Aviva clash will have a chance of winning the Championship should England defeat France in Paris (for permutations see below),
Scotland would be chasing a Grand Slam but for an opening day three-point defeat in Italy when they failed to handle a torrential storm and spurned over half-a-dozen kickable shot at goal.
Here’s what you need to know about the Ireland-Scotland fixture:
What: Six Nations, Round Five
Where: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
When: Saturday, March 14th, 2026
What time is kick-off? 2.10pm
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Six Nations Table positions:
1. France 16 pts (+79pts diff)
2 Scotland 16 pts (+21 pts diff)
3 Ireland 14 pts (+ +16 pts diff)
Quotes corner
ANDY FARRELL (Irish Coach): “Certainly room to do better. We’ve had one really good performance, but we know that in Test match rugby it all doesn’t go your way, you’ve got to find a way as well and all the best teams have got a track record of doing that.
“Three wins out of three, obviously getting over the disappointment of the one before that, but still room for improvement and putting ourselves in a position to see whether we can perform at our best when it really matters. I suppose that’s a position that you want to test yourself and put yourself in.”
GREGOR TOWNSEND (Scotland Coach): That performance (against France) was close to the best that we’ve seen from this group and from probably any Scotland team.
“The expectations might be there to repeat that performance in Dublin but what we want to see from it is, ‘Are they physically ready?’
“We’ve seen them at training this week, we’ve done some contact work yesterday, and they’re up for that challenge.”
TITLE PERMUTATIONS should Ireland defeat Scotland
If France beat England – Ireland cannot win the Championship
If France draw with England:
Any win with one more bonus point than France wins them the Championship
A win with equal bonus points to France wins them the Championship if Scotland don’t get two losing bonus points, and Ireland overcome a 63-point points difference deficit
If England beat France:
A bonus point win over Scotland wins them the Championship
A non-bonus point win wins them the Championship if neither Scotland or France get two losing bonus points, and if tied with France, Ireland overcome either 63-point points difference deficit with France
Did you know? Ireland have beaten Scotland in each of their last 11 meetings
Did you know? Scotland have never won a Six Nations title. Indeed, this is the first time they have ever been in contention on the last day.
Betting odds: Ireland 1/2 draw 20/1 Scotland 9/5
Handicap: Ireland -5 points 1/1
Popular Bets: Dan Sheehan first try-scorer 9/1, anytime try-scorer 1/1; Munster to win to nil; Finn Russell to be Man of the Match 12/1
Ireland to win each half by 10+ points 17/1; Ireland to win both halves, 1+ try scored in 1st 10 minutes, one yellow card in the match 11/2
Six Nations title winners: France 2/9, Ireland 7/1, Scotland 15/2
What TV channel is match on? Virgin Media, UTV
LINE-UPS:
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.