Ireland will look to continue their march towards a Grand Slam when they take on fellow title hopefuls Scotland in the penultimate round of the 2023 Six Nations on Sunday.
Andy Farrell's men sit top of the pile with maximum points from their opening three games and could even clinch the trophy should other results go their way this weekend, but Triple Crown-chasing Scotland are one of three teams on 10 points eager to capitalise on any Irish slip-up.
Match preview
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Scotland's own unbeaten start came to an end last time out, but even in defeat to France they showed just why they have established themselves as dark horses for the title this year.
A nightmare start saw them have a man sent off and fall 19-0 behind within the opening 20 minutes but, aided by a French red card too, they powered back to within four points before Gael Fickou's late try ultimately sealed a 32-21 defeat in Paris.
The lack of a losing bonus point leaves them level on points with both France and England heading into the penultimate weekend, although they will feel that their Championship hopes remain firmly in their own hands.
Victory over the world's top-ranked side Ireland is far from guaranteed, of course, but they do have home advantage in their favour and should they end their visitors' Grand Slam dreams this weekend then a home game against Italy to finish off their campaign would leave them in a strong position to claim a first title of the Six Nations era.
Gregor Townsend's side have won three of their last four Six Nations games at Murrayfield, having only won one of their previous six in front of their own fans before that.
Their only home match so far this year saw them beat Wales by a record margin in week two, and that display coupled with their curtain-raising triumph over England at Twickenham will give them plenty of belief that they can add Ireland to their list of scalps too.
Given that seven of the last eight Murrayfield meetings between these two sides have been decided by single-figure scores, Scotland will feel that their improvement this year could be enough to turn those fine margins in their favour - a result which would not only put them right in the title hunt, but would also secure the Triple Crown for the first time since 1990.
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Ireland continue to improve themselves too, though, and despite this tricky trip to Murrayfield and then a home game against England still to come, the prospect of a first Grand Slam since 2018 seems more likely with each passing week.
Farrell's men have so far lived up to their pre-tournament billing as favourites, taking maximum points from all three of their games and also boasting the most points scored, fewest points against, most tries for and fewest tries conceded in the tournament so far.
A comfortable victory in Cardiff was followed by a thriller against France in Dublin, before a first-half blitz helped them see off Italy in Rome last time out.
That week three victory was not Ireland's best performance, with Italy again causing one of the tournament big boys problems in Rome, but they still had enough to run out 14-point winners and claim yet another try bonus point.
Indeed, Ireland have now scored four or more tries in six successive Six Nations games, the longest such streak in the tournament's history, surpassing England's record from 2003 to 2004.
Ireland's winning run also now sits at six games on the bounce, while stretching further back they have triumphed in 10 of their last 11 Six Nations outings ahead of the trip to Edinburgh.
Extending that run would set up a Dublin date for a Grand Slam when England come to town next weekend, but they cannot afford to let their minds wander to that possibility with such a scintillating Scottish side awaiting them first.
Scotland Six Nations form:
- W
- W
- L
Ireland Six Nations form:
- W
- W
- W
Team News
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History could be made in a number of ways on Sunday, including for Johnny Sexton, who returns to the Ireland XV with the all-time Six Nations scoring record in his sights.
The fly-half needs only eight points to move past his predecessor Ronan O'Gara's tally of 557 points in the competition, a tally he will be expected to reach as he comes back into the side after missing out against Italy with a knock.
Sexton's return is one of six changes made by Ireland boss Farrell, with Conor Murray coming back in at nine and Garry Ringrose recalled for his 50th cap, shifting Bundee Aki to inside centre in the process.
In the pack, front-rowers Tadhg Furlong and Dan Sheehan return, while Peter O'Mahony is in at six.
Scotland have made two changes to their side, with Jonny Gray joining his brother Richie Gray in the second row as a replacement for the suspended Grant Gilchrist following his red card against France last time out.
Jack Dempsey comes in at number eight in place of Hamish Watson, prompting a reshuffle in the back row with captain Jamie Ritchie starting at openside and Matt Fagerson starting at blindside.
Scotland's record try-scorer Stuart Hogg will make his 100th appearance for his country, becoming only the fourth player to reach that landmark after Ross Ford, Chris Paterson and Sean Lamont.
Scotland starting lineup: 15. Stuart Hogg, 14. Kyle Steyn, 13. Huw Jones, 12. Sione Tuipulotu, 11. Duhan van der Merwe, 10. Finn Russell, 9. Ben White; 1. Pierre Schoeman, 2. George Turner, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Richie Gray, 5. Jonny Gray, 6. Matt Fagerson, 7. Jamie Ritchie (c), 8. Jack Dempsey
Replacements: 16. Fraser Brown, 17. James Bhatti, 18. Simon Berghan, 19. Scott Cummings, 20. Hamish Watson, 21. Ali Price, 22. Blair Kinghorn, 23. Chris Harris
Ireland starting lineup: 15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Mack Hansen, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Bundee Aki, 11. James Lowe, 10. Johnny Sexton (c), 9. Conor Murray; 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Dan Sheehan, 3. Tadhg Furlong, 4. Iain Henderson, 5. James Ryan, 6. Peter O'Mahony, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Caelan Doris
Replacements: 16. Ronan Kelleher, 17. Cian Healy, 18. Tom O'Toole, 19. Ryan Baird, 20. Jack Conan, 21. Jamison Gibson-Park, 22. Ross Byrne, 23. Robbie Henshaw
Head To Head
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This will be the 141st meeting between these two nations in total, and the overall head-to-head record is remarkably similar over that time, with Ireland winning 68 to Scotland's 67.
At home, Scotland have won 40 of the 70 meetings compared to 29 wins for Ireland, but in recent times the balance has been firmly in Ireland's favour.
The last seven editions of this fixture have all gone the way of Ireland, including two in a row at Murrayfield since Scotland's last victory in 2017.
Indeed, Scotland have only ever won four of the 23 Six Nations showdowns between the two teams, and while three of those came at home, Ireland have won the other eight previous games in Edinburgh in this competition.
We say: Scotland 27-35 Ireland
Scotland have never beaten a team ranked number one in the world since the rankings were introduced in 2003, but this current crop have their sights set on ending even longer droughts than that.
The fact that there is serious talk of a first Triple Crown since 1990 and a first title since 1999 shows that Townsend has forged the best Scotland side in a generation, and in front of a passionate Murrayfield crowd there is every chance they could topple Ireland this weekend.
Scotland have so many dangerous runners and move the ball wide more often than any other team in the Championship, which is something Ireland struggled to deal with at times against Italy, albeit admittedly with a less familiar backline.
Tries and a high-scoring game could therefore be in the offing between the two best attacks in this year's Championship so far, but we are still backing Ireland to run out winners and continue their march towards the Grand Slam.
This Scotland team is very good, but this Irish team is even better and, having chalked up over 30 points in all of their matches so far, we expect them to do the same on Sunday.
Barney Corkhill
