Ireland vs Scotland LIVE: Six Nations 2020 result and updates from today’s clash
Follow all the latest from the meeting at Aviva Stadium
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Your support makes all the difference.Ireland take on Scotland at the Aviva Stadium this afternoon as the duo kick off their Six Nations campaign.
Gregor Townsend knows his Scottish side will have to pull out all the stops to defeat and Ireland outift who have won 15 of their past 16 Tests at home and are beginning a new era under head coach Andy Farrell.
Wales have set the early running with fast start against Italy in Cardiff at lunchtime and both of these sides will want to join them in beginning with a win. Follow it live after the conclusion of Wales vs Italy:
Match preview:
When is it?
Wales vs Italy takes place on Saturday 1 February at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
What time does it start?
The match kicks off at 4:45pm GMT.
TV channel?
The match will be shown live on ITV from 4pm. Highlights will be on ITV at 10:40pm on Sunday.
Viewers can also watch the match online on the ITV Hub from 4pm.
Teams
Ireland: Jordan Larmour; Andrew Conway, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Johnny Sexton, Conor Murray; Cian Healy, Rob Herring, Tadhg Furlong; Iain Henderson, James Ryan; CJ Stander, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Scotland: Stuart Hogg; Sean Maitland, Huw Jones, Sam Johnson, Blair Kinghorn; Adam Hastings, Ali Price; Rory Sutherland, Frase Brown, Zander Fagerson; Scott Cummings, Jonny Gray; Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Nick Haining.
A mighty fine start for Wayne Pivac and Wales as they look to defend their Six Nations crown. 42 points split evenly between the two halves, and plenty of promising signs in both attack and defence. Their backs were excellent, with strong debut showings from both Johnny McNicholl and Nick Tompkins, and to nil any side is a real achievement - their breakdown work was particularly good in defence.
Sterner tests to come, of course, with a trip across the Irish Sea next week looming, but Pivac will be rather pleased with how his charges played.
Italy showed some fight in the second half, but Franco Smith will be really concerned with their lack of accuracy in the red area and at the breakdown. There were some nice moments of attacking play, but defensively they were perhaps too passive and they failed to make the most of a pack that were able to win collisions in attack regularly. Work to do, or another wooden spoon beckons. 23 Six Nations defeats in a row.
Time to switch our attentions to the second helping of Six Nations rugby for the afternoon, with warm-ups well underway at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Scotland are in town for a Celtic clash with Ireland, and the action is not far away. Let's remind you of the team news...
Ireland forwards
Rory Best's retirement leaves a rather large hole at hooker in the Irish pack. Rob Herring gets the first opportunity to fill it this afternoon, with Ronan Kelleher perhaps the coming force and ready to make an impact from the bench.
Andy Farrell pairs Iain Henderson and James Ryan in the second row, but it is his back row selection that has caught the eye. Young Caelan Doris is one of the most promising youngsters in European rugby, with the Leinster number eight an eye-catching runner, with exceptionally quick feet through contact and long arms that accentuate his natural feel for offloading. CJ Stander is pushed to the blindside, with plenty of experience in the returning Devin Toner and Peter O'Mahony held in reserve.
Ireland backs
Best's departure means a new captain, with Johnny Sexton given the nod by Farrell. Joey Carbery might have pushed for his starting shirt, oddly, had the Munster out-half been fit - alas, he is not, and Sexton takes the armband at ten.
He's joined by old mate Conor Murray, who has just about held off the charge of John Cooney to cling on to his place as the starting scrum-half, but Cooney is hot on his heels, and perhaps the most in-form player in Ireland at the moment. Bundee Aki is preferred to Robbie Henshaw at 12, and out wide it is Andrew Conway and Jacob Stockdale, with Keith Earls a little sore.
Jordan Larmour has a chance to make the full-back role his own with Rob Kearney now out of the picture. If Ireland are to begin to transform into a more effervescent side in the mould of all-conquering Leinster, he could be a key figure.
Scotland forwards
After a hugely disappointing World Cup, Scotland make a few intriguing changes in the pack. Fraser Brown appears to have usurped former captain Stuart McInally at hooker, while Rory Sutherland is the sort of character to add a bit more grunt and gristle at loosehead. Scott Cummings and Jonny Gray form a balanced lock combination.
Nick Haining is the surprise starter. Australian-born and with a circuitous path to a Test debut that included a stint at Jersey, he's tasked with adding aggression and carrying prowess to a Scottish pack that has struggled physically at times in the last five years. He's picked ahead of the returning Cornell Du Preez, who has overcome a serious injury to do some really positive things at Worcester in the last year or so, at number eight, and joined by two fine fetchers in Jamie Ritchie and Hamish Watson. They'll look to spoil as much Irish ball as possible.
One late change for Scotland on the bench - WP Nel takes the backup tighthead spot from Simon Berghan.
Scotland backs
The elephant not in the room is, of course, Finn Russell, out of the squad after one or two drinks too many, allegedly, at the pre-Six Nations camp. This leaves Scotland without their most in-form and important player, with deputy Adam Hastings starting at fly-half. He's in solid enough form himself, with Russell's departure from Glasgow opening the door for Hastings to make the ten shirt his own at Scotstoun in the last two seasons, but he is not quiet the magician that Russell is.
This means it has hardly been the smoothest of starts for new captain Stuart Hogg, who all but demanded the captaincy from Gregor Townsend after a World Cup that I know disappointed him hugely. He has two other men comfortable at full-back with him in the back three today, with Blair Kinghorn and Sean Maitland on the wings in the absence of firecracker Darcy Graham.
After complaints over a stodgy midfield combination in Japan, the return of Huw Jones in midfield will please Scottish supporters, with Rory Hutchinson ready to add his wonderfully complete skillset in the centres from the bench.
Without Finn Russell, this'll be a serious ask for Scotland this afternoon. Adam Hastings is a real talent, but he's struggled to control the game at international level so far. He'll have to exert authority this afternoon in the cauldron of the Aviva Stadium against a vastly experienced opposite number.
The two sets of players are enjoying a handshake with the Irish president, with the two new captains talking Michael D. Higgins through their two teams. Off he wanders to take up his place in the posh seats by Princess Anne, ever the staunchest of Scottish supporters.
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