With Ireland off to a strong start in their bid to retain their Six Nations title, Daire Lydon previews this weekend’s fixture against Scotland, taking a look at how both teams will be feeling ahead of the game and focusing on some of the key match-ups.
In the wake of an impressive opening round of action in the 2025 Six Nations Championship, Ireland are set to face Scotland in Murrayfield in another tough test this Sunday. Both sides won their first round games and will be eager to get another win under their belt, with Scotland hoping to capitalise on having home advantage.
The upcoming British and Irish Lions tour in Australia this July adds an extra dimension to proceedings and Lions head honcho Andy Farrell is likely to be keeping a watchful eye over this one, with a number of key auditions taking place for positions in his squad. Apart from the Lions tour, Ireland will be keen to take another step up the ladder in their quest for a third successive Six Nations title, however the Scots will be a slippery group to navigate as they vie to get one over on their Celtic counterparts.
Scotland In Focus
Heading into this year's Championship, the Tartan Army were dealt a number of significant injury blows. Most notably absent is their skipper, Sione Tuipulotu, who was ruled out after tearing his pectoral muscle a few days before Scotland's campaign commenced. Tuipulotu has been a consistent force to be reckoned with in the centre for domestic side Glasgow Warriors this season, and will be sorely missed by Gregor Townsend's side, particularly in a centres’ battle against two of Ireland's stand out players, Robbie Henshaw, Garry Ringrose and 2023 World Rugby Player of the Year nominee, Bundee Aki.
However Townsend has a possible ace up his sleeve in the form of current co-captain Finn Russell, who jokingly labelled himself the “Messi of Rugby” in Netflix’s Full Contact series. Russell has been heavily tipped to start for the Lions this summer in the out-half position. His creativity has been an orchestrator of stand out moments for Scotland, but on occasion he has been underwhelming, demonstrating a lack of consistency. This may worry Scottish fans after a poor performance against Italy last week and it remains to be seen whether Russell is equipped to juggle the roles of co-captain and outhalf.
Scotland have not won the Six Nations since Italy joined in 2000, with their best finish in the Championship in that timespan being third place on four occasions, most recently 2018.
However it is acknowledged that Scotland's final positions in the Championship have not been representative of some of their strong performances. They have defeated England on the last four occasions in which they have met in the competition, so Ireland will need to be on their game in order to beat the home side this weekend.
Irish Talking Points
It has been noted that, on paper, Ireland are due to play their three most challenging games in a row at the start of this Championship. Having already seen off England, Ireland are set to face Antoine DuPont's French side following the Scotland match. This means that any injuries sustained in the Scotland game could have repercussions for Ireland's next game against France.
The game on Sunday cannot be regarded as a foregone conclusion, despite the fact that the last time Scotland won this fixture was in 2017.
Ireland have a number of injury woes of their own with lock Joe McCarthy and prop Tadhg Furlong still unavailable. Winger Mack Hansen and prop Finlay Bealham, who played against England, carried knocks into this week but have been given the all-clear by the coaching ticket and start against the Scots on Sunday.
There remain a number of positional talking points ahead of the game. French rugby newspaper Midi Olympique sparked much debate during the week naming Irish subs Dan Sheehan and Jack Crowley in their team of the week last week. Steve Borthwick added his tuppence worth to the outhalf debate when he remarked that the substitution of Sam Prendergast with Jack Crowley changed the game.
Ireland’s interim head coach, Simon Easterby, will have some tough calls to make after what has been widely hailed as Rónan Kelleher’s best performance for Ireland before he was replaced by Dan Sheehan, who also had a fantastic game. There was also a fine Six Nations debut for Sam Prendergast before he was replaced by Jack Crowley who received lots of praise for his own performance.
The man in the middle
The referee for Sunday's game will be New Zealander James Doleman. Doleman has served as an assistant referee for an Ireland game previously but never been in the middle for an Irish or Scotland game. Doleman will be under scrutiny following some debate around last week’s refereeing performance from Ben O’Keeffe in Ireland’s game against England. O’Keefe will be a linesman for the game.
Tempers flared between the two sides when they met during the 2023 Rugby World when Scotland’s Pierre Schoeman hurled Dan Sheehan over the advertising hoarding.
In a game of this magnitude Doleman will need to be on his toes to keep a lid on tensions flaring in this increasingly fierce rivalry.
Key Matchups
Hugo Keenan vs Blair Kinghorn
Long in the shadow of Scotland's Stuart Hogg, his apprentice Blair Kinghorn is finally getting the chance to blossom at full back for his country. Kinghorn, whilst possessing all the crucial qualities of a fullback, such as efficiency under the high ball and strong defensive acumen, has a level of creativity that sets him apart from the competition. This aspect of his game was enhanced during Hogg’s dominance at full back for Scotland, also filling in at out-half and centre when needed.
Since Hogg’s departure, Kinghorn has grabbed the opportunity at full back with both hands, cementing his place in the lineup. His skillset has been supplemented by playing regular first team rugby at French side Toulouse. Despite this, he is currently seen as second in line for the No 15 jersey for Lions Tour behind his counterpart Hugo Keenan.
Keenan excels under the high ball and is widely considered to be one of the best full backs in world rugby. Keenan took a career break last summer to become an Olympian and participate in Rugby 7s in Paris, a high octane aerobically enduring version of the 15s game, speaking to his physical fitness.
Since his return he has hit the ground running and is in fine form for club and country putting in an impressive shift under the high ball and defensively last week against England.
James Lowe vs Duhan Van der Merwe
James Lowe was one of Ireland's standout performers last week against England, having a direct hand in three tries. He has won two Six Nations with Ireland and was named on the 2024 World Rugby Dream Team of the Year. His opposite number Duhan Van der Merwe is a former British and Irish Lion and a danger man for Scotland on the wing. He scored a hat-trick against England and a brace against Wales in the 2024 Six Nations . This is a hotly anticipated matchup which may shed some light as to who will be wearing the No. 11 shirt come July for the Lions Tour.
Don’t Miss It!
This is set to be one of the games of the tournament, so whether it's in a pub in town, your living room, listening to Michael Corcoran on the radio, or on your phone in James Joyce library, be sure to tune in.