Ireland v Scotland Preview

Speaking to Grant Gilchrist, he told us about his whirlwind of a week, after suddenly having to rush out of camp as his wife and him welcomed a baby girl, Maggie.

What they Said:

Scotland Second Row, Grant Gilchrist said: “It was a bit of a crazy week, we knew or at least thought we knew what was going to be happening. We were booked in for a C section on the Wednesday, so we’d planned for training as usual Monday and Tuesday, my wife Chloe ended up going into labor on the Monday night. It changed things up a bit but I was able to get there in plenty of time and everything went amazingly. Me and my wife had spoken beforehand, and she wanted to make sure that I was able to prepare properly, so it’s been amazing but really chaotic.

“Straight away after the win last week we knew we had another task to prepare for in Ireland, so I think that really speaks volumes about the growth of the team. We’d spoken coming into the start of the tournament that it wasn’t just about picking up wins it was about competing in every game to ultimately keep us competing for the championship, it’s been great to see us really get behind that.

“Every time you play for Scotland there’s going to be pressure, pressure’s a real privilege, it’s only there because it means something so we’re going to embrace it, it’s not every day there’s this much behind the last game of the Six Nations.”

There’s a lot at stake this weekend, with a large list of permutations as to how Scotland’s Six Nations could wrap up, here is a run down of the paths Scotland could take this weekend.

Title Scenarios

If England beat France: Scotland will win the championship with any win in Dublin. Even a loss with two bonus points could be enough to top the table, provided Ireland do not get a try-scoring bonus point.

If France draw with England: Any form of Scottish win would secure the title. A draw with Ireland would also suffice if Scotland gain more bonus points than France in their respective matches.

If France beat England: Scotland would be required to beat Ireland and secure at least an extra bonus point over the French. If both teams finish on the same match points, Scotland would need to overcome the current point difference of 58 to take the title.

You can read the full list of permutations and find out exactly what’s at stake for each team here: Super Saturday: Final Day Permutations – Scottish Rugby

With Gregor Brown and Scott Cummings out injured, Max Williamson and Grant Gilchrist, who is set to make his record breaking 88th appearance for Scotland, will make their way into the starting lineup. After coming off the bench in Paris, Zander Fagerson is set to start at Tighthead Prop, where he’ll be alongside Pierre Schoeman and George Turner in the front row

For the third time this championship the back row trio of Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge and Jack Dempsey will take to the field, with the whole set of backs all remaining unchanged from last week’s win in Paris.

For Ireland, Jamie Osborne, Rob Baloucoune and Tommy O’Brien are set to start in the back three, with Stuart McCloskey and Garry Ringrose once again named as the centre partnership.

Jamison Gibson-Park and Jack Crowley will link up in the half-backs, while Daragh Murray will look to make his Six Nations debut off the bench. Bundee Aki returns to the Ireland squad for the first time in the 2026 Guinness Men’s Six Nations.

The teams:

The Stats:

• This could be the first match since the grand slam win in1990 that Scotland win four on the bounce, with Scotland already in their highest position in the table since that year. Scotland could pick up the Triple Crown as well should the game go in their favor.
• Should the game, and all others, go Ireland’s way then it will be their seventh championship win in the Six Nations era, placing them even with France and England.
• No team has conceded fewer turnovers in the 2026 Men’s Six Nations than Scotland (41), while no team has won more turnovers in this year’s Championship than Ireland (28)