Preview: Ireland v Scotland

What they said this week

Gregor Townsend, said: “Jonny [Gray] has recovered very well. He has showed that he is hungry to get back into the squad, hungry to play and take the game to Ireland.

“Blair [Kinghorn] reminded us a couple of weeks ago of what he can do against Connacht, and he came off the bench and did really well against Wales. We believe this is the right time to start him at 10 in a Six Nations game.

“We know our performance [against Italy] wasn’t at the level that we expect from ourselves and the level it will have to be this week to get that win.

“Ireland play ambitious rugby, with very good detail around the set-piece and contact, with excellent individuals and they’re full of confidence. We’ll have to deliver our best performance of the season to come away with a victory.”

Chris Harris, said: “We obviously got the result out in Italy. It wasn’t an amazing performance but we got the five points.

“Everything is just now focused on Ireland and trying to improve our own game and give it a good crack over there.

“They’re a very good side aren’t they? They’ve been quality for a long time and to go to Ireland to play them is especially hard.

“I’ve only played there once with a crowd and I remember it being pretty intense. But you’ve got to relish that and enjoy that.

“We’re mostly looking at ourselves and how we can improve and try to impose our game on them.”

The teams

Key stats

• Scotland have won five of their last six away games in the Guinness Six Nations (L1), as many as they’d won in their previous 43 such fixtures in the Championship (D1, L37).
• Scotland’s Ali Price and Darcy Graham have each beaten 13 defenders in the Guinness Six Nations this year, only Monty Ioane (14) has beaten more.
• Ali Price has faced just 18 tackles in the Championship in 2022 and his tackle evasion rate of 72% is the best of any of the 71 players to face 15+ tackles.
• Ireland’s James Lowe (176) and Scotland’s Stuart Hogg (165) made the most metres over the gainline in Round 4 of this year’s Guinness Six Nations, no other player has gained as many in a match during the Championship in 2022.
• Ireland have made 30 line breaks in the Guinness Six Nations this year, more than any other team, while Scotland have made the second most (24); they are also the two top ranking teams for defenders beaten (Scotland 107, Ireland 84).

Where to watch and follow the game

Join us in the Scottish Rugby Match Centre on Saturday for match stats and live text commentary from Dublin.

As always we’ll bring you the big moments as they happen, along with the latest from inside the Scotland camp.

Ireland v Scotland kicks off at 4.45pm GMT and you can watch the game live on ITV in the UK.

Click here for the international broadcast details.