Scotland provide reasons to be wary but there's a Six Nations title to be retained for Ireland

That the Scots also come into this final-round clash having suffered a narrow defeat seven days ago, to Italy in Rome, brings some symmetry to the occasion, particularly as Gregor Townsend’s men are chasing some silverware of their own, in the hope of ending a 25-year wait for a trophy.

TITLE TO BE RETAINED: Head Coach Andy Farrell. Pic Credit: Dan Sheridan, Inpho.

Regrets, Ireland will have more than a few following last Saturday’s dream-crushing defeat to England at Twickenham.

Yet if they are true to their mantra of being next-job focused, those what might have beens will have been shelved last Monday morning and will not matter one iota come 4:45pm today and kick-off against Scotland when there is a Guinness Six Nations title to be retained at Aviva Stadium.

That their opponents also come into this final-round clash having suffered a narrow defeat seven days ago, to Italy in Rome, brings some symmetry to the occasion, particularly as Gregor Townsend’s men are chasing some silverware of their own this evening, in the hope of ending a 25-year wait for a trophy.

That the Scots lack of success stretches back to the last season of the Five Nations and the title in 1999 says much about their prolonged underachievement, and certainly in more recent years when they have had a golden generation of players capable of so much more than one-off victories.

A championship remains on their horizon this afternoon but it is an extremely long shot following their Stadio Olimpico collapse yet a Triple Crown in Dublin would represent the high point of their Six Nations achievements and Ireland boss Andy Farrell see that as reason to be wary.

"When you're disappointed, all you want is an opportunity where there's a trophy on the line and I know that as far as the Triple Crown is concerned,” Farrell said of the Scots.

“They've not won that for some time now and that makes them dangerous in our view. We've got to be ready for them to be as good as they've ever been against us.

"We've had tough games in the past and just managed to scrape by here at the Aviva as well."

Ronan Kelleher during the captain's run.

Scraping by once more will do Ireland just fine given their four-point lead over England at the top of the standings, a victory by any margin handing the 2023 Grand Slam winners a second title in a row. 

There is even the possibility a defeat could still hand the championship trophy in Dublin tonight depending on the outcome of the French-English clash which will round out Super Saturday in Lyon.

Yet that is not this Ireland team’s style with Farrell, his captain Peter O’Mahony and his equally driven players demanding of themselves a winning performance they can stand over in front of friends, family, supporters and this rugby nation come 7pm.

Securing the Grand Slam on Irish soil for the first time 12 months ago was a slog against 14-man England rather than a procession until the undermanned visitors finally ran out of steam and three tries in the last 20 minutes sealed a 29-16 victory.

"They play a huge part in every game we play here, I have to say,” O’Mahony said of the Aviva crowd. “It's always in big occasions like that that they're a very influential point of the game.

"It was special (in 2023), I don't think we had ever done it, it was the first time ever so last year was very special, obviously. Like the way the last few weeks have gone I think it will be very special if we win it.”

Ireland’s head coach certainly wants to see his side reach a more convincing conclusion to the 2024 campaign.

"I love winning titles, there’s no doubt about that, but this an occasion for us to perform when it really matters,” Farrell said.

“We said it in the Grand Slam game last year and we was able to get over the line but the performance wasn’t exactly white hot, so that’s what you’re always chasing.

“Of course winning matters a lot. Certainly winning Six Nations titles, however, means an awful lot but having said that we pride on ourselves on performing well when it matters and I suppose that’s what we’ll judge ourselves on first.”

Recent history is on Ireland’s side with a formidable home record against allcomers of 18 wins in succession and nine consecutive victories over Scotland, the most recent a dominant 36-14 World Cup pool win at Stade de France five months ago.

Furthermore, Ireland have not succumbed to back-to-back defeats since the 2020 Six Nations, just ahead of Farrell’s new-look playing style kicking into gear.

They have set a high standard ever since and it would take a major upset in their own backyard to see that bar lowered this evening.

IRELAND: H Keenan (Leinster); C Nash (Munster), R Henshaw (Leinster), B Aki (Connacht), J Lowe (Leinster); J Crowley (Munster), J Gibson-Park (Leinster); A Porter, D Sheehan (Leinster), T Furlong (Leinster); J McCarthy (Leinster), T Beirne (Munster); P O’Mahony (Munster) - captain, J van der Flier (Leinster), C Doris (Leinster).

Replacements: R Kelleher (Leinster), C Healy (Leinster), F Bealham (Connacht), R Baird (Leinster), J Conan (Leinster), C Murray (Munster), H Byrne (Leinster), G Ringrose (Leinster).

SCOTLAND: B Kinghorn (Toulouse); K Steyn (Glasgow Warriors), H Jones (Glasgow Warriors), S McDowall (Glasgow Warriors), D van der Merwe (Edinburgh); F Russell (Bath) – co-captain, B White (Toulon); P Schoeman (Edinburgh), G Turner (Glasgow Warriors), Z Ferguson (Glasgow Warriors); G Gilchrist (Edinburgh), S Cummings (Glasgow Warriors); A Christie (Saracens), R Darge (Glasgow Warriors) – co-captain, J Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors).

Replacements: E Ashman (Edinburgh), R Sutherland (Oyonnax), E Millar-Mills (Northampton Saints), S Skinner (Edinburgh), M Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), G Horne (Glasgow Warriors), C Redpath (Bath Rugby), K Rowe (Glasgow Warriors).

Referee: Matthew Carley (England)