Scotland vs Ireland Preview & Prediction | 2025 Six Nations Championship | Round 2
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Both sides made winning starts last weekend and will now battle for the Centenary Quaich at Murrayfield, with Ireland having won the last ten contests against Scotland.
Start date/time: Sunday 9th February, 2025: UK – 3:00pm / US ET – 11:00am / US PT – 8:00am
How to watch on TV: UK – BBC / US – Not televised
How to watch online: UK – BBC iPlayer & the BBC Sport website / US – Peacock
Scotland Form: Solid but not spectacular
Scotland didn’t have it all their own way against Italy last week but ultimately secured a bonus point in a 31-19 victory at Murrayfield, with their fast start ultimately proving the difference between the two teams.
Gregor Townsend has a torrid record against Ireland having never tasted victory in this fixture as Scotland coach; indeed, their last win in this particular matchup was back in 2017, with ten consecutive defeats since then.
Last Five: WLWWW
Ireland Form: Defending champions off to winning start
Defending champions Ireland recovered from a sluggish start against England in their opener in Dublin last week, but wrestled control from the visitors in the second half to record a 27-22 victory.
Ireland have now won 13 of their last 14 Six Nations contests and clearly have something of a psychological edge over their opponents this weekend, although they will need to guard against complacency against a Scots team capable of matching anyone on their day.
Last Five: LWWWW
Scotland Team News: Three changes for Scots
Squad: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Gregor Brown, 21 Jamie Ritchie, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Stafford McDowall
Ireland Team News: Peter O’Mahoney recalled
Squad: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (c), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O'Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter
Replacements: 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Garry Ringrose
Scotland vs Ireland Prediction
Despite Ireland’s recent dominance in this rivalry, the Shamrocks having claimed the ‘Centenary Quaich’ in each of their last seven Six Nations meetings, there is an argument to be made that Scotland could upset the reigning champions here.
With regular Ireland coach Andy Farrell absent as he prepares for the Lions Tour in the summer, the time is ripe for Scotland to arrest their losing run against their Celtic opponents.
With confidence gained from their Autumn internationals where they beat Australia at Murrayfield and competed well in defeat to world champions South Africa, we’re backing the hosts to upset the odds here.
Scotland vs Ireland Tip: Scotland to win
