Scotland host Ireland in Edinburgh in the final action of Round 2 of the Six Nations on Sunday and both sides have made a winning start to the tournament
Scotland v Ireland, Sunday 9th February, Edinburgh, KO 17:00 (South African time)
Referee: James Doleman (NZR)
Assistant Referees: Ben O'Keeffe (NZR), Luc Ramos (FFR)
TMO: Richard Kelly (NZR)
Weather Forecast - Edinburgh
Scotland
Scotland opened their tournament at home to Italy in Round 1 and they eventually came out on top 31-19, short of the bookmakers main handicap line of around 17.5 points.
The Scots raced into an early lead against Ital with tries in the first 10 minutes from Darge and Jones, White also went over in the first half but Italy launched a fightback early in the second period and levelled things up at 19-19. Jones went on to complete a hat trick of tries and the Scots are on the board with 5 points alongside France and their opponents here, Ireland.
In the Six Nations last year Scotland finished fourth. They started with a win in Wales (27-26) and a home defeat to France (20-16). After that they won at home to England (30-21) but then went down in Italy (31-29) and Ireland (17-13).
In the outright betting markets with WSB Scotland are currently 12/1 to win the title and 15/2 for the triple crown
Fixtures & Results: R1 Italy (h) won 31-19, R2 Ireland (h), R3 England (a), R4 Wales (h), R5 France (a)
Ireland
Ireland are bidding for a third successive title and they made a winning start at home to England, coming out on top 27-22.
They started the game as 6.5 point favourites but trailed 10-5 at half time with Gibson-Park the try scorer. The game turned in the space of 20 second half minutes with Ireland scoring 3 tries through Aki(52), Beirne(64), Sheehan (72) to put the Irish 27-10 in front and although the game and a bonus point was in the bag they did concede 2 late tries which saw England sneak into the handicap for plus backers.
Ireland came into the Six Nations in 2024 as favourites and they successfully defended the title finishing 5 points clear of France. A 23-22 defeat to England at Twickenham in Round 4 torpedoed hopes of another Grand Slam whilst their four other matches ended in victory; in France (38-17), at home to Italy (36-0), at home to Wales (31-7) and at home to Scotland (17-13).
In the outright betting markets with WSB Ireland are currently 27/20 second favourites to win the title, 0.62/1 for the triple crown and 2/1 for the grand slam
Fixtures & Results: R1 England (h) won 27-22, R2 Scotland (a), R3 Wales (a), R4 France (h), R5 Italy (a)
Team News
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Tom Jordan, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (co-captain), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (co-captain), 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 Gregor Brown, 20 Gregow Brown, 21 Jamie Ritchie, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Staddorf McDowall
Ireland: 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 (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Rónan 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
Head to Head (6 Nations Only)
2024 6N Dublin Ireland 17–13 Scotland
2023 6N Edinburgh Scotland 7–22 Ireland
2022 6N Dublin Ireland 26–5 Scotland
2021 6N Edinburgh Scotland 24–27 Ireland
2020 6N Dublin Ireland 19-12 Scotland
2019 6N Edinburgh Scotland 10-22 Ireland
2018 6N Dublin Ireland 28-8 Scotland
2017 6N Edinburgh Scotland 27-22 Ireland
The Betting
Updated 9 Feb 08h56
Scotland +6.5 points
Ireland -6.5 points
Note, odds quoted are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
Posted 6 Feb 07h30
The handicap has edged from -4.5 to -5.5 with some money coming for the Irish.
The total points line opened at 43.5 and has remained stable which is unusual as bets highlighted in the forum early in the week seldom hang around.
Posted 6 Feb 07h41
The last 3 head to heads have been low scoring but in the last 4 meetings at Murrayfield over 43.5 would have arrived twice. Thats not a percentage that suggests we should be jumping in but with decent conditions forecast I am happy to get on board this line which I suspect will eventually move.
Scotand are an attacking team and as Southpaw points out in the forum Ireland are excellent on the counter. Looking at last weeks games there is every chance this one opens up at some point.
An early play for me
BET: 5 units over 43.5 points at 9/10 at WSB
Posted 9 Feb 08h59
The handicap has settled at Scotland +6.5 and the points line is still 43.5.
The weather looks decent and I am going to keep my interest to the over 43.5 posted earlier in the week.
Note, odds are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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