Nine months on from their encounter in the Six Nations there are plenty of changes in the starting lineups for both teams. Stuart Hogg and Ali Price are the only backs remaining from the XV earlier this year, among 8 Scots to start both matches. There are 10 returnees on the Irish side.
Tale of the tape
BACKS
91 Tries 39
96kg Average weight 95kg
378 Total caps 182
29.6 Average age 27.6
FORWARDS
894kg Pack weight 909kg
29 Tries 14
361 Total caps 210
28.3 Average age 26.5
SUBSTITUTES
6 Tries 40
96 Total caps 196
27.5 Average age 30.1
6 changes to Scotland starting XV from last Test (v France)
- 14 – Graham for Kinghorn [+]
- 12 – Taylor for Johnson [=]
- 10 – van der Walt for Weir [=]
- 1 – Sutherland for Kebble [+]
- 3 – Fagerson for Berghan [+]
- 6/7 – Thomson for Watson with Ritchie moving from 6 to 7 [-]
Head-to-Head
IRELAND
15 Jacob Stockdale
14 Hugo Keenan
13 Robbie Henshaw
12 Bundee Aki
11 Keith Earls
10 Johnny Sexton (c)
9 Conor Murray
1 Cian Healy
2 Rob Herring
3 Andrew Porter
4 Iain Henderson
5 James Ryan
6 CJ Stander
7 Peter O’Mahony
8 Caelan Doris
16 Ronan Kelleher
17 Eric O’Sullivan
18 John Ryan
19 Quinn Roux
20 Josh van der Flier
21 Jamison Gibson-Park
22 Ross Byrne
23 Chris Farrell
ADV Scotland
ADV Scotland
ADV Ireland
ADV Ireland
EVEN
ADV Ireland
ADV Scotland
EVEN
ADV Scotland
ADV Scotland
ADV Ireland
ADV Ireland
ADV Ireland
ADV Scotland
EVEN
ADV Scotland
ADV Scotland
ADV Scotland
ADV Scotland
ADV Ireland
EVEN
EVEN
ADV Scotland
SCOTLAND
15 Stuart Hogg (c)
14 Darcy Graham
13 Chris Harris
12 Duncan Taylor
11 Duhan van der Merwe
10 Jaco van der Walt
9 Ali Price
1 Rory Sutherland
2 Fraser Brown
3 Zander Fagerson
4 Scott Cummings
5 Jonny Gray
6 Blade Thomson
7 Jamie Ritchie
8 Matt Fagerson
16 Stuart McInally
17 Oli Kebble
18 Willem Nel
19 Sam Skinner
20 Blair Cowan
21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
22 Huw Jones
23 Sean Maitland
Miscellany
– 1,757 days will have elapsed since Blair Cowan’s last appearance in a Scotland shirt.
– Duncan Weir’s penalty in the 27th minute against France brought up 1,000 points scored since Gregor Townsend took charge. He is the only Scottish head coach to see his side’s reach this mark during a single spell in charge (Ian McGeechan – 1,639 points in 2 spells; Jim Telfer – 1,361 points in 3 spells).
– Jaco van der Walt is the 98th player to be included in a squad in the Townsend era. He will be the 80th player to get game time, with Blair Cowan in line to become the 81st if he makes it off the bench.
– Johnny Sexton has played 34 times against Scotland, Edinburgh and Glasgow and has lost on just 6 occasions. It’s been more than a decade since the stand off tasted defeat against a Scottish side in a competitive game and he’s on a 20-game winning streak against those teams.
– With one eye on the 2023 World Cup, Ireland have 10 players aged 29 or older in their lineup (8 starters and 2 subs) who might be considered less likely to make it to France in 3 years’ time. Scotland have 8 in the 29+ bracket (4 starters and 4 subs).
– Split of selection by club representation:
- Ireland – Connacht 2; Leinster 11; Munster 6; Ulster 4.
- Scotland: Edinburgh 7; Exiles 9; Glasgow 7.