Scotland v Ireland Prediction, Tips, & Best Bet – Six Nations

We have a Scotland v Ireland prediction for you plus a breakdown of the betting odds, team news and matchups ahead of their Centenary Quaich fixture in the Six Nations.

How To Watch Scotland v Ireland

When is Scotland v Ireland

3 pm, Sunday, February 9th

TV Channel

RTÉ 2, RTÉ Player, BBC 1

Who are the officiating team?

Referee: Jamie Doleman (New Zealand)

Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keefe (New Zealand), Luc Ramos (France)

TMO: Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

FPRO: Andrew Jackson (England)

Where is Scotland v Ireland

Murrayfield, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Scotland v Ireland Odds

Scotland are currently priced at 2/1 to win this game.

Ireland are favourites with odds of 2/5 and the draw is seen as a 22/1 chance.

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Match Betting Enhanced

Scotland @ 2/1

Ireland @ 4/9

Draw @ 22/1

Handicap Betting

Scotland: +6 @ 10/11

Ireland -6 @ 10/11

Handicap Draw: +6 @ 18/1

Team News

Scotland Team News

Ireland Team News

Scotland v Ireland Preview

Scotland's Form

Last year Scotland finished the 2024 Six Nations finishing fourth following a record of 2 wins and 3 defeats though one of those victories was a historic 30-21 Calcutta Cup win over England. The second half of their 2024 was largely positive though the quality of opposition was considerably lower with wins over Canada, the USA, Chile and Uruguay during the Summer Internationals.

The Autumn Series was also largely positive, defeating Fiji 57-17 and though they lost 15-32 to South Africa in their remaining fixtures they had a 59-21 win over Portugal and a 27-13 win over Australia. It’s very hard to know what you’re going to get from this Scottish side in any given game.

Ahead of the Six Nations, plenty saw it as Scotland’s best opportunity to challenge for a Six Nations Championship in recent memory. In their opening fixture, they kept their early hopes alive with a 31-19 victory over Italy with the highlight being a hatrick from Glasgow centre Huw Jones.

Head Coach Gregor Townsend has been in charge of Scotland since he was appointed in 2017 and though Scotland remain unpredictable, they’re a match to any side on their day especially at the fortress that is Murrayfield.

Ireland's Form

Their 2024 success in the event was history-making in many senses, their 31-7 win over Wales in their third fixture meant Ireland tied England’s record for consecutive wins with 11 and extended their unbeaten home run to 18. Their defeat of Scotland in their final fixture meant they became back-to-back Six Nations outright champions for only the third time in history, emulating the class of 1949 and 2015.

They continued their run of form by playing out a drawn series against World Champions South Africa in July. The Autumn Series commenced with a disappointing 13-23 loss to New Zealand before they concluded the season in style with wins over Argentina, Fiji and Australia.

In their opening Six Nations fixture, they overcame potential banana skin England (who defeated Ireland last year at Twickenham). The Aviva proved a bridge too far for the English though falling to a 27-22 defeat. While Ireland were fine value for the win they struggled at times to break down a stern English defence and gave up two needless tries in the end to make the scoreline look far closer in retrospect.

Ireland have been dominant under Andy Farrell, but following his sabbatical for the British & Irish Lions Head Coach role it was always going to be interesting to see how they performed with Defence  Coach Simon Easterby assuming the mantle. They cleared the first test though with plenty of scope for improvement.

Scotland v Ireland Rugby Head-To-Head

All-Time Head-To-Head Record

Scotland and Ireland have played each other in rugby union since 1877. A total of 142 matches have been played, with Ireland winning 71 times, Scotland 66 times and the remaining five finishing as draws.

Head-To-Head Results Last Five Matches

2024: Ireland won 17-13 in Aviva Stadium

2023: Ireland won 36-14 in Stade de France

2023: Ireland won 7-22 in Murrayfield Stadium

2022: Ireland won 26-5 in Aviva Stadium

2021: Ireland won 38-21  in Murrayfield Stadium

Trends

Ireland have won their last ten matches against Scotland with their last defeat coming in a 27-22 defeat at Murrayfield during the 2017 Six Nations Championship.

Key Players

Duhan Van Der Merwe – Scotland

The South African now Scottish International (29) has been nothing of a rip-roaring success since debuting for the Scotts in 2020 already amassing a total of 150 points from 45 tests with 30 tries making him the country's all-time try scorer.

During last season’s Six Nations, he was exceptional, including a hat trick against England. While he didn’t get on the scoresheet against Italy he did assist Huw Jones well for his first try and he will be hoping to get more chances himself to score against Ireland.

Caelan Doris – Ireland

The Leinster player (26) is fast approaching his 50th cap with him being 47 times since his debut in 2020 scoring 40 points in the process and has been one of Ireland’s standout performers. In 2024 he appeared in 880/880 of Ireland test minutes showing his importance for Ireland as well as being captain of both Leinster and Ireland.

Doris displayed a fine performance in their opening win against England putting in an all-round performance in terms of work ethic in defence and attack. He carried 11 times and made 14 tackles.

Scotland v Ireland Prediction & Best Bet

Prediction: Scotland 12-25 Ireland

Scotland are no mugs and certainly not at Murrayfield, they got the job done against Italy last weekend and despite their poor recent run against Ireland, I think that makes them even more dangerous if Ireland take them too lightly.

Ireland remain a serious side and should come on considerably from the English game which would put them in good stead to continue their 100% of the Championship so far.

This will not be an easy game for either side, but Ireland’s class might edge it for them in the end.

Best Bet: Ireland Score First, Lead at HT and Win @ 6/4

*Prices are subject to fluctuation.

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