Ireland team to play Scotland LIVE updates as Andy Farrell names starting XV for Rugby World Cup clash
Andy Farrell will name his Ireland team to face Scotland on Thursday afternoon.
Ireland face Gregor Townsend's side in a massive Rugby World Cup clash at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday night.
Farrell's men return to the same venue where they beat defending champions South Africa exactly two weeks after that famous win.
And they come into the game knowing that victory over the Scots will secure top place in Pool B, which will more than likely result in a quarter-final clash against New Zealand next Saturday night at the same venue.
But things will become complicated if Ireland suffer defeat in the French capital, with all three of Ireland, Scotland and South Africa still able to qualify from the pool. You can read all about the permutations here.
Robbie Henshaw is expected to miss Saturday's match, while James Ryan is also a doubt for the deciding game in the Pool.
Henshaw picked up a niggle in training, while Ryan has missed some training as the result of the hand injury he picked up about the Springboks.
Stephen Ferris praises Peter O'Mahony
Stephen Ferris was full of praise for Peter O'Mahony with the Ireland legend set to make his 100th cap this weekend when they take on Scotland.
O'Mahony is the latest member to join the centurion club having first made his debut back in 2012.
And it doesn't get much bigger than a do-or-die clash against Scotland at the weekend. While appearing on RTE's Rugby coverage, Ferris paid tribute to O'Mahony and in particular remembered his debut.
"Pete came off the bench for Sean O'Brien and he was just a young kid from Munster who had all this potential and was being talked about some who was a hardy back row player, he played a lot of number eight through the ranks but he has fit very well into that six jersey since I hung it up. What an incredible player he is," he said.
Iain Henderson ready for Scotland surge
Iain Henderson is ready for the Scotland 'surge' expected in the opening quarter this Saturday.
The Scots tails are up, they believe they have their best side in a long, long time and they can take a big scalp - who better than the no1 world-ranked side in the last 16 months
"We’ve seen elements of their attack that we definitely deem to be incredibly threatening and have definitely got us wary," says the second-row who has been selected to fill in at Stade de France for James Ryan.
"They’ve come out and said they have full belief and they have obviously a 'crunch' game this weekend, the same as we have and we are expecting to play a different Scotland side than probably we’ve come up against as a squad in the last four years.
"Both of us have experienced how good Scottish teams can be at provincial level. If they can get that translated into a performance at the weekend we know they have the ability to do some damage.
"On the flip side of that we need to look after what we can control in terms of our game. If we play our best game we have confidence in what we can do."
Gregor Townsend expecting best performance
Gregor Townsend said Scotland are “ready to play their best rugby” as he backed his team to rise to the challenge of having to beat Ireland for the first time in more than six years and prolong their World Cup campaign.
The Scots must either secure a bonus-point victory or deny the world’s top-ranked side a losing bonus point in the Stade de France on Saturday night if they are to get out of formidable Pool B and reach the quarter-finals.
Jamie Ritchie sends Ireland warning shot
Jamie Ritchie said Scotland will “fire every bullet in our gun” in this Saturday’s Paris showdown with Ireland as they bid to stay in the World Cup.
Having lost their opening Pool B match against defending champions South Africa, the Scots now need to beat the world’s top-ranked side with a bonus point or by denying the Irish a losing bonus point.
Captain Ritchie insists the all-or-nothing scenario means there is no chance of the Scots – renowned for their attacking play – turning up at the Stade de France with any hint of caution.
“I don’t see it as the pressure being off, but I do see it as us not having anything to lose in this game,” he said. “If we lose the game, we’re going home.
“We’ve been written off against the top two teams in the world but, for us, we’re not going to die wondering, we’ve got to fire every bullet in our gun and we’ve got to go out there and play our best game. It is in our hands from now.
“So, the pressure is off in that sense in that we know where we stand and we’re not relying on anyone else other than ourselves.”
Robbie Henshaw injury update
Ireland centre Robbie Henshaw is expected to be unavailable until at least the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup due to a hamstring injury.
The Leinster centre sustained the issue in training this week, ruling him out of Saturday evening’s pivotal Pool B clash with Scotland in Paris.
Ireland will monitor Henshaw’s fitness for the time being but head coach Andy Farrell is weighing up his options and could eventually make a change to his 33-man squad.
“He pulled up with a hamstring unfortunately at the end of the session on Tuesday and the diagnosis with hamstrings, they want to see how things settle down,” said Farrell.
“It probably takes about five days for that type of thing to happen but it looks like it could be a minimum of a couple of weeks at this stage.”
Today's Rugby action
New Zealand take on Uruguay this evening at 8 pm with a win ensuring qualification and likely a quarter-final clash against Ireland.
Tonight's game takes place at Parc Olympique Lyonnais
England name team to face Samoa
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) October 5, 2023
Surprise starter for Scotland
Scrum-half Ali Price has been handed a surprise start for Scotland against Ireland as regular number nine Ben White misses out on a place in the 23 altogether.
The 30-year-old Glasgow back made the number nine jersey his own for three years until losing his spot to the burgeoning White at the start of this year’s Six Nations.
But after scoring a try when a much-changed XV defeated Romania in Lille last Saturday, Price has remained in the team for this weekend’s Paris showdown.
Coach Mike Catt has rubbished suggestions that Ireland and Scotland would collude to get South Africa eliminated
Finn Russell will once again start at 10 for Scotland. He has only beaten Ireland once in his career.
Scotland team to face Ireland
Jamison Gibson-Park starts
Despite suggestions that Conor Murray would come into the side, the Leinster star retains the '9' shirt.
100 caps for O'Mahony
Peter O'Mahony will win his 100th cap against Scotland on Saturday.
Farrell gives update on Henshaw
Andy Farrell says Robbie Henshaw will be out for a couple of weeks at the very least.
Ireland team in full
15. Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD)(34)
14. Mack Hansen (Connacht/Corinthians)(19)
13. Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD)(55)
12. Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians)(50)
11. James Lowe (Leinster)(24)
10. Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College)(captain)(116)
9. Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)(28)
1. Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD)(57)
2. Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne)(19)
3. Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf)(70)
4. Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne)(44)
5. Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy)(77)
6. Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution)(99)
7. Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD)(55)
8. Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College)(34)
Replacements:
16. Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne)(24)
17. David Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians)(54)
18. Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers)(34)
19. James Ryan (Leinster/UCD)(58)
20. Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere)(39)
21. Conor Murray Munster/Garryowen)(110)
22. Jack Crowley (Munster/Cork Constitution)(8)
23. Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor)(14).
McCloskey and Conan on bench
Stuart McCloskey and Jack Conan are both named on the bench as they target their first minutes at the tournament.
Two changes
Andy Farrell has made two changes to the team that started against South Africa as Dan Sheehan replaces Ronan Kelleher and Iain Henderson starts in place of James Ryan.
Ireland team named
Team expected before 2.30
Due to the delay, the team is now expected to be named before 2.30pm.
Press conference pushed back 30 minutes
Ireland's press conference has been pushed back half an hour due to heavy traffic in Paris.
Team expected
Ireland's starting XV is expected to be named any minute now.
Luke Fitzgerald backs Ireland to win by 15 points
"Ireland will win by 15 points. I think they are a better team across the board. The only thing that will stop them is if they get a red card. Ireland have won their last eight fixtures against Scotland. They know how to do it.
"Ireland’s rucking is so accurate and physical which you did hear South Africa remark on which is unusual for them. But the ball handling ability of all the players is incredible.
"They remind me of New Zealand at their peak, those great teams where everyone could pass the ball. Make good decisions and are comfortable with the ball in hand.
"It means that for any opposition you have no break as a defence. They seem to position themselves very well to be able to get the ball but they can all make the pass which means that the ball gets to places where if someone has taken a break or is out of position.
"That is the best thing about this Irish team. I always felt this when I played for Ireland against those great New Zealand teams. You never got any respite. The ball always found the best place to be."
Luke Fitzgerald was speaking on behalf of BoyleSports, who offer the latest Rugby World Cup betting & odds' with the Rugby World Cup
Jean Kleyn on Ireland v Scotland
"There’s a little bit of animosity between the Irish and the Scots and there always has been, especially from a rugby perspective.
"At club level, you look at teams like Munster and Glasgow there’s always been this underlying - I wouldn’t call it hatred - but there’s a little bit of knife in the back.
"There’s a real combative thing about it. For Ireland and Scotland, it’s even more so. It’s very much magnified at international level.
"Everything’s a little bit closer to the bone and everything’s a little bit more real. I think it’s going to be a serious match."
45 minutes
We'll have the Ireland team in 45 minutes!
Peter O'Mahony expected to win his 100th Irish cap this weekend
Memorable tries against Scotland
How far can Ireland go?
Felix Jones on the match and permutations
"We- (South Africa) just want to get through ourselves.
"I think there’s 20-odd possible scenarios and one of them can result in us being knocked out. We’re just hoping we get one of the ones where we actually go through to the knockout stages.
"If you look at it on paper and you look at form and you look at Ireland being the number one team over the last - however many Test matches now they are in a row - you would probably say that it looks like Ireland that would be the favourites.
"But I’ve seen it so many times growing up in the northern hemisphere and playing all my rugby in the northern hemisphere that as soon as you write Scotland off, or a Scottish team like Glasgow or Edinburgh, that’s when they’re almost at their most dangerous.
"Scotland are in fantastic form. They’ve proven now in their last two games that they have an ability to score points as well as any attacking team.
"I think it’s going to be a really tight game."
