Ireland and Scotland lock horns in Dublin on the opening weekend of the 2020 Six Nations.
The hosts will be looking to begin the Andy Farrell era on a high note, while Gregor Townsend's side need to improve after a woeful 2019 that included a pool-stage exit at the World Cup.
Scotland commence their latest Six Nations campaign without talented fly-half Finn Russell, who left the camp after a "breach of team protocol".
Date: Saturday, February 1st, 2020
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off time: 4:45pm GMT
Team news and line-ups
Farrell is set to hand Leinster no8 Caelan Doris a senior international debut against Scotland, with CJ Stander switching to blindside flanker and Josh van der Flier on the opposite side as Peter O'Mahony starts on the bench.
Jordan Larmour is deemed fit enough to take his place at full-back, Conor Murray gets the nod over John Cooney at 9 and Bundee Aki - whose World Cup campaign ended prematurely with that red card against Samoa - is preferred to Robbie Henshaw in the centres.
Rob Herring is in at hooker following the retirement of former captain Rory Best, with the uncapped Rory Kelleher named among the replacements.
Johnny Sexton leads the side from fly-half.
Ireland XV: Larmour; Conway, Ringrose, Aki, Stockdale; Sexton, Murray; Healy, Herring, Furlong; Henderson, Ryan; Stander, Van der Flier, Doris
Replacements: Kelleher, Kilcoyne, Porter, Toner, O'Mahony, Cooney, Byrne, Henshaw
As for new-look Scotland, Adam Hastings deputises for Russell, whose participation in the entire tournament remains unclear.
Townsend also has a debutant at no8 in the form of Edinburgh's Nick Haining, while Hamish Watson and Jamie Ritchie complete the back row with Magnus Bradbury sidelined due to a thigh strain.
There are 10 changes in total to the side that lost to Japan in October, with Stuart Hogg succeeding Stuart McInally as captain.
Scotland XV: Hogg; Maitland, Jones, Johnson, Kinghorn; Hastings, Price; Sutherland, Brown, Fagerson; Cummings, Gray; Ritchie, Watson, Haining
Replacements: McInally, Dell, Berghan, Toolis, Du Preez, Horne, Hutchinson, Harris
Prediction: Ireland win
There is something of a fresh look to this Scotland team, but the absence of such a key star in Russell will be keenly felt in Dublin.
Ireland also didn't have much to shout about during an underwhelming year that followed a glorious 2018 and are rightly favourites to seal a victory in Farrell's opening game at the helm.
Betting odds
Match odds
- Ireland to win: 2/13
- Scotland to win: 15/2
- Draw: 41/1
Odds provided by Betfair Exchange. Click here for more odds.
TV channel and live stream, and online coverage
ITV and the BBC are sharing broadcasting rights for the Six Nations once again this year, with Ireland vs Scotland on ITV and the ITV Hub.
You can also follow all the action with Standard Sport's LIVE blog.
Head to Head record and history (h2h)
These two sides have met 135 times previously, with Scotland narrowly boasting the edge in terms of wins - 66 to 64, with five draws.
Ireland have had Scotland's number over recent years, winning each of the last three contests including a 27-3 World Cup pool-stage win in Yokohama in September.
In the last 10 meetings, Scotland have claimed just two victories.
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