Ireland vs Scotland Six Nations: What time does it start, what channel is it on, where can I watch it?

A look ahead to the Six Nations fixture at the Aviva Stadium, 5pm kick off, ITV

Rory Best (GETTY IMAGES)

Scotland will be looking to maintain their highest finish in the Six Nations for a long time with a victory over Ireland, their first since 2013.

It’s a big game for...

Rory Best: Whilst his Scottish counterpart is making his record breaking 26th start as captain, Best is making only his ninth. The three consecutive championships he and his team had wanted was lost long ago and Best will want to lead his team to a win to avoid the lowest Six Nations ranking since 2013. In the year before a British and Irish Lions series, both sides will be playing for pride and possible chances to outdo their counterparts in front of the world.

Teams...

Ireland: 15-Simon Zebo, 14-Andrew Trimble, 13-Jared Payne, 12-Robbie Henshaw, 11-Keith Earls, 10-Jonathan Sexton, 9-Conor Murray; 1-Jack McGrath, 2-Rory Best (c), 3-Mike Ross, 4-Donnacha Ryan, 5-Devin Toner, 6-CJ Stander, 7-Tommy O'Donnell, 8-Jamie Heaslip.

Replacements: 16-Richardt Strauss, 17-Cian Healy, 18-Nathan White, 19-Ultan Dillane, 20-Rhys Ruddock, 21-Eoin Reddan, 22-Ian Madigan, 23-Fergus McFadden.

Scotland: 15-Stuart Hogg, 14-Tommy Seymour, 13-Duncan Taylor, 12-Alex Dunbar, 11-Tim Visser, 10-Duncan Weir, 9-Greig Laidlaw (c); 1-Alasdair Dickinson, 2-Ross Ford, 3-Willem Nel, 4-Richie Gray, 5-Tim Swinson, 6-John Barclay, 7-John Hardie, 8-Ryan Wilson.

Replacements: 16-Stuart McInally, 17-Rory Sutherland, 18- Moray Low, 19-Rob Harley, 20-Josh Strauss, 21-Henry Pyrgos, 22-Peter Horne, 23-Sean Lamont.

Captain Comparison...

Name Rory Best Greg Laidlaw

Position Hooker Scrum half

Club Ulster Gloucester

Caps (As captain) 93 (8) 50 (25)

Points scored 40 506

Remember when…

Ireland took on Scotland to win the tournament. 2015 was the year Ireland had it all to do. They needed to set an insurmountable points difference ceiling for England. For the second year running, the final round would give Ireland a need to score a sizeable amount. By playing second on the Super Saturday, they needed to make it harder for England, who played France later that same day. Putting forty points past the Scots is no mean feat, especially at Murrayfield, but the opening score by O’Connell and Sexton’s accurate boot kept Scotland at bay.

Best stat...

1440: The number of points Ireland have scored against Scotland. Despite having the win/loss tally tipping in the Scot’s favour (60-66, with five draws,) Ireland have managed to score 85 points more than their fellow Celtic rivals.

Up and coming...

Stuart McInally: The young Edinburgh hooker started life as a flanker, playing in every age group, captaining the U20’s, and making regular appearances in the squad between 2010 and 2013. It was decided that he would move to hooker, which meant he spent some time on loan in Bristol. He eventually returned to Edinburgh in 2015 before getting a call up for the summer tests by Vern Cotter. He was set to continue his rise in the World Cup, but injury forced him to withdraw from the squad.

Past three-meetings…

Ireland 28 (Henry, Cronin, Zebo, Fitzgerald) v Scotland 22 (Cowan, Pyrgos, Horne) World Cup warm ups August 2015

Scotland 10 (Russell) v Ireland 40 (O’Connell, Payne, O’Brien (2)) Six Nations March 2015

Ireland 28 (Trimble, Heaslip, Kearney) v Scotland 6 Six Nations February 2014

Form guide…

Ireland: WLLDLW

Scotland: WWLLLW