Scotland v Wales live updates

Wow. Just over 20 minutes gone and this is already living up to expectations and more.

A fantastic attacking move from the French sees them move into the lead through Damien Penaud, who races over the line after a clever offload from the rampaging Anthony Jelonch.

Moments later, however, Ireland fire back in extraordinary fashion as James Ryan leaps through the air to touch down in the corner. He's not convinced he's stayed in touch under pressure from Penaud, but a lengthy TMO review can't find anything wrong with the finish and the try stands, although Sexton can't convert. Extraordinary scenes here.

Ireland 12-13 France

It's been a thrilling first 15 minutes at the Aviva Stadium, with Ireland currently holding a narrow lead.

A fantastic line from Hugo Keenan saw him run in the first try of the game from 25 metres just before the 10 minute mark, but two penalties from Tomas Ramos mean the hosts lead by just one point.

Ireland 7-6 France

We're underway at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Legendary referee Nigel Owens has called on Wales to address their poor discipline after they gave away eight penalties in the opening 25 minutes against Ireland last weekeend.

In his latest column for WalesOnline, Owens said: "That ill-discipline allowed the visitors to take complete control of the game and we never looked like winning it from then on. There were a few really silly ones among those penalties too, ones that simply didn’t need to be given away.

"Looking back, you could probably scrub at least four or five off our count that just were just completely unnecessary, like trying to steal an inch on the offside line in the middle of the pitch. When you’re in that position, it won’t make a difference but you still run the risk of being penalised for it, which is exactly what happened.

"Ireland also reached a double-figure penalty count and will no doubt be disappointed with that, but they have the strength to back it up," he added. "hey play a similar game to what New Zealand have done. If you look back at those All Blacks games, you’ll see they give away a lot of penalties, but they are so good and so clinical once they get inside the opposition 22 that they can afford to give them away and still go on to win the game.

"But Wales, like lots of other teams, are not in that position at all, so improving their discipline is key and they simply need to cut down on the amount of penalties they are giving away."

You can read the full column here.

Less than half an hour to go until kick-off at the Aviva Stadium in today's first game between the world's top two sides, Ireland and France.

It's set to be a blockbuster of a game - here's how the squads are looking:

Ireland: 15. Hugo Keenan, 14. Mack Hansen, 13. Garry Ringrose, 12. Stuart McCloskey, 11. James Lowe, 10. Johnny Sexton (capt), 9. Conor Murray, 1. Andrew Porter, 2. Rob Herring, 3. Finlay Bealham, 4. Tadhg Beirne, 5. James Ryan, 6. Peter O'Mahony, 7. Josh van der Flier, 8. Caelan Doris.

Replacements:16. Ronan Kelleher, 17. Dave Kilcoyne, 18. Tom O’Toole, 19. Iain Henderson, 20. Jack Conan, 21. Craig Casey, 22. Ross Byrne, 23. Bundee Aki.

France:15. Thomas Ramos, 14. Damian Penaud, 13. Gaël Fickou, 12. Yoram Moefana, 11. Ethan Dumortier, 10. Romain Ntamack, 9. Antoine Dupont (capt), 1. Cyril Baille, 2. Julien Marchand, 3. Uini Atonio, 4. Thibaud Flament, 5. Paul Willemse, 6. Anthony Jelonch, 7. Charles Ollivon, 8. Grégory Alldritt.

Replacements: 16. Gaëtan Barlot, 17. Reda Wardi, 18. Sipili Falatea, 19. Romain Taofifenua, 20. François Cros, 21. Sekou Macalou, 22. Baptiste Couilloud, 23. Matthieu Jalibert.

A few people who will be especially looking forward to kick-off this afternoon are a team of rugby legends who have cycled 555 miles from Cardiff to Edinburgh to deliver the match ball ahead of the game, in a fundraising event for research into motor neurone disease.

The group, which includes former Scotland captain Rob Wainwright and World Cup winning former England skipper Martin Johnson, are aiming to complete the massive ride in just 48 hours in a bid to raise money for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, which the late Doddie Weir launched in 2017.

The cyclists left the Principality Stadium in Cardiff at 8am on Thursday and followed a route through Wales before - hopefully - arriving at Murrayfield in time for today's game.

Wainright said the 2023 bike ride will be “particularly poignant” as it will be the first since Weir died last November, aged 52, after a six-year battle with motor neurone disease (MND). He added: "This only drives us forward to continue making progress and raising awareness of MND. We have to believe that a breakthrough in MND treatment is just round the corner and push ourselves and others to raise funds to realise that dream."

Things didn't get off to the best of starts for Wales in Scotland as the U20s side fell to a narrow defeat on Friday night, with the hosts getting their first Six Nations win in nearly three years.

Four Welsh players were sent to the bin during the game with discipline proving to be their undoing as they conceded 20 penalties over the course of the evening.

Rudi Brown's try and Ben Afshar's penalty set the hosts on their way before the break, before Wales hit back through Morgan Morse's touchdown just after half-time. A penalty try put Scotland back in control of the contest, but Wales took the lead thanks to a Dan Edwards penalty and a fine score from Oli Andrew.

But Scotland sealed the win when Dan King slotted over a penalty late on, leaving Byron Hayward's side still without a win in this year's championship.

Andrew Brace is the man with the whistle this afternoon.

The Irish referee was born and bred in Cardiff, moving between Wales and Ireland during his younger years and working across the Irish Sea as a community officer for Munster before moving into refereeing. As a result, he is assigned to the Irish Rugby Union and can therefore take charge of Wales matches despite being born here.

Read more about the man in the middle here

Ireland v France kicks off at 2.15pm in the most highly-billed fixture of this year's Six Nations.

The world's top two sides will go head to head in Dublin after kicking off their championships with victories, albeit in very different circumstances. Ireland ran rampant as they kicked off the championship against Wales, with three early tries helping them to a comfortable 34-10 victory in Cardiff.

France, however, were pushed hard by a determined Italy in Rome, with only a late Mathieu Jalibert try securing a 29-24 bonus point win. The match is being broadcast live on ITV1 from 1.25pm.

Should be a cracker. Read more here

Of course, the first Six Nations fixture of round two is Ireland v France, kicking off in Dublin at 2.15pm today.

Ireland scrum coach John Fogarty insists Conor Murray is ready to face Les Bleus, despite the scrum-half's father suffering serious injuries in a road accident. Murray was initially a doubt, after his father Gerry was taken to hospital on Tuesday after being hit by a truck near Limerick while riding his bike.

However, after consulting with coach Andy Farrell, the Munster star has been selected for Saturday's blockbuster clash.

"He's (Murray) back in with the group and he's in good form and he’s looking forward to [Saturday]," said Fogarty. "We wish his dad the very best from the squad and a quick recovery. Conor's good, he's great, all considered."

Needless to say, everyone will be wishing Gerry a speed recovery.

Dan Biggar has piled the pressure on Scotland and has challenged them to prove they are as good as they think they are.

Most experts have written off Warren Gatland's side, but Biggar insists he has heard it before and believes Scotland have yet to prove they can back up good results with another one.

"Scotland played well last week against England but according to you guys [the media] they are the best team around aren’t they?" he said.

"We’ll have to see how they go on Saturday, and let's see if they can back it up because the pressure is all on them.

"They’re red-hot favourites, best team in the tournament, so we’ll see how they go Saturday. We don’t seem to get any credit, and other teams seem to get a lot of praise for probably not quite the success we’ve had, but that’s how it goes.

"I think our record is as good as anyone's in this competition over the previous 10 years or whatever."

Full Dan Biggar interview here.

Former Wales captain Gwyn Jones believes Warren Gatland's credentials are under huge scrutiny ahead of Wales v Scotland and we could see an even bigger team reset over the coming weeks.

In his WalesOnline column, he writes:

"This campaign is already a massive examination of Gatland’s skills as a coach and as a selector. He has big decisions to make. The old guard are clearly on notice, some have already lost their place in the starting XV, and another lacklustre performance may well be their last.

"Can Wales and Gatland find yet another improbable win? If they do it will prove that there is still a place for dragging the game into an arm-wrestle and frustrating the opposition. If they don’t, then this may well trigger an even bigger major reset in the team, but more importantly the tactics.

"I can’t see Scotland letting themselves be lulled into submission this time around. I think that the home team will win by seven points."

Read Gwyn Jones' full column here.

The odds on Wales going into a Six Nations game - or any Test match for that matter - without at least one of Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Taulupe Faletau in their starting XV would have appeared inconceivable before the tournament began. They offer vast experience - 342 Wales caps between them - but Gatland has now relegated Faletau to the bench, while omitting lock Jones and flanker Tipuric completely.

In come the likes of Exeter pair Dafydd Jenkins and Christ Tshiunza, plus Leicester flanker Tommy Reffell.

Gatland has spoken about those young guns having the chance to put their hands up and retain the starting jerseys, while explaining he wants to have a closer look at the squad options just months out from a World Cup.

Read everything Gatland had to say about his Wales team selection here.

If Scotland's players needed bringing back down to earth following their memorable Calcutta Cup victory over England, then a quick glance at the Six Nations' historic results should provide it.

Since the tournament began in 2000, Scotland have never recorded back-to-back wins at the start of a Six Nations campaign, and the last two years they lost to Wales after beating England.

If they are to challenge at the competition's business end, then consistency has to accompany them.
Up one minute, down the next, is no formula for success.

While Wales were a distant second-best in their Six Nations opener against title favourites Ireland, Edinburgh is not a trip that should fill them with dread.

They have won on six of their last seven visits to the Scottish capital, and head coach Warren Gatland has never experienced defeat in the fixture - home or away.

During his first spell as Wales boss between 2008 and 2019, Scotland only claimed one win, and that was during the 2017 Six Nations campaign when Gatland was on secondment with the British and Irish Lions and Rob Howley took charge.

Wales' success-rate across the last 20 games against Scotland stands at 85 per cent.

Gatland will be hoping he can maintain his record today.

Let's remind ourselves of the team news headlines.

Warren Gatland has overhauled the Welsh pack ahead of his side's trip to Scotland this weekend, making six changes in the forwards, with Justin Tipuric among the big-name stars dropped.

Taulupe Faletau is named on the bench and is replaced by Jac Morgan at No. 8, who starts in the back-row alongside Christ Tshiunza who makes his Six Nations debut at blindside and Tommy Reffell at openside. There is also no place for Alun Wyn Jones in the travelling party, with the former Wales captain replaced at lock by Dafydd Jenkins, who makes his first start for Wales.

In the front row, Wyn Jones, named at loose-head prop, returns to action having missed the autumn through injury, while Dillon Lewis starts at tight-head prop with captain Ken Owens at hooker. Dragons tighthead Leon Brown could make his first appearance for Wales since last year's championship if he is brought off the bench, while Ospreys second row Rhys Davies could also make his debut having been named among the replacements.

The backline remains unchanged, with Rhys Patchell joining Rhys Webb and Alex Cuthbert as the Wales replacement backs.

Meanwhile, Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has made one change to his starting line-up, drafting in Zander Fagerson while fellow tighthead prop WP Nel moves to the bench.

Scotland: 15. Stuart Hogg; 14. Kyle Steyn, 13. Huw Jones, 12. Sione Tuipulotu, 11. Duhan van der Merwe; 10. Finn Russell, 9. Ben White; 1. Pierre Schoeman, 2. George Turner, 3. Zander Fagerson 4. Richie Gray, 5. Grant Gilchrist, 6. Jamie Ritchie (capt), 7. Luke Crosbie, 8. Matt Fagerson.

Replacements: 16. Fraser Brown, 17. Jamie Bhatti, 18. WP Nel, 19. Jonny Gray, 20. Jack Dempsey, 21. George Horne, 22. Blair Kinghorn, 23. Chris Harris.

Wales: 15. Liam Williams, 14. Josh Adams, 13. George North, 12. Joe Hawkins, 11. Rio Dyer, 10. Dan Biggar, 9. Tomos Williams, 1. Wyn Jones, 2. Ken Owens (capt), 3. Dillon Lewis, 4. Dafydd Jenkins, 5. Adam Beard, 6. Christ Tshiunza, 7. Tommy Reffell, 8. Jac Morgan.

Replacements: 16. Scott Baldwin, 17. Rhys Carre, 18. Leon Brown, 19. Rhys Davies, 20. Taulupe Faletau, 21. Rhys Webb, 22. Rhys Patchell, 23. Alex Cuthbert.

Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of Scotland v Wales today.

The two sides meet at Murrayfield after an opening Guinness Six Nations weekend that saw them experience wildly contrasting fortunes. While Scotland retained the Calcutta Cup by beating England at Twickenham, Wales' 34-10 loss to Ireland was their heaviest Six Nations home defeat since 2001.

So, can Wales bounce back with a much younger team? Can Scotland back up their round-one win? It has all the ingredients to be a thrilling encounter.

Stay tuned for live updates throughout the day...