6N Preview: Ireland v Scotland
Ireland will get a glimpse of their future when they face Scotland without Brian O'Driscoll and Paul O'Connell at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.
Not since 2001, when they beat Italy 41-22 in Rome, have Ireland started a Six Nations match minus both star centre O'Driscoll and lock O'Connell.
The pair have been the mainstays of the Irish backs and forwards respectively, each earning deserved reputations as world-class players.
But O'Driscoll was ruled out before the Six Nations with a shoulder injury while the pain of a 17-17 draw in last weekend's re-arranged match against France in Paris was compounded when O'Connell, captain in O'Driscoll's absence, suffered a knee injury that will keep him out of the rest of the tournament.
Scrumhalf Conor Murray's knee injury also ended his Six Nations and there was more bad news for Ireland coach Declan Kidney when flank Sean O'Brien, last season's European Player of the Year, was declared unfit to face Scotland because of a skin infection on his foot.
Keith Earls has been getting used to filling O'Driscoll's boots but the pressure will be on Peter O'Mahony and Donnacha Ryan when they deputise for O'Brien and O'Connell respectively.
Scotland - although they won't say so publicly - will hope the upheaval can work to their advantage as they bid to end a sequence of five straight defeats.
Ireland too have been frustrated, albeit in a different way, this tournament.
They may have been tipped for the title by many pundits but a failure to hang onto leads in a tournament opening defeat by now Grand Slam-chasing Wales and against France, where they were 17-6 up at half-time, has cost Ireland dear.
Now, with a St Partrick's Day clash against England at Twickenham rounding off their Championship, the best Ireland can hope for is third place.
And that's just not good enough for Ireland wing Tommy Bowe, whose two first-half tries against France took his tally for this season's Six Nations to five in three matches.
"We're not far off but we should be up there competing for a Grand Slam," the 28-year-old Bowe said.
"We had a good lead against Wales and France but let them go. We went to sleep at times during the second half against both of them. We haven't put in a full 80-minute performance."
Scotland may have won plaudits for their attacking play in a 23-17 defeat by World Cup finalists France last time out but another defeat is bound to intensify the pressure on coach Andy Robinson.
The former England flank and coach has won just two of his 13 Six Nations matches in charge of Scotland - although one of those was an upset victory against Ireland in Dublin two years ago.
But a fresh reverse is set to leave Scotland with the unpalatable prospect of yet another wooden spoon decider against fellow perennial strugglers Italy in Rome next weekend.
Individual errors, notably missed tackles, have hurt Scotland and they will be looking to eliminate those mistakes with a side where centre Nick de Luca returns in place of Rory Lamont, who broke his leg against France.
Scotland wing Sean Lamont, Rory's brother, summed up the mood of the squad by saying they'd settle for any kind of win at all in Dublin.
"There is a lot of frustration," Lamont said. "That's because we have been playing good rugby, we have just not been getting the right side of the result.
"I think sometimes we play a bit too much rugby in the wrong areas.
"It might be nice to watch but I'd still take an ugly game with a win than a pretty game with a loss. Winning makes it a damn sight easier."
Rory Best will captain the hosts on Saturday and by playing his 58th Test the Ulsterman will equal Keith Wood's record as Ireland's most capped hooker.
Players to Watch:
For Ireland: While Keith Earls has done an admirable job to fill in for the injured Brian O'Driscoll in midfield, another legend of the Irish games - lock Paul O'Connell - is also missing this week. That places Donnacha Ryan into the spotlight - both in terms of the aggression he needs to bring to the game and his line-out abilities. It also puts the captaincy skills of hooker Rory Best in the limelight.
For Scotland: The return of Nick de Luca to outside centre means Scotland are still searching for that magic that can unlock opposing defences - something that has been absent in a very poor campaign by the Scots. Having made only one change, Scotland coach Andy Robinson is still hoping his team could turn things around, but they appeared to have lacked the drive and desire that have sen them cause so many upsets in the past.
Head to Head: These two teams are known for their hardy forward battles and one area that will be interesting is in the second row - where the new Irish lock combination of Donnacha Ryan and Donncha O'Callaghan will go up against the very talented Scottish pair of Jim Hamilton and Richie Gray. The Scottish scrum is also a strength of theirs, so Mike Ross, Rory Best and Cian Healy (Ireland) will be under pressure against Geoff Cross, Ross Ford and Allan Jacobsen. Then, of course, both hookers - Rory Best and Ross Ford - will captain their teams.
Recent results:
2011: Scotland won 10-6, Edinburgh
2011: Ireland won 21-18, Edinburgh
2010: Scotland won 23-20, Dublin
2009: Ireland won 22-15, Edinburgh
2008: Ireland won 34-13, Dublin
2007: Scotland won 31-21, Edinburgh
2007: Ireland won 19-18, Edinburgh
2006: Ireland won 15-9, Dublin
2005: Ireland v Scotland
2004: Ireland won 37-16
Prediction: It will be a real arm-wrestle - fought between two powerful forward packs. However, the real clincher will come in the class of the backlines and here Ireland seem to have an edge. Ireland to win by 10 points or less.
The teams:
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Keith Earls, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Andrew Trimble, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Peter O'Mahony, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Donnacha Ryan, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Tom Court, 18 Mike McCarthy, 19 Shane Jennings, 20 Tomas O'Leary, 21 Ronan O'Gara, 22 Fergus McFadden.
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Lee Jones, 13 Nick de Luca, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Greig Laidlaw, 9 Mike Blair, 8 David Denton, 7 Ross Rennie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford (captain), 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Euan Murray, 18 Alastair Kellock, 19 Richie Vernon, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Ruaridh Jackson, 22 Max Evans.
Date: Saturday, March 10
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Kick-off: 17.00 (17.00 GMT)
Expected weather: Intervals of clouds and sunshine, with a small chance of rain. High of 13°C and a low of 8°C
Referee: Chris Pollock (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite, Greg Garner (England)
TMO: Giulio De Santis (Italy)
AFP & rugby365.com