Saturday’s second Guinness Six Nations fixture will be a mouth-watering occasion where two sides try to get back on firm footing after Rugby World Cup frustrations.

One side, Ireland, have a new head coach in the shape of Andy Farrell where Scotland have stuck with Gregor Townsend - as always in the Guinness Six Nations a superbly intense occasion is foreseen.

TEAM NEWS

Farrell, former England and Ireland defence coach, has made five personnel changes to the team that fell to quarter-final defeat to New Zealand in the World Cup, with the unavailability of Rory Best representing one of those changes as Ulster’s Rob Herring comes in – a man in fine Guinness PRO14 form.

Wing Keith Earls and full-back Rob Kearney don’t make it, Peter O’Mahony moves to the bench and the powerhouse Bundee Aki comes in for Robbie Henshaw at centre.

On the safe calls side, Conor Murray holds his place against the in-form John Cooney and Herring takes over at hooker when Leinster’s Ronan Kelleher would have been the more left-field pick.

But on the full throttle side – we’re now in the age of Jordan Larmour with Kearney dispensed, and Caelan Doris’s No.8 debut at the hands of O’Mahony is the boldest pick of all.

https://twitter.com/PRO14Official/status/1222943154720079874?s=20

Meanwhile Gregor Townsend has urged his Scotland team to be a “nightmare” for Ireland and matches the debut No.8 theme with uncapped Edinburgh man Nick Haining getting the nod.

He makes up an all-Edinburgh back row alongside fit-again Hamish Watson and Jamie Ritchie, with Magnus Bradbury missing out due to a thigh strain.

Glasgow Warriors’ Huw Jones is recalled to start in the centres alongside Sam Johnson after not being selected for last autumn’s World Cup, while new captain Stuart Hogg forms an explosive back-three with Sean Maitland and Blair Kinghorn.

Ali Price and Adam Hastings are the half-backs, with Greig Laidlaw now retired and Finn Russell not considered for selection due to a breach of team protocol, while Scott Cummings will make his first Guinness Six Nations appearance in the second row and Fraser Brown gets the nod over Stuart McInally at hooker.

Kick-off: Saturday February 1, Aviva Stadium, Dublin, 4:45pm

Key stat: Ireland have won the last three encounters between the sides, with Scotland last winning 27-22 at BT Murrayfield in 2017.

Ireland: 15 Jordan Larmour, 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jonathan Sexton ©, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 CJ Stander, 5 James Ryan, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Cian Healy

Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Devin Toner, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 John Cooney, 22 Ross Byrne, 23 Robbie Henshaw

Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg ©, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Blair Kinghorn, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ali Price, 8 Nick Haining, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Scott Cummings, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Rory Sutherland

Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Cornell du Preez, 21 George Horne, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Chris Harris