Ireland beat England 27-22 in Dublin during the first round last week. Despite the win, they allowed the English to come back into the game in the latter stages.

The Scots, in turn, will have taken a lot of confidence from their 31-19 win at home against Italy, especially as they had lost to the Azzurri in their previous encounter in Rome.

The world’s second-ranked Ireland will certainly be the favourites for back-to-back wins, but they are well aware that the Thistles are renowned fighters.

Connacht and Ireland inside centre Bundee Aki emphasised that they needed to play for 80 minutes and not allow the Scots to gain any momentum, as they did against England.

“If we switch off like that in any part of the game against Scotland, they will rip you apart,” said Aki. “Finn Russell will see those things and absolutely take you to the gutters. And, you know, the same goes for Duhan van der Merwe, Darcy Graham, Hugh Jones – if anyone switches off, they will absolutely cut you apart.

“So we just have to make sure that we’re mentally prepared, mentally sharp in everything we do, and ensure that we’re on top of it from the first whistle to the last.”

Sunday’s big Test between Scotland and Ireland at the iconic Murrayfield kicks off at 17:00.

Meanwhile, the weekend’s action gets underway on Saturday at 16:15, with Italy hosting an under-pressure, Wales. The Welsh will fancy their chances of snapping their 13-Test winless streak.

At 18:45, all eyes will turn to Twickenham in London for what promises to be a humdinger when England take on France.

Scotland – TBA

Ireland – 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Tadhg Beirne, 4 James Ryan, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Rónan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter

Replacements – 16 Dan Sheehan, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Garry Ringrose

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek mvh