Can Ireland retain their Six Nations title? Watch an Ireland v Scotland live stream to see if Gregor Townsend’s side – who also have an outside chance of winning the championship – can ruin the Irish party the day before St Patrick’s Day.

If you’re in the UK you can tune in for free on ITVX, and if you’re in Ireland you can watch the game on Virgin Media Player. Travelling overseas today on holiday or for work? No problem, because British and Irish fans can use a VPN to watch Ireland v Scotland for free from abroad.

You can find out about the team line-ups and Rugby World’s predictions for the game – which kicks off at 4.45pm GMT – by scrolling down to the end of the article.

For viewing options elsewhere on planet Earth, check out our guide to watching the Six Nations Championship from anywhere.

Can I watch an Ireland v Scotland live stream for free?

If you live in the UK or Ireland then the answer is an emphatic yes. You can watch an Ireland v Scotland live stream for free on the ITVX streaming service. The match will also be broadcast live on ITV1. Mark Pougatch hosts, with Brian O’Driscoll, Rory Best and Johnnie Beattie on pundit duties. Miles Harrison commentates, alongside summarisers Gordon D’Arcy and Scott Hastings.

If you’re in Ireland, you can watch an Ireland v Scotland live stream for free on Virgin Media Player and Virgin Media One.

What if I’m outside the UK and Ireland?

If you’re a resident of the UK or Ireland abroad on holiday or for work this afternoon, you can still watch an Ireland v Scotland live stream.

Geo-blocking restrictions mean you won’t be able to access your usual ITVX or Virgin Media Player service from abroad, but this doesn’t have to prevent you from watching the game. By using a VPN, or Virtual Private Network – a smart, legal piece of software that allows you to change your IP address – you can make your computer appear to be back home. In other words, you’ll be able watch your usual streaming services as if you were sitting on your sofa in front of the TV.

The experts at TechRadar are big fans of ExpressVPN. Not only is it easy to use, it also provides excellent online privacy, while allowing you to watch on several devices at once. And as if that wasn’t enough, it currently offers three months extra for free when you sign up, and a 30-day money back guarantee. Don’t forget, though, that Brits will still need a valid UK TV Licence to watch an Ireland v Scotland live stream from abroad.

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Viewers in France can tune in for free via France TV.

Outside Europe, subscription services in South Africa (SuperSport), the USA (Peacock Premium), New Zealand (Sky Sport NZ), Australia (Stan Sport) and Asia (Premier Sports) will all be showing an Ireland v Scotland live stream.

What time does the Ireland v Scotland live stream start?

The Aviva Stadium showdown kicks off at 4:45pm GMT this afternoon, with ITVX’s coverage getting underway at 3:55pm. In Ireland, Virgin Media Player’s coverage starts at 4:00pm.

As for kick-off times further afield… That’ll be 5:45pm in France and Italy, 6:45pm in South Africa, and (in the US) 12:45pm ET and 9:45am PT. As ever with the Six Nations, Aussies and Kiwis have to wake up very early – or stay up very late – to watch the game. Kick-off is at 3:45am AEDT and 5:45am NZDT, respectively.

What are the teams for Ireland v Scotland?

Here are the teams for today’s Aviva Stadium encounter:

IRELAND

Hugo Keenan; Calvin Nash, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne, Peter O’Mahony (captain), Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris

Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Finlay Bealham, Ryan Baird, Jack Conan, Conor Murray, Harry Byrne, Garry Ringrose

SCOTLAND

Blair Kinghorn; Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Stafford McDowall, Duhan van der Merwe; Finn Russell (co-captain), Ben White; Pierre Schoeman, George Turner, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Scott Cummings, Andy Christie, Rory Darge (co-captain), Jack Dempsey

Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, Elliot Millar-Mills, Sam Skinner, Matt Fagerson, George Horne, Cameron Redpath, Kyle Rowe

Find out more about the teams in our detailed guides to the Ireland and Scotland squads.

Who’s the referee for Ireland v Scotland?

There’s an all-English refereeing team on the field, with Matthew Carley in charge, and Karl Dickson and Christophe Ridley as assistants. South Africa’s Marius Jonker is the TMO.

Who will win Ireland v Scotland?

Despite their surprise loss to England last Saturday, Andy Farrell’s team go into this afternoon’s match (on a rainy afternoon in Dublin) as favourites – and they’re even hotter favourites to retain the Six Nations title, seeing as a losing bonus point will probably be enough to ensure the trophy returns to Dublin.

“Ireland have more consistent form this tournament to pull off a win over Scotland,” says Sarah Rendell in Rugby World’s Ireland v Scotland predictions. “Andy Farrell’s men dominated France in the first round, dealt with Italy and Wales and fell short to England. Scotland managed to close out the game against Wales, narrowly lost to France, dominated England and lost to Italy. They have performed well but in patches of matches. The most consistent they have been over 80 minutes came against England. In the other fixtures they have failed to completely execute their game plan.”

We recommend VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:

1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service)
2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad

We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

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