Scotland v Ireland, Murrayfield, August 6
Ireland eye Murrayfield repeat
ESPNscrum Staff
August 1, 2011
Ireland No.8 Jamie Heaslip celebrates an early try, Scotland v Ireland, Six Nations, Murrayfield, Edinburgh, February 27, 2011
Ireland's Jamie Heaslip celebrates scoring a try against the Scots at Murrayfield in this year's Six Nations © Getty Images
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Ireland will look to extend their recent dominance of their celtic rivals Scotland when the two sides step up their Rugby World Cup preparations at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The visitors have won three of the last four meetings between the sides - most recently coming out on top 21-18 in this year's Six Nations.

The fixture dates back to 1877 and Scotland lead the all-time statistics with 64 victories to Ireland 56 with their most recent meeting in Dublin going the way of the Scots - however, they can boast just two victories in their last 12 encounters.

The last of the five draws was in 1994. The first of the two matches staged in 1885 was abandoned with Scotland leading, but the sides agreed to a replay a fortnight later, provided the outcome of the abandoned match should not stand as a win for Scotland. Both games carry Test status.

The two sides have met at Murrayfield on 43 occasions with Ireland winning 23 of those matches.

Ireland's 44-22 win at Lansdowne Road in 2000 and Scotland's 38-10 Murrayfield win in 1997 are the highest scores recorded by the teams in this series. The best winning margin (30 points) in the matches was established in Ireland's 36-6 success at Murrayfield in 2003.

Ireland's David Humphreys set the record for the highest individual score in a match contributing 26 points at Murrayfield in 2003. Chris Paterson holds the corresponding Scottish record with 18 at Murrayfield in 2007.

William Stewart, a Tasmanian-born wing who played for Scotland, scored a record four tries in the 1913 fixture. Three players have scored try hat-tricks for Ireland: Eugene Davy (1930), Séamus Byrne (1953) and Brian O'Driscoll in 2002.

Ronan O'Gara is the leading overall scorer in the matches. He has scored 125 points for Ireland in 13 matches since 2000. Chris Paterson is Scotland's leading scorer in the series with 92 points in 12 appearances.

Scotland's Roy Laidlaw scored most tries in the matches: six in nine games between 1980 and 1988. Alan Duggan (1967 to 1971) and Brendan Mullin (1985 to 1995) each scored five for Ireland in this fixture.

Mike Gibson holds the record for most appearances in the series, playing 14 times between 1964 and 1979. He was capped eight times as a centre, five times as a fly-half and once as a replacement wing. Sandy Carmichael, Scott Hastings, Bill MacLagan and Paterson appeared 12 times for Scotland.

  • Click here for Scotland's complete Test record in Statsguru

  • Click here for Ireland's complete Test record in Statsguru

  • Click here for the complete Scotland v Ireland Test record in Statsguru

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