Ireland vs Scotland LIVE: Rugby World Cup 2023 result as superb Irish punish Scots to reach quarter-finals

Harry Latham-Coyle reporting from the Stade de France:

"So much for a fast Scottish start. Excellent identification of the gap from Garry Ringrose, spotting Grant Gilchrist exposed wide in the defensive line and darting past him, before having the cool and the calm to put his two wings away. But that all felt rather easy for Ireland, a simple pull-back play all that was required to cut the opposition open in their first attacking movement."

What a start for Ireland as the Stade de France erupts with noise. Ringrose makes the burst through the Scottish line and from there, the Scottish defence has no chance.

Ringrose finds Hansen. Hansen finds Lowe. Down in the corner and Ireland have a try just over a minute into this encounter.

Sexton misses the conversion.

The anthems have been sung, the atmosphere is electric. Ireland get us under way in this huge group-stage finale!

Harry is The Independent’s man in the ground for this one. He sends this in before kick-off:

"It's like an Ireland home game in here - green shirts all around the Stade de France and already generating one heck of an atmosphere. The start, you feel, is crucial: Scotland simply have to match Andy Farrell's men early on."

The players converge in the tunnel and kick-off is fast approaching!

Time for the anthems...

A quick reminder of the teams with 15 minutes until kick-off:

Ireland XV: 1 Andrew Porter, 2 Dan Sheehan, 3 Tadhg Furlong; 4 Tadhg Beirne, 5 Iain Henderson; 6 Peter O’Mahony, 7 Josh van der Flier; 8 Caelan Doris; 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 10 Johnny Sexton (captain); 11 James Lowe, 12 Bundee Aki, 13 Garry Ringrose, 14 Mack Hansen; 15 Hugo Keenan

Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 David Kilcoyne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 James Ryan, 20 Jack Conan; 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Stuart McCloskey.

Scotland XV: 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 George Turner, 3 Zander Fagerson; 4 Richie Gray, 5 Grant Gilchrist; 6 Jamie Ritchie (captain), 7 Rory Darge, 8 Jack Dempsey; 9 Ali Price, 10 Finn Russell; 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 13 Huw Jones, 14 Darcy Graham; 15 Blair Kinghorn.

Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 WP Nel, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 Luke Crosbie; 22 George Horne, 23 Ollie Smith.

When Ireland played Scotland in the 2023 Six Nations, the ball-in-play time was an astonishing 38 minutes.

Heading into this final round of matches at the Rugby World Cup, only three games have had a higher figure: Scotland vs Romania, at 39 minutes and 40 seconds, and Wales vs Portugal, at 38 minutes and 21 seconds.

Another match involving Wales, against Fiji, is next on the list at 37 minutes and 52 seconds. Will this one be as draining for the players?

Scotland’s Darcy Graham is adamant his team – ranked fifth in the world – are ready to dig deep for what would be one of the biggest wins in their history.

“It’s winner takes all, we want to get out of the group and they want to get out of the group so both teams will be going for it,” said the Scottish wing.

“It’s going to be a hell of a game.

“It’s do or die now, it’s pretty much a World Cup final for us. We’ll take huge confidence from Romania and now we need to get our preparation right.

“We’re going to have to go to a dark place but the boys are up for it. It’s an exciting week. There’s going to be massive support from Scotland and Ireland fans so there’s going to be a real buzz going into this game.”

Scrum half Ali Price has been handed a surprise start for Scotland’s Rugby World Cup Pool B qualification shootout with Ireland on Saturday, as regular No 9 Ben White misses out on a place in the 23 altogether.

The 30-year-old Glasgow back made the No 9 jersey his own for three years until losing his spot to the burgeoning White at the start of this year’s Six Nations.

But after scoring a try when a much-changed XV defeated Romania in Lille last Saturday, Price has remained in the team for this weekend’s Paris showdown.

In an intriguing sub-plot, two of the world’s leading number 10s will vie to dictate proceedings.

Veteran Ireland captain Johnny Sexton has seamlessly returned from an absence of almost six months through injury and suspension to lead his side to three successive victories and become his country’s all-time leading points scorer along the way.

The 2018 world player of the year is as dependable and fiercely competitive as ever and repeatedly delivers when it matters most. Scotland’s Finn Russell, meanwhile, has the ability to unlock a game in any given moment.

The talismanic 31-year-old, who was preferred to Sexton for the 2021 British and Irish Lions tour, may well be at the peak of his powers and will be out to conjure some magic when his nation needs it most.