It's no secret that these Irish and Scottish teams don't like each other.
A frosty relationship between the sides dates back almost a decade now, when Munster and the Glasgow Warriors consistently rubbed each other up the wrong way.
That niggle has often bled into the national sides. In October’s Rugby World Cup meeting of the pair in Paris there were multiple flare-ups between, one which saw Scottish prop Pierre Schoeman shove Dan Sheehan back over the advertising boards.
After the 36-14 thrashing, Ireland's ninth win in a row over the Scots, Peter O’Mahony threw some more petrol onto the blaze.
"They were in the press beforehand saying they were going to knock us off our winning streak, and how they had figured us out and worked us out. I don't think they did, tonight," he said at the Stade de France.
Fast-forward six months and that fire still seems to be burning.
The Netflix series Full Contact shone some light on the often bitter rivalry between the sides when they went under the bonnet of the Scottish camp in the lead-up to last year’s Six Nations game at Murrayfield.
"The last few years, I’ve heard a lot of things come out of Ireland. The Irish players, the Irish media, believe we’re soft," Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend told his players, while the now-retired Stuart Hogg said Ireland were "due one", albeit with a lot more swearing.
On Tuesday, Tadhg Beirne was asked if he’d watched the Netflix series.
"I did," was the short response, before he was asked for his thoughts on the niggling nature of the relationship between these sets of players.
"The Scots are the Scots, we have our perception of them and I'm not going to verbalise it here because they've given us ammo in the past from what they've said in the media, and I would be surprised if it was any different this week.
"But we're going to focus on ourselves because we didn't put in a performance against England that we're happy with. We know we're a lot better than that.
"It's a rivalry, isn't it? That's part of the sport, we both love beating each other, that would be the way I'd put it. And it's going to be no different this weekend.
"It's a very exciting weekend to go into because they have a chance to win silverware as well. So they're in a similar situation to us where they've had to dust themselves off after a loss, and they'll be hurting as well.
"We're both going into this game gunning for a win, and there's silverware there at the end of it for either of us if we do win."
A win for Ireland on Saturday would see them crowned Guinness Six Nations champions again, even if it doesn’t come with the Grand Slam they had coveted.
For Scotland, their hopes of winning the title look slim, with a 39-point win required, before they also rely on a favourable result between France and England to seal the deal. A win of any kind would see them secure the Triple Crown though, something they haven't achieved since 1990.
For Beirne, Saturday will be a special occasion, regardless of the result, with the Munster lock set to win his 50th cap at the Aviva Stadium.
The 32-year-old took the scenic route to his Test career, making his debut at the age of 26 on the summer tour of Australia, after exploding onto the scene at the Scarlets.
"[It’s] something, at 21, 22, one [cap] would have been a miracle for me, but then obviously after you get your first it's then about getting your second and then it's about your third, so 50 seemed like a long way away," he reflects.
"To be sitting here and getting 50, and then an opportunity to win a Six Nations on my 50th, you couldn't really write it better so it would be a massive honour if I am given that opportunity."
Having come into the Ireland squad just after the 2018 Six Nations Grand Slam title, Beirne collected his 2023 winners medal in a tracksuit 12 month ago, after his campaign was ended with an ankle injury in the Round 2 win against France.
And while he knows he played his part in the 2023 success, he says he’s motivated to go win a Six Nations title out on the pitch this week.
"It’s huge. It’s funny, I was saying last year that you are obviously a part of everything that happens, but it is tough not being involved.
"If I had played the last two games maybe it would have been a different experience.
"I feel that I still played a big part last year and it was still tough not being on the field.
"We are in a very privileged position this week, where we have an opportunity to win the Six Nations, a back-to-back Six Nations, which hasn’t been done too often.
"So it’s a very exciting week for us as a group, for us as a country, we have an opportunity to give the fans something to celebrate this weekend, if we can right those wrongs from last week and put in a serious performance.
"That’s where the focus is, putting in a big performance, getting the win this weekend and lifting that trophy."
Watch Wales v Italy (2.15pm) in the Guinness Six Nations and France v England (8pm) on Saturday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on France v England on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app
Follow a live blog on Ireland v Scotland in the Guinness Six Nations on Saturday from 4pm and listen to live commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
