Head-To-Head: Ireland v Italy

See below for a statistical preview of Saturday’s Six Nations clash between Italy and Ireland at the Stadio Flaminio (kick-off 1.30pm).

2007 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, March 17

ITALY v IRELAND, Stadio Flaminio, 1.30pm (live RTE Two/BBC One)

…Teams to be announced…

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch Judges: Tony Spreadbury (England), Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Television Match Official: David Changleng (Scotland)

Head-To-Head:

Played – 13
Scotland Won – 3
Ireland Won – 10

Italy v Ireland In The Six Nations:

Played – 7
Italy Won – 0
Ireland Won – 7

(Italy won three successive games, in 1995 and twice in 1997, before joining the Six Nations championship in 2000)

Biggest Wins In The Series:

Italy – Points: 37-29 (1997), 37-22 (1997); Margin: 37-22 (1997)
Ireland – Points And Margin: 61-6 (2003 RWC warm-up)

Biggest Wins And Losses In The International Championship:

Italy:
Win – Points And Margin: 37-17 v Scotland (2007)
Loss – Points And Margin: 23-80 v England (2001)

Ireland:
Win – Points And Margin: 60-13 v Italy (2000)
Loss – Points: 18-50 v England (2000); Margin: 6-46 v England (1997)

Italy Wins And Draws In The Six Nations:

2000 – W34-20 v Scotland, Rome
2003 – W30-22 v Wales, Rome
2004 – W20-14 v Scotland, Rome
2006 – D18-18 v Wales, Cardiff
2007 – W37-17 v Scotland, Murrayfield
2007 – W23-20 v Wales, Rome

Composite Six Nations Record (2000-2007):

Italy – Played 39, Won 5, Drawn 1, Lost 33
Ireland – Played 39, Won 28, Drawn 0, Lost 11

Form Guide From 2006 Six Nations:

Italy:

Ireland (6N) away – lost 16-26
England (6N) home – lost 16-31
France (6N) away – lost 12-37
Wales (6N) away – drew 18-18
Scotland (6N) home – lost 10-13
Japan away – won 52-6
Fiji away – lost 18-29
Portugal (RWCQ) home – won 83-0
Russia (RWCQ) away – won 67-7
Australia home – lost 18-25
Argentina home – lost 16-23
Canada home – won 41-6
France (6N) home – lost 3-39
England (6N) away – lost 7-20
Scotland (6N) away – won 37-17
Wales (6N) home – won 23-20

Ireland:

Italy (6N) home – won 26-16
France (6N) away – lost 31-43
Wales (6N) home – won 31-5
Scotland (6N) home – won 15-9
England (6N) away – won 28-24
New Zealand away – lost 23-34
New Zealand away – lost 17-27
Australia away – lost 15-37
South Africa home – won 32-15
Australia home – won 21-6
Pacific Islanders home – won 61-17
Wales (6N) away – won 19-9
France (6N) home – lost 17-20
England (6N) home – won 43-13
Scotland (6N) away – won 19-18

Most Capped Players:

Italy:

94 – Alessandro Troncon
83 – Carlo Checchinato
74 – Diego Dominguez
69 – Massimo Cuttitta, Cristian Alessandro Stoica
65 – Andrea Lo Cicero
64 – Paolo Vaccari

Ireland:

83 – Malcolm O’Kelly
75 – Peter Stringer
73 – Brian O’Driscoll, Girvan Dempsey
72 – John Hayes, David Humphreys
70 – Kevin Maggs, Ronan O’Gara
69 – Mike Gibson
63 – Willie John McBride

World’s Most-Capped Players:

127 – George Gregan
119 – Jason Leonard*
111 – Philippe Sella
110 – Fabien Pelous
101 – David Campese
95 – Stephen Larkham
94 – Alessandro Troncon, Gareth Thomas**
93 – Serge Blanco
92 – Sean Fitzpatrick, Martin Johnson***, Gareth Llewellyn

(*Leonard has 114 caps for England and 5 for the Lions, **Thomas has 91 caps for Wales and 3 for the Lions, ***Johnson has 84 caps for England and 8 for the Lions)

All-Time Top Points Scorers:

Italy:

983 – Diego Dominguez
483 – Stefano Bettarello
296 – Luigi Troiani
235 – Ramiro Pez

Ireland:

726 – Ronan O’Gara
560 – David Humphreys
308 – Michael Kiernan
296 – Eric Elwood
217 – Ollie Campbell

All-Time Top Try Scorers:

Italy:

25 – Marcello Cuttitta
22 – Paolo Vaccari
21 – Carlo Checchinato, Manrico Marchetto

Ireland:

29 – Brian O’Driscoll
27 – Denis Hickie
19 – Shane Horgan
17 – Geordan Murphy, Brendan Mullin
15 – Girvan Dempsey, Keith Wood, Kevin Maggs
14 – George Stephenson

World’s All-Time Top Points Scorers:

1090 – Neil Jenkins (1049 for Wales, 41 for the Lions)
1010 – Diego Dominguez (27 for Argentina, 983 for Italy)
967 – Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand)
914 – Jonny Wilkinson (867 for England, 47 for the Lions)
911 – Michael Lynagh (Australia)
878 – Matt Burke (Australia)
733 – Gavin Hastings (667 for Scotland, 66 for the Lions)
726 – Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)

– Information researched and produced by Chris Rhys (HourGlass Vision Ltd)