Head-To-Head: Ireland v France

See below for a statistical preview of Friday’s vital World Cup Pool D match between Ireland and France in Paris (kick-off 9pm local time).

WORLD CUP – POOL D: Friday, September 21

FRANCE v IRELAND, Stade de France, 8pm Irish time/9pm local time (live TV3/UTV/Setanta Sports)

France: Clement Poitrenaud; Vincent Clerc, David Marty, Damien Traille, Cedric Heymans; Frederic Michalak, Jean-Baptiste Elissalde; Olivier Milloud, Raphael Ibanez (capt), Pieter de Villiers, Sebastien Chabal, Jerome Thion, Serge Betsen, Thierry Dusautoir, Julien Bonnaire.

Replacements: Dimitri Szarzewski, Jean-Baptiste Poux, Lionel Nallet, Yannick Nyanga, Lionel Beauxis, Yannick Jauzion, Aurelien Rougerie.

Ireland: Girvan Dempsey; Shane Horgan, Brian O’Driscoll (capt), Gordon D’Arcy, Andrew Trimble; Ronan O’Gara, Eoin Reddan; Marcus Horan, Jerry Flannery, John Hayes, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Simon Easterby, David Wallace, Denis Leamy.

Replacements: Frankie Sheahan, Simon Best, Malcolm O’Kelly, Neil Best, Isaac Boss, Paddy Wallace, Gavin Duffy.

Referee: Chris White (England)
Touch Judges: Dave Pearson (England), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Television Match Official: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)

Head-To-Head:

Played – 82
France Won – 49
Ireland Won – 28
Drawn – 5

France v Ireland In The World Cup:

Played – 2
France Won – 2 (1995 and 2003 quarter-finals)
Ireland Won – 0

Biggest Win In The Series:

France – Points: 45-10 (1996); Margin: 44-5 (2002)
Ireland – Points: 27-25 (2000); Margin: 24-0 (1913)

Composite Six Nations Record (2000-2007):

France – Played 40, Won 30, Drawn 0, Lost 10
Ireland – Played 40, Won 29, Drawn 0, Lost 11

France v Ireland Since 2000:

Played – 9
France Won – 6 (2002, 2003 RWC, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007)
Ireland Won – 3 (2000, 2001 and 2003)

Form Guide From 2006 Six Nations:

France:

Scotland (6N) away – lost 16-20
Ireland (6N) home – won 43-31
Italy (6N) home – won 37-12
England (6N) home – 31-6
Wales (6N) away – won 21-16
Romania away – won 62-14
South Africa away – won 36-26
New Zealand home – lost 3-47
New Zealand home – lost 11-23
Argentina home – won 27-26
Italy (6N) away – won 39-3
Ireland (6N) away – won 20-17
Wales (6N) home – won 32-21
England (6N) away – lost 18-26
Scotland (6N) home – won 46-19
New Zealand away – lost 11-42
New Zealand away – lost 10-61
England away – won 21-15
England home – won 22-9
Argentina (RWC) home – lost 12-17
Namibia (RWC) home – won 87-10

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
Italy (6N) home – won 51-24
Argentina away – lost 20-22
Argentina away – lost 0-16
Scotland away – lost 21-31
Italy home – won 23-20
Namibia (RWC) neutral – won 32-17
Georgia (RWC) neutral – won 14-10

Most Capped Players:

France:

115 – Fabien Pelous
111 – Philippe Sella
94 – Raphael Ibanez
93 – Serge Blanco
90 – Olivier Magne

Ireland:

87 – Malcolm O’Kelly
79 – Peter Stringer
77 – Girvan Dempsey, John Hayes, Brian O’Driscoll
75 – Ronan O’Gara
72 – David Humphreys

World’s Most-Capped Players:

136 – George Gregan
119 – Jason Leonard*
115 – Fabien Pelous
111 – Philippe Sella
102 – Stephen Larkham, Gareth Thomas**
101 – David Campese

(*Leonard has 114 caps for England and 5 for the Lions, **Thomas has 99 caps for Wales and 3 for the Lions)

All-Time Top Points Scorers:

France:

380 – Christophe Lamaison
367 – Thierry Lacroix
354 – Didier Camberabero
267 – Gerald Merceron
265 – Jean Pierre Romeu

Ireland:

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

All-Time Top Try Scorers:

France:

38 – Serge Blanco
32 – Philippe Saint Andre
31 – Philippe Sella
26 – Philippe Bernat Salles
24 – Emile Ntamack
23 – Christian Darrouy, Christophe Dominici

Ireland:

30 – Brian O’Driscoll
29 – Denis Hickie
20 – Shane Horgan
18 – Girvan Dempsey
17 – Brendan Mullin, Geordan Murphy

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)
962 – Jonny Wilkinson (915 for England, 47 for the Lions)
911 – Michael Lynagh (Australia)
878 – Matt Burke (Australia)
808 – Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
771 – Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
733 – Gavin Hastings (667 for Scotland, 66 for the Lions)