Head-To-Head: Ireland v Italy

See below for a statistical preview of Saturday’s Six Nations clash between Ireland and Italy at Croke Park (kick-off 2pm).

2008 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, February 2

IRELAND v ITALY, Croke Park, 2pm (live RTÉ Two/BBC One)

IRELAND: Girvan Dempsey; Andrew Trimble, Brian O’Driscoll (capt), Gordon D’Arcy, Geordan Murphy; Ronan O’Gara, Eoin Reddan; Marcus Horan, Rory Best, John Hayes, Donncha O’Callaghan, Malcolm O’Kelly, Simon Easterby, David Wallace, Denis Leamy.

Replacements: Bernard Jackman, Tony Buckley, Mick O’Driscoll, Jamie Heaslip, Peter Stringer, Paddy Wallace, Robert Kearney.

ITALY: David Bortolussi; Kaine Robertson, Gonzalo Canale, Mirco Bergamasco, Pablo Canavosio; Andrea Masi, Pietro Travagli; Andrea Lo Cicero, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Martin Castrogiovanni, Santiago Dellape, Carlo Del Fava, Josh Sole, Mauro Bergamasco, Sergio Parisse (capt).

Replacements: Carlo Festuccia, Salvatore Perugini, Carlos Nieto, Tommaso Reato, Alessandro Zanni, Andrea Marcato, Ezio Galon.

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Touch Judges: Wayne Barnes (England), David Changleng (Scotland)
Television Match Official: Tim Hayes (Wales)
Assessor: Tappe Henning (South Africa)

Head-to-Head:

Played – 15
Ireland Won – 12
Italy Won – 3

Ireland v Italy In The Six Nations:

Played – 8
Ireland Won – 8
Italy Won – 0

The closest that Italy has come to a win was the 26-16 loss in 2006. Ireland won the sides’ first meeting in 1988, Italy then won 3 successive games – in 1995 and twice in 1997 – before joining Six Nations.

Ireland have won the last 11 meetings between the sides including all eight Six Nations games, friendlies and World Cup warm-up games.

Biggest Wins:

Ireland: Points And Margin: 61-6, 2003 World Cup warm-up match

Italy: Points: 37-29, 1997 friendly, 37-22, 1997 friendly; Margin: 37-22, 1997 friendly

Biggest Wins And Losses In International Championship:

Ireland –
Win: Points And Margin: 60-13 v Italy, 2000 Six Nations
Loss: Points: 50-18 v England, 2000 Six Nations; Margin: 46-6 v England, 1997 Five Nations

Italy (Since Joining The Six Nations) –
Win: Points And Margin: 37-17 v Scotland, 2007 Six Nations
Loss: Points And Margin: 80-23 v England, 2001 Six Nations

Italy’s Wins And Draw In The Six Nations:

2000 – beat Scotland 34-20 in Rome
2003 – beat Wales 30-22 in Rome
2004 – beat Scotland 20-14 in Rome
2006 – drew with Wales 18-18 in Cardiff
2007 – beat Scotland 37-17 in Edinburgh
2007 – beat Wales 23-20 in Rome

Overall Six Nations Records (2000-2007):

Ireland – Played 40, Won 29, Lost 11
Italy – Played 40, Won 5, Drawn 1, Lost 34

International Championship All-Time Records:

Points –
429 Jonny Wilkinson (England)
406 Neil Jenkins (Wales)
395 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
294 Stephen Jones (Wales)
288 Gavin Hastings (Scotland)
278 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
270 David Humphreys (Ireland)

Tries –
24 Ian Smith (Scotland)
18 Cyril Lowe (England)
18 Rory Underwood (England)
18 Gareth Edwards (Wales)
17 Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)

Ireland – Form Guide From Start Of The 2007 Six Nations:

Won 19-9 v Wales away (6N)
Lost 20-17 v France home (6N)
Won 43-13 v England home (6N)
Won 19-18 v Scotland away (6N)
Won 51-24 v Italy away (6N)
Lost 22-20 v Argentina away (Tour)
Lost 16-0 v Argentina away (Tour)
Lost 31-21 v Scotland away (RWC Warm-Up)
Won 23-20 v Italy home (RWC Warm-Up)
Won 32-17 v Namibia neutral (RWC)
Won 14-10 v Georgia neutral (RWC)
Lost 25-3 v France away (RWC)
Lost 30-15 v Argentina neutral (RWC)

Italy – Form Guide From Start Of The 2007 Six Nations:

Lost 39-3 v France home (6N)
Lost 20-7 v England away (6N)
Won 37-17 v Scotland away (6N)
Won 23-20 v Wales home (6N)
Lost 51-24 v Ireland home (6N)
Won 29-5 v Uruguay away (Tour)
Lost 24-6 v Argentina away (Tour)
Won 36-12 v Japan home (RWC Warm-Up)
Lost 23-20 v Ireland away (RWC Warm-Up)
Lost 76-14 v New Zealand neutral (RWC)
Won 24-18 v Romania neutral (RWC)
Won 31-5 v Portugal neutral (RWC)
Lost 18-16 v Scotland neutral (RWC)

Ireland – Most-Capped Players:

89 Malcolm O’Kelly
79 Peter Stringer
79 Brian O’Driscoll
79 John Hayes
78 Girvan Dempsey
77 Ronan O’Gara
72 David Humphreys
70 Kevin Maggs
69 Mike Gibson
63 Willie John McBride
62 Simon Easterby
62 Anthony Foley
62 Denis Hickie

Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

779 Ronan O’Gara
560 David Humphreys
308 Michael Kiernan
296 Eric Elwood
217 Ollie Campbell
167 Brian O’Driscoll

World Rugby All-Time Top Points Scorers:

1090 Neil Jenkins (1049-Wales, 41-Lions)
1029 Jonny Wilkinson (982-England, 47-Lions)
1010 Diego Dominguez (27-Argentina, 983-Italy)
967 Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand)
911 Michael Lynagh (Australia)
878 Matt Burke (Australia)
873 Percy Montgomery (SA)
779 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)

Ireland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

31 Brian O’Driscoll
29 Denis Hickie
20 Shane Horgan
18 Geordan Murphy
18 Girvan Dempsey
17 Brendan Mullin
15 Keith Wood
15 Kevin Maggs
14 George Stephenson
14 Ronan O’Gara

Italy – Most-Capped Players:

101 Alessandro Troncon
83 Carlo Checchinato
74 Diego Dominguez
71 Cristian Alessandro Stoica
71 Andrea lo Cicero
69 Massimo Cuttitta

Italy – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

983 Diego Dominguez
483 Stefano Bettarello
296 Luigi Troiani
260 Ramiro Pez
133 David Bortolussi

Italy – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

25 Marcello Cuttitta
22 Paolo Vaccari
21 Carlo Checchinato
21 Manrico Marchetto
19 Alessandro Troncon

Data supplied by SAS Software – the official data and competitive intelligence partner of the RBS 6 Nations championship