Head-To-Head: Ireland v Scotland

See below for a statistical preview of today’s Six Nations clash between Ireland and Scotland at Croke Park (kick-off 5pm).

2008 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, February 23

IRELAND v SCOTLAND, Croke Park, 5pm (live RTE Two/BBC One)

IRELAND: Geordan Murphy; Tommy Bowe, Brian O’Driscoll (capt), Andrew Trimble, Robert Kearney; Ronan O’Gara, Eoin Reddan; Marcus Horan, Bernard Jackman, John Hayes, Donncha O’Callaghan, Mick O’Driscoll, Denis Leamy, David Wallace, Jamie Heaslip.

Replacements: Rory Best, Tony Buckley, Paul O’Connell, Simon Easterby, Peter Stringer, Paddy Wallace, Shane Horgan.

SCOTLAND: Hugo Southwell; Rory Lamont, Simon Webster, Andrew Henderson, Nikki Walker; Chris Paterson, Mike Blair (capt); Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, Euan Murray, Nathan Hines, Scott MacLeod, Alasdair Strokosch, Allister Hogg, Kelly Brown.

Replacements: Fergus Thomson, Gavin Kerr, Jim Hamilton, Ross Rennie, Chris Cusiter, Dan Parks, Nick De Luca.

Referee: Christophe Berdos (France)
Touch Judges: Joel Jutge (France), Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Television Match Official: Romain Poite (France)
Assessor: Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

Head-to-Head:

Played – 121
Ireland Won – 53
Scotland Won – 62
Drawn – 5
Abandoned – 1

Biggest Wins In Series:

Ireland: Points: 44-22, 2000 Six Nations; Margin: 36-6, 2003 Six Nations

Scotland: Points & Margin: 38-10, 1997 Five Nations

Biggest Wins & Losses In The International Championship:

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

Scotland: Win – Points: 38-10 v Ireland, 1997; Margin: 38-10 v Ireland, 1997, 31-3 v France, 1912; Loss – Points: 51-16 v France, 1998; Margin: 43-4 v England, 2001

Ireland v Scotland Since 2002:

2002 – Ireland won 43-22 (Lansdowne Road)
2003 – Ireland won 36-6 (Murrayfield)
2003 – Ireland won 29-10 (Murrayfield, RWC Warm-Up)
2004 – Ireland won 37-16 (Lansdowne Road)
2005 – Ireland won 40-13 (Murrayfield)
2006 – Ireland won 15-9 (Lansdowne Road)
2007 – Ireland won 19-18 (Murrayfield)
2007 – Scotland won 31-21 (Murrayfield, RWC Warm-Up)

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)
Won 16-11 v Italy home (6N)
Lost 26-21 v France away (6N)

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

Lost 42-20 v England away (6N)
Won 21-9 v Wales home (6N)
Lost 37-17 v Italy home (6N)
Lost 19-18 v Ireland home (6N)
Lost 46-19 v France away (6N)
Won 31-21 v Scotland home (RWC Warm-Up)
Lost 27-3 v South Africa home (RWC Warm-Up)
Won 56-10 v Portugal neutral (RWC)
Won 42-0 v Romania neutral (RWC)
Lost 40-0 v New Zealand neutral (RWC)
Won 18-16 v Italy neutral (RWC)
Lost 19-13 v Argentina neutral (RWC)
Lost 27-6 v France home (6N)
Lost 30-15 v Wales away (6N)

(Scotland have scored one try (Chris Cusiter v Argentina) in their last 5 games)

International Championship All-Time Scoring Records:

Points –

456 Jonny Wilkinson (England)
417 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
406 Neil Jenkins (Wales)
302 Stephen Jones (Wales)
289 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
288 Gavin Hastings (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 – Most-Capped Players:

91 Malcolm O’Kelly
81 Brian O’Driscoll
81 John Hayes
80 Peter Stringer
80 Girvan Dempsey
79 Ronan O’Gara
72 David Humphreys
70 Kevin Maggs
69 Mike Gibson
63 Willie John McBride
63 Simon Easterby

Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

801 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)
1056 Jonny Wilkinson (1009-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)
801 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)

Ireland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

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

Scotland – Most-Capped Players:

87 Scott Murray
83 Chris Paterson
82 Gregor Townsend
75 Gordon Bulloch
71 Stuart Grimes
70 Kenny Logan
65 Scott Hastings
65 Jason White
61 Gavin Hastings
61 Doddie Weir
61 Tom Smith
60 Craig Chalmers
60 Bryan Redpath
58 Simon Taylor

Scotland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

667 Gavin Hastings
629 Chris Paterson
273 Andy Irvine
220 Kenny Logan
210 Peter Dods
166 Craig Chalmers
164 Gregor Townsend

Scotland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

24 Ian Smith
24 Tony Stanger
22 Chris Paterson
17 Gavin Hastings
17 Alan Tait
17 Gregor Townsend

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