Head-To-Head: Ireland v Wales

See below for a statistical preview of Saturday’s Six Nations clash between Ireland and Wales at Croke Park (kick-off 1.15pm).

2008 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, March 8

IRELAND v WALES, Croke Park, 1.15pm (live RTE Two/BBC One)

IRELAND: Robert Kearney; Shane Horgan, Brian O’Driscoll (capt), Andrew Trimble, Tommy Bowe; Ronan O’Gara, Eoin Reddan; Marcus Horan, Rory Best, John Hayes, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Denis Leamy, David Wallace, Jamie Heaslip.

Replacements: Bernard Jackman, Tony Buckley, Mick O’Driscoll, Simon Easterby, Peter Stringer, Paddy Wallace, Luke Fitzgerald.

WALES: Lee Byrne; Mark Jones, Tom Shanklin, Gavin Henson, Shane Williams; Stephen Jones, Mike Phillips; Gethin Jenkins, Matthew Rees, Adam Jones, Ian Gough, Alun Wyn Jones, Jonathan Thomas, Martyn Williams, Ryan Jones (capt).

Replacements: Gareth Williams, Duncan Jones, Ian Evans, Gareth Delve, Dwayne Peel, James Hook, Sonny Parker.

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch Judges: Christophe Berdos (France), Peter Allan (Scotland)
Television Match Official: David Changleng (Scotland)
Assessor: Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

Head-To-Head:

Played – 112
Ireland Won – 45
Wales Won – 61
Drawn – 6

Biggest Wins In Series:

Ireland: Points & Margin: 54-10, 2002 Six Nations

Wales: Points: 34-9, 1976 Five Nations; Margin: 29-0, 1907 Four Nations

Ireland v Wales – All Matches Since 1995:

Played – 15
Ireland Won – 12
Wales Won – 3

Wales’ wins were in Dublin in 1998 and 2000, and at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium in the 2005 Grand Slam match (32-20)

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

Wales: Win – Points: 49-14 v France, 1910; Margin: 47-8 v Italy, 2008; Loss – Points: 60-26 v England, 1998; Margin: 51-0 v France, 1998

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)
Won 34-13 v Scotland home (6N)

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

Lost 19-9 v Ireland home (6N)
Lost 21-9 v Scotland away (6N)
Lost 32-21 v France away (6N)
Lost 23-20 v Italy away (6N)
Won 27-18 v England home (6N)
Lost 29-23 v Australia away (Tour)
Lost 31-0 v Australia away (Tour)
Lost 62-5 v England away (RWC Warm-Up)
Won 27-20 v Argentina home (RWC Warm-Up)
Lost 34-7 v France home (RWC Warm-Up)
Won 42-17 v Canada neutral (RWC)
Lost 32-20 v Australia home (RWC)
Won 72-18 v Japan home (RWC)
Lost 38-34 v Fiji neutral (RWC)
Lost 34-12 v South Africa home (Test)
Won 26-19 v England away (6N)
Won 30-15 v Scotland home (6N)
Won 47-8 v Italy home (6N)

World Rugby All-Time Top Points Scorers:

1090 Neil Jenkins (1049-Wales, 41-Lions)
1070 Jonny Wilkinson (1023-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 (South Africa)
810 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)

World Rugby All-Time Top Try Scorers:

65 Daisuke Ohata (Japan)
64 David Campese (Australia)
50 Rory Underwood (49-England, 1-Lions)
49 Doug Howlett (New Zealand)
46 Christian Cullen (New Zealand)
44 Jeff Wilson (New Zealand)
43 Joe Rokocoko (New Zealand)
41 Gareth Thomas (40-Wales, 1-Lions)
40 Chris Latham (Australia)
39 Shane Williams (Wales)
38 Serge Blanco (France)
38 Joost van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
37 Jonah Lomu (New Zealand)

International Championship All-Time Scoring Records:

Points –

470 Jonny Wilkinson (England)
426 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
406 Neil Jenkins (Wales)
320 Stephen Jones (Wales)
297 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
82 Brian O’Driscoll
82 John Hayes
81 Peter Stringer
80 Girvan Dempsey
80 Ronan O’Gara
72 David Humphreys
70 Kevin Maggs
69 Mike Gibson
64 Simon Easterby
63 Willie John McBride

Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

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

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

Wales – Most-Capped Players:

100 Gareth Thomas
94 Colin Charvis
92 Gareth Llewellyn
87 Neil Jenkins
79 Martyn Williams
72 Ieuan Evans
68 Stephen Jones
61 Dwayne Peel
59 Rob Howley

Wales – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

1049 Neil Jenkins
595 Stephen Jones
304 Paul Thorburn
211 Arwel Thomas
200 Gareth Thomas
195 Shane Williams
170 James Hook
166 Phil Bennett

Wales – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

40 Gareth Thomas
39 Shane Williams
33 Ieuan Evans
22 Colin Charvis
20 Gareth Edwards
20 Gerald Davies
18 Tom Shanklin
18 Rhys Williams

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