Head-To-Head: Ireland v Wales

See below for a statistical preview of Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations match between Ireland and Wales at Croke Park (kick-off 2.30pm).

2010 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, March 13 

IRELAND v WALES, Croke Park, 2.30pm (live RTÉ Two/BBC One)

IRELAND: Geordan Murphy (Leicester Tigers); Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt), Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster), Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin/Munster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster), John Hayes (Bruff/Munster), Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster), Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster), David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster), Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster).

Replacements: Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht), Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster), Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster), Shane Jennings (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster), Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster), Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster).

WALES: Lee Byrne (Ospreys); Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), James Hook (Ospreys), Jamie Roberts (Cardiff Blues), Shane Williams (Ospreys); Stephen Jones (Scarlets), Richie Rees (Cardiff Blues); Paul James (Ospreys), Matthew Rees (Scarlets), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Bradley Davies (Cardiff Blues), Luke Charteris (Newport Gwent Dragons), Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys), Martyn Williams (Cardiff Blues) (capt), Gareth Delve (Gloucester).

Replacements: Huw Bennett (Ospreys), Rhys Gill (Saracens), Ian Gough (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues), Dwayne Peel (Sale Sharks), Andrew Bishop (Ospreys), Tom Shanklin (Cardiff Blues). 

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Chris White (England), Peter Allan (Scotland)
Television Match Official: Jim Yuille (Scotland)

Head-to-Head:

Played – 114 
Ireland Won – 46 
Wales Won – 62
Drawn – 6 (last in 1991)

Biggest Wins:

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

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

Individual Records In The Series:

Most Points In A Match: Ireland 22 (David Humphreys 2002); Wales 20 (Neil Jenkins 1998)

Most Tries In A Match: Ireland 3 (Robert Montgomery 1887); Wales 3 (Johnnie Williams 1907, 1910; Bryn Williams 1920)

Ireland v Wales In The Six Nations:

2000 Wales won 23-19, Lansdowne Road 
2001 Ireland won 36-6, Millennium Stadium 
2002 Ireland won 54-10, Lansdowne Road 
2003 Ireland won 25-24, Millennium Stadium 
2004 Ireland won 36-15, Lansdowne Road 
2005 Wales won 32-20, Millennium Stadium 
2006 Ireland won 31-5, Lansdowne Road 
2007 Ireland won 19-9, Millennium Stadium 
2008 Wales won 16-12, Croke Park 
2009 Ireland won 17-15, Millennium Stadium

International Championship All-Time Records:

Points –
522 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
517 Jonny Wilkinson (England)
415 Stephen Jones (Wales)
406 Neil Jenkins (Wales)
372 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
297 Gavin Hastings (Scotland)
270 David Humphreys (Ireland)

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

Ireland – Form Guide From Start Of The 2009 Six Nations:

Won 30-21 v France home (6N)
Won 38-9 v Italy away (6N)
Won 14-13 v England home (6N)
Won 22-15 v Scotland away (6N)
Won 17-15 v Wales away (6N)
Won 25-6 v Canada away (Summer Tour)
Won 27-10 v USA away (Summer Tour)
Drew 20-20 v Australia home (Autumn Series)
Won 41-6 v Fiji home (Autumn Series)
Won 15-10 v South Africa home (Autumn Series)
Won 29-11 v Italy home (6N)
Lost 33-10 v France away (6N)
Won 20-16 v England away (6N)

Wales – Form Guide From Start Of The 2009 Six Nations:

Won 26-13 v Scotland away (6N)
Won 23-15 v England home (6N) 
Lost 21-16 v France away (6N)
Won 20-15 v Italy away (6N) 
Lost 17-15 v Ireland home (6N)
Won 32-23 v Canada away (Summer Tour)
Won 48-15 v USA away (Summer Tour) 
Lost 19-12 v New Zealand home (Autumn Series)
Won 17-13 v Samoa home (Autumn Series)
Won 33-16 v Argentina home (Autumn Series)
Lost 33-12 v Australia home (Autumn Series)
Lost 30-17 v England away (6N)
Won 31-24 v Scotland home (6N)
Lost 26-20 v France home (6N)

Ireland – Most-Capped Players: 

100 John Hayes
99 Brian O’Driscoll
96 Ronan O’Gara
92 Malcolm O’Kelly
91 Peter Stringer
82 Girvan Dempsey
72 David Humphreys
70 Kevin Maggs
69 Mike Gibson
68 Paul O’Connell
66 Marcus Horan
65 Shane Horgan
65 Simon Easterby
64 Geordan Murphy
63 Willie John McBride

Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers: 

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

Ireland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers: 

38 Brian O’Driscoll
29 Denis Hickie
21 Shane Horgan
19 Girvan Dempsey
18 Geordan Murphy
17 Brendan Mullin
15 Keith Wood
15 Kevin Maggs
14 George Stephenson
14 Ronan O’Gara
13 Tommy Bowe
12 Keith Crossan
12 David Wallace
11 Simon Geoghegan
11 Alan Duggan

Wales – Most-Capped Players: 

100 Gareth Thomas
94 Colin Charvis
94 Martyn Williams
92 Gareth Llewellyn
87 Neil Jenkins
86 Stephen Jones
73 Gethin Jenkins
72 Ieuan Evans
72 Dwayne Peel
71 Shane Williams
65 Tom Shanklin
61 Ian Gough 

Wales – All-Time Leading Points Scorers: 

1049 Neil Jenkins
764 Stephen Jones
304 Paul Thorburn
250 Shane Williams
214 James Hook
211 Arwel Thomas
200 Gareth Thomas
166 Phil Bennett 

Wales – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

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

World Rugby All-Time Top Points Scorers:

1163 Jonny Wilkinson (1096-England, 67-Lions)
1090 Neil Jenkins (1049-Wales, 41-Lions)
1010 Diego Dominguez (27-Argentina, 983-Italy)
994 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
967 Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand)
952 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
911 Michael Lynagh (Australia)
893 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
878 Matt Burke (Australia)
817 Stephen Jones (764-Wales, 53-Lions)
752 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
733 Gavin Hastings (667-Scotland, 66-Lions)

World Rugby All-Time Top Try Scorers:

64 David Campese (Australia)
52 Shane Williams (50-Wales, 2-Lions)
50 Rory Underwood (49-England, 1-Lions)
49 Doug Howlett (New Zealand)
46 Christian Cullen (New Zealand)
45 Joe Rokocoko (New Zealand)
44 Jeff Wilson (New Zealand)
41 Gareth Thomas (40-Wales, 1-Lions)
40 Chris Latham (Australia)
39 Brian O’Driscoll (38-Ireland, 1-Lions)
(Note: Daisuke Ohata scored 69 tries for Japan, but not all against major international opposition)

The ‘100 Caps’ Club:

139 George Gregan (Australia)
119 Jason Leonard (114-England, 5-Lions)
118 Fabien Pelous (France)
111 Philippe Sella (France)
110 George Smith (Australia)
105 Brian O’Driscoll (99-Ireland, 6-Lions)
103 Gareth Thomas (100-Wales, 3-Lions)
102 John Hayes (100-Ireland, 2-Lions)
102 Stephen Larkham (Australia)
102 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
101 David Campese (Australia)
101 Alessandro Troncon (Italy)
100 Chris Paterson (Scotland)

98 Raphael Ibanez (France)
98 Ronan O’Gara (96-Ireland, 2-Lions)
98 Martyn Williams (94-Wales, 4-Lions)
96 Colin Charvis (94-Wales, 2-Lions)