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Head-To-Head: Wales v Ireland

See below for a statistical preview of Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations match between Wales and Ireland at the Millennium Stadium (kick-off 5pm).

2011 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, March 12

WALES v IRELAND, Millennium Stadium, 5pm (live RTÉ Two/BBC One)

WALES: Lee Byrne (Ospreys); Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff Blues), Jamie Roberts (Cardiff Blues), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Shane Williams (Ospreys); James Hook (Ospreys), Mike Phillips (Ospreys); Paul James (Ospreys), Matthew Rees (Scarlets) (capt), Craig Mitchell (Ospreys), Bradley Davies (Cardiff Blues), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Dan Lydiate (Newport Gwent Dragons), Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues), Ryan Jones (Ospreys).

Replacements: Richard Hibbard (Ospreys), John Yapp (Cardiff Blues), Jonathan Thomas (Ospreys), Rob McCusker (Scarlets), Dwayne Peel (Sale Sharks), Stephen Jones (Scarlets), Morgan Stoddart (Scarlets).

IRELAND: Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster); Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt), Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster), Keith Earls (Thomond/Munster); Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster), Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster), Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster), Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster), Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster), David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster), Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster).

Replacements: Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht), Tom Court (Malone/Ulster), Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster), Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster), Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster), Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster).

Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Craig Joubert (South Africa), Peter Allan (Scotland)
Television Match Official: Geoff Warren (England)

Head-to-Head:

Played – 115
Wales Won – 62
Ireland Won – 47
Drawn – 6

The six drawn games were in 1890 (one goal each), 1929 (5-5), 1951 (3-3), 1962 (3-3), 1974 (9-9) and 1991 (21-21). Wales’ last two wins in the series came in their Grand Slam seasons of 2005 and 2008

Ireland v Wales: IRFU Stats Vault

Biggest Wins:

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

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

Individual Records In The Series:

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

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

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; 2010: Ireland won 27-12, Croke Park

Wales – Form Guide From Start Of The 2010 Six Nations:

Lost 30-17 v England away (Six Nations)
Won 31-24 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Lost 26-20 v France home (Six Nations)
Lost 27-12 v Ireland away (Six Nations)
Won 33-10 v Italy home (Six Nations)
Lost 34-31 v South Africa home (Summer Test)
Lost 42-9 v New Zealand away (Summer Tour)
Lost 29-10 v New Zealand away (Summer Tour)
Lost 25-16 v Australia home (Autumn Series)
Lost 29-25 v South Africa home (Autumn Series)
Drew 16-16 v Fiji home (Autumn Series)
Lost 37-25 v New Zealand home (Autumn Series)
Lost 26-19 v England home (Six Nations)
Won 24-6 v Scotland away (Six Nations)
Won 24-16 v Italy away (Six Nations)

Ireland – Form Guide From Start Of The 2010 Six Nations:

Won 29-11 v Italy home (Six Nations)
Lost 33-10 v France away (Six Nations)
Won 20-16 v England away (Six Nations)
Won 27-12 v Wales home (Six Nations)
Lost 23-20 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Lost 66-28 v New Zealand away (Summer Tour)
Lost 22-15 v Australia away (Summer Tour)
Lost 23-21 v South Africa home (Autumn Series)
Won 20-10 v Samoa home (Autumn Series)
Lost 38-18 v New Zealand home (Autumn Series)
Won 29-9 v Argentina home (Autumn Series)
Won 13-11 v Italy away (Six Nations)
Lost 25-22 v France home (Six Nations)
Won 21-18 v Scotland away (Six Nations)

International Championship All-Time Records:

Points –
543 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
541 Jonny Wilkinson (England)
467 Stephen Jones (Wales)
406 Neil Jenkins (Wales)
384 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
288 Gavin Hastings (Scotland)
270 David Humphreys (Ireland)

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

Caps –
56 Mike Gibson (Ireland)
54 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
54 John Hayes (Ireland)
54 Jason Leonard (England)
53 Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)
53 Willie John McBride (Ireland)
51 Martyn Williams (Wales)
51 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
50 Philippe Sella (France)
50 Rory Underwood (England)
49 Stephen Jones (Wales)

Wales – Most-Capped Players:

100 Gareth Thomas
98 Stephen Jones
98 Martyn Williams
94 Colin Charvis
92 Gareth Llewellyn
87 Neil Jenkins
78 Shane Williams
76 Gethin Jenkins
75 Dwayne Peel
72 Ieuan Evans
70 Tom Shanklin

Wales – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

1049 Neil Jenkins
881 Stephen Jones
304 Paul Thorburn
265 Shane Williams
257 James Hook
211 Arwel Thomas
200 Gareth Thomas

Wales – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

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

Ireland – Most-Capped Players:

110 Brian O’Driscoll
106 Ronan O’Gara
104 John Hayes
96 Peter Stringer
92 Malcolm O’Kelly
82 Girvan Dempsey
73 Paul O’Connell
72 David Humphreys
70 Donncha O’Callaghan
70 Kevin Maggs
69 David Wallace
69 Geordan Murphy
69 Mike Gibson

Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

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

Ireland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

42 Brian O’Driscoll
29 Denis Hickie
21 Shane Horgan
19 Girvan Dempsey
18 Geordan Murphy
17 Brendan Mullin
16 Tommy Bowe
16 Ronan O’Gara
15 Kevin Maggs
15 Keith Wood

World Rugby All-Time Top Points Scorers:

1190 Jonny Wilkinson (1123-England, 67-Lions)
1188 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
1090 Neil Jenkins (1049-Wales, 41-Lions)
1010 Diego Dominguez (27-Argentina, 983-Italy)
998 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
967 Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand)
934 Stephen Jones (881-Wales, 53-Lions)
911 Michael Lynagh (Australia)
893 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
878 Matt Burke (Australia)
764 Chris Paterson (Scotland)

World Rugby All-Time Top Try Scorers:

64 David Campese (Australia)
55 Shane Williams (53-Wales, 2-Lions)
50 Rory Underwood (49-England, 1-Lions)
49 Doug Howlett (New Zealand)
46 Christian Cullen (New Zealand)
46 Joe Rokocoko (New Zealand)
44 Jeff Wilson (New Zealand)
43 Brian O’Driscoll (42-Ireland, 1-Lions)
41 Gareth Thomas (40-Wales, 1-Lions)
40 Chris Latham (Australia)

(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)
116 Brian O’Driscoll (110-Ireland, 6-Lions)
111 Philippe Sella (France)
110 George Smith (Australia)
108 Ronan O’Gara (106-Ireland, 2-Lions)
106 John Hayes (104-Ireland, 2-Lions)
105 Victor Matfield (South Africa)
104 Stephen Jones (98-Wales, 6-Lions)
103 Gareth Thomas (100-Wales, 3-Lions)
102 Stephen Larkham (Australia)
102 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
102 John Smit (South Africa)
102 Martyn Williams (98-Wales, 4-Lions)
102 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
101 Alessandro Troncon (Italy)
101 David Campese (Australia)