Head-To-Head: Ireland v Italy

A statistical preview of Saturday’s opening RBS 6 Nations match between Ireland and Italy at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico (kick-off 3.30pm local time/2.30pm Irish time).

2015 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, February 7

ITALY v IRELAND, Stadio Olimpico, Rome, 3.30pm local time/2.30pm Irish time (live RTÉ Two/BBC One/RTÉ Radio 1/IRFU Live Blog)

ITALY: Andrea Masi (Wasps); Leonardo Sarto (Zebre), Michele Campagnaro (Benetton Treviso), Luca Morisi (Benetton Treviso), Luke McLean (Sale Sharks); Kelly Haimona (Zebre), Edoardo Gori (Benetton Treviso); Matias Aguero (Zebre), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Leicester Tigers), Martin Castrogiovanni (Toulon), Josh Furno (Newcastle Falcons), George Biagi (Zebre), Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Treviso), Francesco Minto (Benetton Treviso), Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais) (capt).

Replacements: Andrea Manici (Zebre), Alberto de Marchi (Sale Sharks), Dario Chistolini (Zebre), Marco Fuser (Benetton Treviso), Marco Barbini (Benetton Treviso), Guglielmo Palazzani (Zebre), Tommaso Allan (Perpignan), Giovambattista Venditti (Zebre).

IRELAND: Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster); Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), Jared Payne (Ulster), Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Connacht), Simon Zebo (Cork Con/Munster); Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster), Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster) (capt), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster), Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster).

Replacements: Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), James Cronin (Dolphin/Munster), Martin Moore (Lansdowne/Leinster), Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Tommy O’Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster), Isaac Boss (Terenure/Leinster), Ian Madigan (Blackrock/Leinster), Felix Jones (Shannon/Munster).

Referee: Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Television Match Official: Graham Hughes (England)

Head-To-Head:

Played – 23
Italy Won – 4
Ireland Won – 19

Ireland v Italy: IRFU Stat Zone

Ireland had won 17 matches in succession against Italy before losing in Rome last March; Italy won three times between 1995 and 1997 before their entry into the RBS 6 Nations Championship

Ireland v Italy In The Six Nations:

2000: Ireland won 60-13, Dublin
2001: Ireland won 41-22, Rome
2002: Ireland won 32-17, Dublin
2003: Ireland won 37-13, Rome
2004: Ireland won 19-3, Dublin
2005: Ireland won 28-17, Rome
2006: Ireland won 26-16, Dublin
2007: Ireland won 51-24, Rome
2008: Ireland won 16-11, Dublin
2009: Ireland won 38-9, Rome
2010: Ireland won 29-11, Dublin
2011: Ireland won 13-11, Rome
2012: Ireland won 42-10, Dublin
2013: Italy won 22-15, Rome
2014: Ireland won 46-7, Dublin

Biggest Wins:

Italy: Points: 37-29, 1997 Friendly Match, 37-22, 1997 Friendly Match; Margin: 37-22, 1997 Friendly Match

Ireland: Points & Margin: 61-6, 2003 Rugby World Cup Warm-Up

Individual Records In The Series:

Most Points In A Match: Italy 27 (Diego Dominguez 1997); Ireland 30 (Ronan O’Gara 2000)

Most Tries In A Match: Italy 2 (Paolo Vaccari 1997); Ireland 4 (Denis Hickie 2003)

Most Appearances – Ireland v Italy:

15 – Brian O’Driscoll
14 – Ronan O’Gara
12 – Martin Castrogiovanni, Gordon D’Arcy, John Hayes, Salvatore Perugini, Alessandro Troncon
11 – Mauro Bergamasco, Mirco Bergamasco, Marco Bortolami, Gonzalo Canale, Andrea Masi, Donncha O’Callaghan, Malcolm O’Kelly, Sergio Parisse, Peter Stringer

Top Points Scorers – Ireland v Italy:

180 – Ronan O’Gara
96 – Diego Dominguez
67 – David Humphreys
44 – Jonathan Sexton
40 – Denis Hickie
36 – Paul Burke
30 – Girvan Dempsey, Brian O’Driscoll

Top Try Scorers – Ireland v Italy:

8 – Denis Hickie
6 – Girvan Dempsey, Brian O’Driscoll
5 – Shane Horgan
4 – Tommy Bowe, John Kelly
3 – Keith Earls, Rob Henderson, Ronan O’Gara, Andrew Trimble, Paolo Vaccari

Italy – Form Guide From Start Of The 2014 Six Nations:

Lost 23-15 v Wales away (Six Nations)
Lost 30-10 v France away (Six Nations)
Lost 21-20 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Lost 46-7 v Ireland away (Six Nations)
Lost 52-11 v England home (Six Nations)
Lost 25-14 v Fiji away (Summer Tour)
Lost 15-0 v Samoa away (Summer Tour)
Lost 26-23 v Japan away (Summer Tour)
Won 24-13 v Samoa home (Autumn Test)
Lost 20-18 v Argentina home (Autumn Test)
Lost 22-6 v South Africa home (Autumn Test)

Ireland – Form Guide From Start Of The 2014 Six Nations:

Won 28-6 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Won 26-3 v Wales home (Six Nations)
Lost 13-10 v England away (Six Nations)
Won 46-7 v Italy home (Six Nations)
Won 22-20 v France away (Six Nations)
Won 29-17 v Argentina away (Summer Tour)
Won 23-17 v Argentina away (Summer Tour)
Won 29-15 v South Africa home (Autumn Series)
Won 49-7 v Georgia home (Autumn Series)
Won 26-23 v Australia home (Autumn Series)

International Championship All-Time Records:

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

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

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

Italy – Most-Capped Players:

110 Marco Bortolami
108 Sergio Parisse
107 Martin Castrogiovanni
103 Andrea Lo Cicero
101 Alessandro Troncon
100 Mauro Bergamasco
89 Mirco Bergamasco
87 Andrea Masi
86 Gonzalo Canale
86 Alessandro Zanni
83 Carlo Checchinato
83 Salvatore Perugini
81 Fabio Ongaro

Italy – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

983 Diego Dominguez
483 Stefano Bettarello
294 Luigi Troiani
260 Ramiro Pez
256 Mirco Bergamasco

Italy – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

25 Marcello Cuttitta
22 Paolo Vaccari
21 Carlo Checchinato
21 Manrico Marchetto
19 Alessandro Troncon
17 Mirco Bergamasco
17 Serafino Ghizzoni
17 Massimo Mascioletti

Ireland – Most-Capped Players:

133 Brian O’Driscoll
128 Ronan O’Gara
105 John Hayes
98 Peter Stringer
96 Paul O’Connell
94 Donncha O’Callaghan
92 Malcolm O’Kelly
82 Girvan Dempsey
81 Gordon D’Arcy
78 Rory Best
72 David Humphreys
72 David Wallace
72 Geordan Murphy
70 Kevin Maggs
69 Mike Gibson
69 Jamie Heaslip

Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

1083 Ronan O’Gara
560 David Humphreys
423 Jonathan Sexton
308 Michael Kiernan
296 Eric Elwood
245 Brian O’Driscoll
217 Ollie Campbell
158 Tom Kiernan

Ireland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

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

World Rugby All-Time Top Points Scorers:

1457 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
1246 Jonny Wilkinson (1179-England, 67-Lions)
1090 Neil Jenkins (1049-Wales, 41-Lions)
1083 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
1010 Diego Dominguez (27-Argentina, 983-Italy)
970 Stephen Jones (917-Wales, 53-Lions)
967 Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand)
911 Michael Lynagh (Australia)
893 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
878 Matt Burke (Australia)
809 Chris Paterson (Scotland)

World Rugby All-Time Top Try Scorers:

64 David Campese (Australia)
60 Shane Williams (58-Wales, 2-Lions)
57 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
50 Rory Underwood (49-England, 1-Lions)
49 Doug Howlett (New Zealand)
47 Brian O’Driscoll (46-Ireland, 1-Lions)
46 Christian Cullen (New Zealand)
46 Joe Rokocoko (New Zealand)
44 Jeff Wilson (New Zealand)
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:

141 Brian O’Driscoll (133-Ireland, 8-Lions)
139 George Gregan (Australia)
137 Richie McCaw (New Zealand)
130 Ronan O’Gara (128-Ireland, 2-Lions)
123 Keven Mealamu (New Zealand)
121 Victor Matfield (South Africa)
119 Jason Leonard (114-England, 5-Lions)
118 Fabien Pelous (France)
116 Nathan Sharpe (Australia)
115 Gethin Jenkins (110-Wales, 5-Lions)
111 Philippe Sella (France)
111 John Smit (South Africa)
111 George Smith (Australia)
110 Stephen Jones (104-Wales, 6-Lions)
110 Tony Woodcock (New Zealand)
110 Marco Bortolami (Italy)
109 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
108 Sergio Parisse (Italy)
107 John Hayes (105-Ireland, 2-Lions)
107 Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
106 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
106 Jean de Villiers (South Africa)
104 Adam Ashley-Cooper (Australia)
104 Martyn Williams (100-Wales, 4-Lions)
103 Andrea Lo Cicero (Italy)
103 Gareth Thomas (100-Wales, 3-Lions)
103 Paul O’Connell (96-Ireland, 7-Lions)
102 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
102 Stephen Larkham (Australia)
102 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
101 David Campese (Australia)
101 Alessandro Troncon (Italy)
100 Mauro Bergamasco (Italy)
100 Adam Jones (95-Wales, 5-Lions)
100 Mils Muliaina (New Zealand)