Head-To-Head: Ireland v Romania

A statistical preview of Sunday’s Rugby World Cup Pool D meeting of Ireland and Romania at Wembley Stadium (kick-off 4.45pm).

RUGBY WORLD CUP POOL D: Sunday, September 27

IRELAND (2nd) v ROMANIA (4th), Wembley Stadium, 4.45pm (live TV3/UTV/RTÉ Radio 1/IRFU Live Blog)

IRELAND: Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster); Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), Jared Payne (Ulster), Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster); Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster), Eoin Reddan (Old Crescent/Leinster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Richardt Strauss (Old Wesley/Leinster), Nathan White (Connacht), Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster), Chris Henry (Malone/Ulster), Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster) (capt).

Replacements: Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Paul O’Connell (Young Munster), Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster), Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster), Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster).

ROMANIA: Catalin Fercu (Saracens); Adrian Apostol (CSM Stiinta Baia Mare), Paula Kinkinilau (Timisoara Saracens), Csaba Gal (Universitatea Cluj), Ionut Botezatu (CSM Stiinta Baia Mare); Michael Wiringi (CSM Stiinta Baia Mare), Valentin Calafeteanu (Timisoara Saracens); Andrei Ursache (Carcassonne), Andrei Radoi (Timisoara Saracens), Paulica Ion (Perpignan), Valentin Poparlan (Timisoara Saracens), Ovidiu Tonita (Aix-en-Provence), Viorel Lucaci (CSA Steaua), Mihai Macovei (Colomiers) (capt), Daniel Carpo (CSM Bucuresti).

Replacements: Otar Turashvili (Colomiers), Mihaita Lazar (Castres Olympique), Alexandru Tarus (Timisoara Saracens), Johannes van Heerden (CSM Stiinta Baia Mare), Stelian Burcea (Timisoara Saracens), Florin Surugiu (CSM Bucuresti), Florin Ionita (CSA Steaua), Florin Vlaicu (CSM Bucuresti).

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Romain Poite (France), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Television Match Official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

Head-To-Head:

Played – 8
Ireland Won – 8
Romania Won – 0

Ireland v Romania: IRFU Stat Zone

Ireland v Romania – Results:

1986: Autumn Test – Ireland 60 Romania 0, Lansdowne Road
1993: Autumn Test – Ireland 25 Romania 3, Lansdowne Road
1998: Rugby World Cup Qualifier – Ireland 53 Romania 35, Lansdowne Road
1999: Rugby World Cup Pool E – Ireland 44 Romania 14, Lansdowne Road
2001: Summer Tour – Romania 3 Ireland 37, Bucharest
2002: Rugby World Cup Qualifier – Ireland 39 Romania 8, Thomond Park
2003: Rugby World Cup Pool A – Ireland 45 Romania 17, Central Coast Stadium, Gosford
2005: Autumn Test – Ireland 43 Romania 12, Lansdowne Road

Biggest Wins:

Ireland: Points & Margin: 60-0, 1986 Autumn Test

Romania: –

Individual Records In The Series:

Most Points In A Match: Ireland 20 (Michael Kiernan 1986, Eric Elwood 1998); Romania 12 (Petre Mitu 2005)

Most Tries In A Match: Ireland 3 (Keith Crossan, 1986); Romania 2 (Mihai Vioreanu, 1998)

Most Appearances – Ireland v Romania:

6 – Gabriel Brezoianu
5 – Petru Balan, David Humphreys, Ionut Tofan
4 – Shane Byrne, Romeo Gontineac, John Hayes, Valentin Maftei, Kevin Maggs, Razvan Mavrodin, Malcolm O’Kelly, Peter Stringer, Mihai Vioreanu

Top Points Scorers – Ireland v Romania:

54 – David Humphreys
48 – Eric Elwood
31 – Petre Mitu
20 – Michael Kiernan
15 – Jonathan Bell, Conor O’Shea
14 – Ronan O’Gara
12 – Keith Crossan
11 – Ionut Tofan

Top Try Scorers – Ireland v Romania:

3 – Jonathan Bell, Keith Crossan, Conor O’Shea
2 – Paul Dean, Denis Hickie, Valentin Maftei, Brendan Mullin, Andrew Trimble, Mihai Vioreanu, Andy Ward

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)
Won 26-3 v Italy away (Six Nations)
Won 18-11 v France home (Six Nations)
Won 19-9 v England home (Six Nations)
Lost 23-16 v Wales away (Six Nations)
Won 40-10 v Scotland away (Six Nations)
Won 35-21 v Wales away (World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 28-22 v Scotland home (World Cup Warm-Up)
Lost 16-10 v Wales home (World Cup Warm-Up)
Lost 21-13 v England away (World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 50-7 v Canada neutral (World Cup Pool D)

Romania – Form Guide From Start Of The 2014 Test Season:

Won 24-0 v Portugal home (European Nations Cup/World Cup Qualifier)
Won 34-3 v Russia away (European Nations Cup/World Cup Qualifier)
Won 32-6 v Spain home (European Nations Cup/World Cup Qualifier)
Won 29-10 v Belgium home (European Nations Cup/World Cup Qualifier)
Lost 22-9 v Georgia away (European Nations Cup/World Cup Qualifier)
Won 34-16 v Uruguay home (World Rugby Nations Cup)
Won 20-18 v Russia home (World Rugby Nations Cup)
Lost 31-10 v Emerging Ireland home (World Rugby Nations Cup)
Lost 27-17 v USA home (Autumn Series)
Lost 18-13 v Japan home (Autumn Series)
Won 18-9 v Canada home (Autumn Series)
Won 37-10 v Portugal away (European Nations Cup)
Won 29-8 v Spain home (European Nations Cup)
Lost 16-13 v Russia away (European Nations Cup)
Won 17-12 v Germany away (European Nations Cup)
Lost 15-6 v Georgia home (European Nations Cup)
Won 35-9 v Spain home (World Rugby Nations Cup)
Won 43-3 v Namibia home (World Rugby Nations Cup)
Won 23-0 v Argentina Jaguares home (World Rugby Nations Cup)
Lost 21-16 v Tonga home (World Cup Warm-Up)
Lost 38-11 v France neutral (World Cup Pool D)

Ireland – Most-Capped Players:

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

Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

1083 Ronan O’Gara
560 David Humphreys
508 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
14 George Stephenson
13 Keith Earls

Romania – Most-Capped Players:

92 Cristian Petre
85 Csaba Gal
82 Florin Vlaicu
81 Catalin Fercu
76 Romeo Gontineac
76 Adrian Lungu
76 Lucian Sirbu
74 Valentin Calafeteanu
73 Danut Dumbrava

Romania – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

627 Florin Vlaicu
389 Danut Dumbrava
339 Petre Mitu
316 Ionut Tofan
208 Valentin Calafeteanu
201 Neculai Nichitean
143 Catalin Fercu

Romania – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

28 Gabriel Brezoianu
28 Catalin Fercu
14 Petre Mitu
14 Cristian Sauan
14 Marius Tincu
13 Ionut Dimofte
13 Romeo Gontineac
13 Gheorghe Solomie
13 Ion Teodorescu
13 Ovidiu Tonita

World Rugby All-Time Top Points Scorers:

1532 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)
59 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:

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