Head-To-Head: Ireland v France

RUGBY WORLD CUP POOL D: Sunday, October 11

FRANCE (2nd) v IRELAND (1st), Millennium Stadium, 4.45pm (live TV3/UTV/RTÉ Radio 1/BBC Radio Ulster/IRFU Live Blog)

FRANCE: Scott Spedding (Clermont Auvergne); Noa Nakaitaci (Clermont Auvergne), Mathieu Bastareaud (Toulon), Wesley Fofana (Clermont Auvergne), Brice Dulin (Racing 92); Frederic Michalak (Toulon), Sebastien Tillous-Borde (Toulon); Eddy Ben Arous (Racing 92), Guilhem Guirado (Toulon), Rabah Slimani (Stade Francais), Pascal Pape (Stade Francais), Yoann Maestri (Toulouse), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse) (capt), Damien Chouly (Clermont Auvergne), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse).

Replacements: Benjamin Kayser (Clermont Auvergne), Vincent Debaty (Clermont Auvergne), Nicolas Mas (Montpellier), Alexandre Flanquart (Stade Francais), Bernard le Roux (Racing 92), Morgan Parra (Clermont Auvergne), Remi Tales (Racing 92), Alexandre Dumoulin (Racing 92).

IRELAND: Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster); Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster), Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Connacht), Dave Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster), Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), Paul O’Connell (Young Munster) (capt), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster).

Replacements: Richardt Strauss (Old Wesley/Leinster), Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Nathan White (Connacht), Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Chris Henry (Malone/Ulster), Eoin Reddan (Old Crescent/Leinster), Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster), Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster).

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
Television Match Official: Graham Hughes (England)

Head-To-Head:-

Played – 93
France Won – 55
Ireland Won – 31
Drawn – 7

France v Ireland: IRFU Stat Zone

France v Ireland – Results Since 2000:

2000: Ireland won 27-25, Paris
2001: Ireland won 22-15, Dublin
2002: France won 44-5, Paris
2003: Ireland won 15-12, Dublin; France won 43-21, Melbourne
2004: France won 35-17, Paris
2005: France won 26-19, Dublin
2006: France won 43-31, Paris
2007: France won 20-17, Dublin; France won 25-3, Paris
2008: France won 26-21, Paris
2009: Ireland won 30-21, Dublin
2010: France won 33-10, Paris
2011: France won 25-22, Dublin; France won 19-12, Bordeaux; France won 26-22, Dublin
2012: 17-17 draw, Paris
2013: 13-13 draw, Dublin
2014: Ireland won 22-20, Paris
2015: Ireland won 18-11, Dublin

Biggest Wins:

France: Points: 45-10, 1996 Five Nations; Margin: 44-5, 2002 Six Nations

Ireland: Points: 30-21, 2009 Six Nations; Margin: 24-0, 1913 Five Nations

Individual Records In The Series:

Most Tries In A Match: France 3 (Christian Darrouy 1963, David Venditti 1967, Vincent Clerc 2007); Ireland 3 (Joe Quinn 1913, Brian O’Driscoll 2000)

Most Points In A Match: France 26 (Thierry Lacroix (1995 RWC); Ireland 17 (Michael Kiernan 1989, Ronan O’Gara 2001 and 2007, Jonathan Sexton 2014)

Most Appearances – France v Ireland:

16 – Ronan O’Gara
15 – Willie John McBride, Paul O’Connell, Brian O’Driscoll, Fergus Slattery
14 – Mike Gibson
13 – John Hayes, Philippe Sella
12 – Ken Kennedy, Tom Kiernan, Phil Orr, Fabien Pelous

Top Points Scorers – France v Ireland:

127 – Ronan O’Gara
73 – Michael Kiernan
58 – Ollie Campbell, Morgan Parra
55 – Eric Elwood
52 – Jonathan Sexton
50 – Didier Camberabero
46 – Thierry Lacroix, Frederic Michalak
40 – Vincent Clerc, David Humphreys, Brian O’Driscoll
39 – Jean-Baptise Elissalde

Top Try Scorers – France v Ireland:

8 – Vincent Clerc, Christian Darrouy, Brian O’Driscoll
6 – George Stephenson
5 – Patrice Lagisquet, Emile Ntamack, Joseph Quinn, Philippe Saint-André
4 – Serge Blanco, Niall Brophy, Cedric Heymans, Adolphe Jaureguy, Jim McCarthy, Eugene Ribere, Philippe Sella

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

Won 26-24 v England home (Six Nations)
Won 30-10 v Italy home (Six Nations)
Lost 27-6 v Wales away (Six Nations)
Won 19-17 v Scotland away (Six Nations)
Lost 22-20 v Ireland home (Six Nations)
Lost 50-23 v Australia away (Summer Series)
Lost 6-0 v Australia away (Summer Series)
Lost 39-13 v Australia away (Summer Series)
Won 40-15 v Fiji home (Autumn Test)
Won 29-26 v Australia home (Autumn Test)
Lost 18-13 v Argentina home (Autumn Test)
Won 15-8 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Lost 18-11 v Ireland away (Six Nations)
Lost 20-13 v Wales home (Six Nations)
Won 29-0 v Italy away (Six Nations)
Lost 55-35 v England away (Six Nations)
Lost 19-14 v England away (World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 25-20 v England home (World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 19-16 v Scotland home (World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 32-10 v Italy neutral (World Cup Pool D)
Won 38-11 v Romania neutral (World Cup Pool D)
Won 41-18 v Canada neutral (World Cup Pool D)

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)
Won 44-10 v Romania neutral (World Cup Pool D)
Won 16-9 v Italy neutral (World Cup Pool D)

France – Most-Capped Players:

118 Fabien Pelous
111 Philippe Sella
98 Raphael Ibanez
93 Serge Blanco
89 Olivier Magne
86 Damien Traille
84 Sylvain Marconnet
83 Nicolas Mas
82 Imanol Harinordoquy
82 Dimitri Szarzewski
78 Abdelatif Benazzi
78 Thierry Dusautoir
76 Aurélien Rougerie
75 Julien Bonnaire
75 Frederic Michalak

France – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

436 Frederic Michalak
380 Christophe Lamaison
373 Dimitri Yachvili
367 Thierry Lacroix
354 Didier Camberabero
347 Morgan Parra
267 Gerald Merceron
265 Jean-Pierre Romeu
252 Thomas Castaignede
233 Serge Blanco
214 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde
200 Jean-Patrick Lescarboura

France – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

38 Serge Blanco
34 Vincent Clerc
32 Philippe Saint-André
30 Philippe Sella
26 Philippe Bernat-Salles
26 Emile Ntamack
25 Christophe Dominici
23 Christian Darrouy
23 Aurélien Rougerie
20 Yannick Jauzion
20 Patrice Lagisquet

Ireland – Most-Capped Players:

133 Brian O’Driscoll
128 Ronan O’Gara
107 Paul O’Connell
105 John Hayes
98 Peter Stringer
94 Donncha O’Callaghan
92 Malcolm O’Kelly
87 Rory Best
82 Gordon D’Arcy
82 Girvan Dempsey

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
519 Jonathan Sexton
308 Michael Kiernan
296 Eric Elwood
245 Brian O’Driscoll
217 Ollie Campbell
158 Tom Kiernan
150 Tommy Bowe

Ireland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

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

World Rugby All-Time Top Points Scorers:

1540 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)
64 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
60 Shane Williams (58-Wales, 2-Lions)
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:

145 Richie McCaw (New Zealand)
141 Brian O’Driscoll (133-Ireland, 8-Lions)
139 George Gregan (Australia)
130 Ronan O’Gara (128-Ireland, 2-Lions)
128 Keven Mealamu (New Zealand)
125 Victor Matfield (South Africa)
123 Gethin Jenkins (118-Wales, 5-Lions)
119 Jason Leonard (114-England, 5-Lions)
118 Fabien Pelous (France)
117 Tony Woodcock (New Zealand)
116 Nathan Sharpe (Australia)
115 Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
114 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
114 Paul O’Connell (107-Ireland, 7-Lions)
114 Sergio Parisse (Italy)
112 Marco Bortolami (Italy)
111 Philippe Sella (France)
111 John Smit (South Africa)
111 George Smith (Australia)
110 Adam Ashley-Cooper (Australia)
110 Stephen Jones (104-Wales, 6-Lions)
109 Jean de Villiers (South Africa)
109 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
108 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
107 John Hayes (105-Ireland, 2-Lions)
106 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)