Head-To-Head: Ireland v Japan

A statistical preview of Ireland’s first Test against Japan at Shizuoka’s Ecopa Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 2pm local time/6am Irish time).

SUMMER TOUR – FIRST TEST: Saturday, June 17

JAPAN v IRELAND, Ecopa Stadium, Shizuoka, 2pm local time/6am Irish time (live eir Sport 2/Premier Sports/IRFU Live Blog)

JAPAN: Ryuji Noguchi (Tokai University); Kotaro Matsushima (Suntory Sungoliath), William Tupou (Coca-Cola Red Sparks), Timothy Lafaele (Coca-Cola Red Sparks), Kenki Fukuoka (Panasonic Wild Knights), Yu Tamura (Canon Eagles), Fumiaka Tanaka (Panasonic Wild Knights); Keita Inagaki (Panasonic Wild Knights), Shota Horie (Panasonic Wild Knights) (capt), Heiichiro Ito (Yamaha Jubilo), Kotaro Yatabe (Panasonic Wild Knights), Uwe Helu (Yamaha Jubilo), Michael Leitch (Toshiba Brave Lupus), Yoshitaka Tokunaga (Toshiba Brave Lupus), Amanaki Lelei Mafi (NTT Communications).

Replacements: Yusuke Niwai (Canon Eagles), Shintaro Ishihara (Suntory Sungoliath), Takuma Asahara (Toshiba Brave Lupus), Hendrik Tui (Suntory Sungoliath), Shuhei Matsuhashi (Ricoh Black Rams), Yutaka Nagare (Suntory Sungoliath), Derek Carpenter (Suntory Sungoliath), Rikiya Matsuda (Panasonic Wild Knights).

IRELAND: Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster); Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Rory Scannell (Dolphin/Munster), Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster); Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster), Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster), John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), Rhys Ruddock (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) (capt), Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster), Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster).

Replacements: James Tracy (UCD/Leinster), Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster), Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht), Kieran Treadwell (Ballymena/Ulster), Jack O’Donoghue (UL Bohemians/Munster), Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht), Rory O’Loughlin (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Tiernan O’Halloran (Buccaneers/Connacht).

Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: JP Doyle (England), Alex Ruiz (France)
Television Match Official: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Head-To-Head:

Played – 5
Japan Won – 0
Ireland Won – 5

Ireland v Japan: IRFU Stat Zone

Ireland v Japan – Previous Results:

October 9, 1991 – Rugby World Cup Pool 2: Ireland 32 Japan 16, Lansdowne Road
May 31, 1995 – Rugby World Cup Pool C: Ireland 50 Japan 28, Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
November 11, 2000 – Autumn Test: Ireland 78 Japan 9, Lansdowne Road
June 12, 2005 – Summer Tour: Japan 12 Ireland 44, Nagai Stadium, Osaka
June 19, 2005 – Summer Tour: Japan 18 Ireland 47, Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo

Biggest Wins:

Japan: –

Ireland: Points & Margin: 78-9, 2000 Autumn Test

Individual Records In The Series:

Most Points In A Match: Japan 12 (Kyohei Morita 2005 First Test); Ireland 23 (Ronan O’Gara 2000)

Most Tries In A Match: Japan 2 (Daisuke Ohata 2005 Second Test); Ireland 3 (Denis Hickie 2000)

Most Appearances – Ireland v Japan:

4 – Seiji Hirao (Japan)
3 – Tsuyoshi Fujita (Japan), Toshiyuki Hayashi (Japan), David Humphreys (Ireland), Yukio Motoki (Japan), Daisuke Ohata (Japan), Atsushi Oyagi (Japan), Peter Stringer (Ireland)

Top Points Scorers – Ireland v Japan:

25 – David Humphreys (Ireland)
23 – Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
17 – Keiji Hirose (Japan)
16 – Ralph Keyes (Ireland), Jeremy Staunton (Ireland)
15 – Paul Burke (Ireland), Denis Hickie (Ireland), Frankie Sheahan (Ireland)
12 – Kyohei Morita (Japan), Yoshihito Yoshida (Japan)

Top Try Scorers – Ireland v Japan:

3 – Denis Hickie (Ireland), Frankie Sheahan (Ireland)
2 – Gavin Duffy (Ireland), Tyrone Howe (Ireland), Noel Mannion (Ireland), Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland), Daisuke Ohata (Japan)

Japan – Form Guide From Start Of 2016 Test Season:

Won 85-0 v Korea home (Asian Five Nations)
Won 38-3 v Hong Kong away (Asian Five Nations)
Won 60-3 v Korea away (Asian Five Nations)
Won 59-17 v Hong Kong home (Asian Five Nations)
Won 26-22 v Canada away (Summer Test)
Lost 26-13 v Scotland away (Summer Series)
Lost 21-16 v Scotland away (Summer Series)
Lost 54-20 v Argentina home (Autumn Test)
Won 28-22 v Georgia away (Autumn Tour)
Lost 33-30 v Wales away (Autumn Tour)
Lost 38-25 v Fiji neutral (Autumn Tour)
Won 47-29 v Korea away (Asian Five Nations)
Won 80-10 v Korea home (Asian Five Nations)
Won 29-17 v Hong Kong home (Asian Five Nations)
Won 16-0 v Hong Kong away (Asian Five Nations)
Won 33-21 v Romania home (Summer Test)

Ireland – Form Guide From Start Of The 2016 Six Nations:

Drew 16-16 v Wales home (Six Nations)
Lost 10-9 v France away (Six Nations)
Lost 21-10 v England away (Six Nations)
Won 58-15 v Italy home (Six Nations)
Won 35-25 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Won 26-20 v South Africa away (Summer Tour)
Lost 32-26 v South Africa away (Summer Tour)
Lost 19-13 v South Africa away (Summer Tour)
Won 40-29 v New Zealand neutral (Autumn Test)
Won 52-21 v Canada home (GUINNESS Series)
Lost 21-9 v New Zealand home (GUINNESS Series)
Won 27-24 v Australia home (GUINNESS Series)
Lost 27-22 v Scotland away (Six Nations)
Won 63-10 v Italy away (Six Nations)
Won 19-9 v France home (Six Nations)
Lost 22-9 v Wales away (Six Nations)
Won 13-9 v England home (Six Nations)
Won 55-19 v USA away (Summer Tour)

Japan – Most-Capped Players:

98 Hitoshi Ono
81 Hirotoki Onozawa
79 Yukio Motoki
78 Kensuke Hatakeyama
68 Takashi Kikutani
63 Takeomi Ito
62 Luke Thompson
59 Fumiaki Tanaka
58 Daisuke Ohata
56 Ayumu Goromaru

Japan – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

708 Ayum Goromaru
422 Keiji Hirose
347 Toru Kurihara
345 Daisuke Ohata
286 James Arlidge
275 Hirotoki Onozawa
198 Shaun Webb
193 Ryan Nicholas

Japan – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

69 Daisuke Ohata
55 Hirotoki Onozawa
32 Takashi Kikutani
29 Terunori Masuho
26 Yoshikazu Fujita
22 Koliniashi Holani
21 Alisi Tupuailei
20 Toru Kurihara

Ireland – Most-Capped Players:

133 Brian O’Driscoll
128 Ronan O’Gara
108 Paul O’Connell
105 John Hayes
104 Rory Best
98 Peter Stringer
95 Jamie Heaslip
94 Donncha O’Callaghan
92 Malcolm O’Kelly
82 Gordon D’Arcy
82 Girvan Dempsey
76 Rob Kearney
72 David Humphreys
72 David Wallace
72 Geordan Murphy
71 Eoin Reddan
70 Kevin Maggs
70 Andrew Trimble
69 Tommy Bowe
69 Mike Gibson
68 Cian Healy
67 Marcus Horan

Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

1083 Ronan O’Gara
612 Jonathan Sexton
560 David Humphreys
308 Michael Kiernan
296 Eric Elwood
245 Brian O’Driscoll
217 Ollie Campbell
172 Paddy Jackson
158 Tom Kiernan
150 Tommy Bowe

Ireland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

46 Brian O’Driscoll
30 Tommy Bowe
29 Denis Hickie
24 Keith Earls
21 Shane Horgan
19 Girvan Dempsey
18 Geordan Murphy
17 Brendan Mullin
17 Andrew Trimble
16 Ronan O’Gara
15 Kevin Maggs
15 Keith Wood
14 George Stephenson
13 Jamie Heaslip
13 Rob Kearney
12 Keith Crossan
12 David Wallace

World Rugby All-Time Top Points Scorers:

1598 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)
825 Florin Vlaicu (Romania)

World Rugby All-Time Top Try Scorers:

67 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
64 David Campese (Australia)
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)
46 Julian Savea (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:

148 Richie McCaw (New Zealand)
141 Brian O’Driscoll (133-Ireland, 8-Lions)
139 George Gregan (Australia)
134 Gethin Jenkins (129-Wales, 5-Lions)
132 Keven Mealamu (New Zealand)
130 Ronan O’Gara (128-Ireland, 2-Lions)
127 Victor Matfield (South Africa)
126 Sergio Parisse (Italy)
124 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
119 Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
119 Jason Leonard (114-England, 5-Lions)
118 Stephen Moore (Australia)
118 Fabien Pelous (France)
118 Tony Woodcock (New Zealand)
116 Adam Ashley-Cooper (Australia)
116 Alun Wyn Jones (110-Wales, 6-Lions)
116 Nathan Sharpe (Australia)
115 Paul O’Connell (108-Ireland, 7-Lions)
112 Marco Bortolami (Italy)
112 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
111 Philippe Sella (France)
111 John Smit (South Africa)
111 George Smith (Australia)
110 Stephen Jones (104-Wales, 6-Lions)
109 Jean de Villiers (South Africa)
109 Ross Ford (108-Scotland, 1-Lions)
109 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
107 John Hayes (105-Ireland, 2-Lions)
106 Mauro Bergamasco (Italy)
105 Sean Lamont (Scotland)
104 Rory Best (Ireland)
104 Merab Kvirikashvili (Georgia)
104 Martyn Williams (100-Wales, 4-Lions)
103 Matt Giteau (Australia)
103 Andrea Lo Cicero (Italy)
103 Ma’a Nonu (New Zealand)
103 Gareth Thomas (100-Wales, 3-Lions)
102 Stephen Larkham (Australia)
102 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
102 Florin Vlaicu (Romania)
101 David Campese (Australia)
101 Alessandro Troncon (Italy)
101 Vasco Uva (Portugal)
100 Jamie Heaslip (95-Ireland, 5-Lions)
100 Adam Jones (95-Wales, 5-Lions)
100 Davit Kacharava (Georgia)
100 Mils Muliaina (New Zealand)