Head-To-Head: Ireland v Wales

2019 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, March 16

WALES (1st) v IRELAND (3rd), Principality Stadium, 2.45pm (live Virgin Media One/BBC One/S4C/FR2/DMAX/NBC/RTÉ 2fm/BBC Radio Ulster/IRFU Live Blog)

WALES: Liam Williams (Saracens); George North (Ospreys), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Hadleigh Parkes (Scarlets), Josh Adams (Worcester Warriors); Gareth Anscombe (Cardiff Blues), Gareth Davies (Scarlets); Rob Evans (Scarlets), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs), Adam Beard (Ospreys), Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys) (capt), Josh Navidi (Cardiff Blues), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Ross Moriarty (Dragons).

Replacements: Elliot Dee (Dragons), Nicky Smith (Ospreys), Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Blues), Jake Ball (Scarlets), Aaron Wainwright (Dragons), Aled Davies (Ospreys), Dan Biggar (Northampton Saints), Owen Watkin (Ospreys)​.

IRELAND: Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster); Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht), Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster), James Ryan (UCD/Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster), CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster).

Replacements: Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster), Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster), Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht), Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Kieran Marmion (Galwegians/Connacht), Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht), Jordan Larmour (St. Mary’s College/Leinster).

Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Karl Dickson (England)
Television Match Official: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Head-To-Head:

Played – 126
Wales Won – 68
Ireland Won – 51
Drawn – 7

Ireland v Wales – Results Since 2000:

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; Ireland won 35-12, Lansdowne Road
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
2011: Wales won 19-13, Millennium Stadium; Wales won 22-10, Westpac Stadium
2012: Wales won 23-21, Aviva Stadium
2013: Ireland won 30-22, Millennium Stadium
2014: Ireland won 26-3, Aviva Stadium
2015: Wales won 23-16, Millennium Stadium; Ireland won 35-21, Millennium Stadium; Wales won 16-10, Aviva Stadium
2016: 16-16 draw, Aviva Stadium
2017: Wales won 22-9, Principality Stadium
2018: Ireland won 37-27, Aviva Stadium

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)

Most Appearances – Ireland v Wales:

16 Brian O’Driscoll
15 Rory Best
14 Mike Gibson, Gethin Jenkins, Paul O’Connell, Ronan O’Gara
13 Jamie Heaslip, Donncha O’Callaghan
12 Ieuan Evans, Willie John McBride, Phil Orr
11 Billy Bancroft, Gordon D’Arcy, John Hayes, Alun Wyn Jones, Robert Jones, Stephen Jones, Moss Keane, Rob Kearney, Donal Lenihan, Brendan Mullin, Jamie Roberts, Jonathan Sexton, Fergus Slattery, Peter Stringer

Top Points Scorers – Ireland v Wales:

113 Neil Jenkins
107 Stephen Jones
100 Ronan O’Gara
92 Jonathan Sexton
84 David Humphreys
74 Leigh Halfpenny
57 Eric Elwood
54 Phil Bennett
52 Michael Kiernan

Top Try Scorers – Ireland v Wales:

8 Johnnie Williams
7 Brian O’Driscoll
6 Gerald Davies, Ieuan Evans, Teddy Morgan
5 Gareth Edwards
4 Keith Earls, Rusty Gabe

Wales – Form Guide From Start Of The 2018 Six Nations:

Won 34-7 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Lost 12-6 v England away (Six Nations)
Lost 37-27 v Ireland away (Six Nations)
Won 38-14 v Italy home (Six Nations)
Won 14-13 v France home (Six Nations)
Won 22-20 v South Africa neutral (Summer Test)
Won 23-10 v Argentina away (Summer Series)
Won 30-12 v Argentina away (Summer Series)
Won 21-10 v Scotland home (Autumn Series)
Won 9-6 v Australia home (Autumn Series)
Won 74-24 v Tonga home (Autumn Series)
Won 20-11 v South Africa home (Autumn Series)
Won 24-19 v France away (Six Nations)
Won 26-15 v Italy away (Six Nations)
Won 21-13 v England home (Six Nations)
Won 18-11 v Scotland away (Six Nations)

Ireland – Form Guide From Start Of The 2018 Six Nations:

Won 15-13 v France away (Six Nations)
Won 56-19 v Italy home (Six Nations)
Won 37-27 v Wales home (Six Nations)
Won 30-25 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Won 24-15 v England away (Six Nations)
Lost 18-9 v Australia away (Summer Series)
Won 26-21 v Australia away (Summer Series)
Won 20-16 v Australia away (Summer Series)
Won 54-7 v Italy neutral (Autumn Test)
Won 28-17 v Argentina home (GUINNESS Series)
Won 16-9 v New Zealand home (GUINNESS Series)
Won 57-14 v USA home (GUINNESS Series)
Lost 32-20 v England home (Six Nations)
Won 22-13 v Scotland away (Six Nations)
Won 26-16 v Italy away (Six Nations)
Won 26-14 v France home (Six Nations)

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)
391 Owen Farrell (England)
388 Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)
380 Jonathan Sexton (Ireland)
288 Gavin Hastings (Scotland)
286 Greig Laidlaw (Scotland)
270 David Humphreys (Ireland)
232 Paul Grayson (England)

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

Caps –
68 Sergio Parisse (Italy)
65 Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)
63 Rory Best (Ireland)
63 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
60 Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
56 Mike Gibson (Ireland)
56 Gethin Jenkins (Wales)
55 Ross Ford (Scotland)
54 John Hayes (Ireland)
54 Jason Leonard (England)
53 Willie John McBride (Ireland)
53 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
52 Leonard Ghiraldini (Italy)
52 Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)
51 Marco Bortolami (Italy)
51 Paul O’Connell (Ireland)
51 Martyn Williams (Wales)
51 Alessandro Zanni (Italy)
50 Stephen Jones (Wales)
50 Philippe Sella (France)
50 Rory Underwood (England)

Wales – Most-Capped Players:

129 Gethin Jenkins
124 Alun Wyn Jones
104 Stephen Jones
100 Gareth Thomas
100 Martyn Williams
95 Adam Jones
94 Colin Charvis
94 Mike Phillips
94 Jamie Roberts
92 Gareth Llewellyn
87 Neil Jenkins
87 Shane Williams
82 George North
81 James Hook
80 Leigh Halfpenny
76 Dwayne Peel
75 Ryan Jones

Wales – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

1049 Neil Jenkins
917 Stephen Jones
713 Leigh Halfpenny
352 James Hook
344 Dan Biggar
304 Paul Thorburn
290 Shane Williams
211 Arwel Thomas

Wales – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

58 Shane Williams
40 Gareth Thomas
36 George North
33 Ieuan Evans
22 Colin Charvis
20 Gareth Edwards
20 Gerald Davies
20 Tom Shanklin

Ireland – Most-Capped Players:

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

Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

1083 Ronan O’Gara
761 Jonathan Sexton
560 David Humphreys
308 Michael Kiernan
296 Eric Elwood
245 Brian O’Driscoll
217 Ollie Campbell
195 Paddy Jackson
158 Tom Kiernan
150 Tommy Bowe
150 Keith Earls
145 Denis Hickie

Ireland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

46 Brian O’Driscoll
30 Tommy Bowe
30 Keith Earls
29 Denis Hickie
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 Conor Murray
14 George Stephenson
14 Jacob Stockdale
13 Jamie Heaslip
13 Rob Kearney
12 Keith Crossan
12 David Wallace
11 Alan Duggan
11 Simon Geoghegan

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)
922 Florin Vlaicu (Romania)
911 Michael Lynagh (Australia)
893 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
878 Matt Burke (Australia)
840 Merab Kvirikashvili (Georgia)
809 Chris Paterson (Scotland)

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)
137 Sergio Parisse (Italy)
134 Gethin Jenkins (129-Wales, 5-Lions)
133 Alun Wyn Jones (124-Wales, 9-Lions)
132 Keven Mealamu (New Zealand)
130 Ronan O’Gara (128-Ireland, 2-Lions)
129 Stephen Moore (Australia)
127 Victor Matfield (South Africa)
124 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
119 Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
119 Jason Leonard (114-England, 5-Lions)
118 Fabien Pelous (France)
118 Kieran Read (New Zealand)
118 Tony Woodcock (New Zealand)
117 Adam Ashley-Cooper (Australia)
117 Florin Vlaicu (Romania)
116 Rory Best (Ireland)
116 Nathan Sharpe (Australia)
115 Merab Kvirikashvili (Georgia)
115 Paul O’Connell (108-Ireland, 7-Lions)
113 Davit Kacharava (Georgia)
112 Marco Bortolami (Italy)
112 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
111 Ross Ford (110-Scotland, 1-Lions)
111 Philippe Sella (France)
111 John Smit (South Africa)
111 George Smith (Australia)
110 Stephen Jones (104-Wales, 6-Lions)
110 Alessandro Zanni (Italy)
109 Jean de Villiers (South Africa)
109 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
108 Sam Whitelock (New Zealand)
107 Catalin Fercu (Romania)
107 John Hayes (105-Ireland, 2-Lions)
107 Tendai Mtawarira (South Africa)
106 Mauro Bergamasco (Italy)
106 Owen Franks (New Zealand)
105 Yuri Kushnarev (Russia)
105 Sean Lamont (Scotland)
104 Martyn Williams (100-Wales, 4-Lions)
103 Leonardo Ghiraldini (Italy)
103 Matt Giteau (Australia)
103 Sekope Kepu (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)
101 David Campese (Australia)
101 Giorgi Chkhaidze (Georgia)
101 Alessandro Troncon (Italy)
101 Goncalo Uva (Portugal)
101 Vasco Uva (Portugal)
100 Valentin Calafeteanu (Romania)
100 Will Genia (Australia)
100 Jamie Heaslip (95-Ireland, 5-Lions)
100 Adam Jones (95-Wales, 5-Lions)
100 Mils Muliaina (New Zealand)