Head-To-Head: Ireland v Italy

A statistical preview of the GUINNESS Summer Series opener between Ireland and Italy at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 2pm). Click here to buy match tickets from ticketmaster.ie.

2019 GUINNESS SUMMER SERIES: Saturday, August 10

IRELAND v ITALY, Aviva Stadium, 2pm (live RTÉ 2/Channel 4/Rai 2/RTÉ Radio 1/BBC 5 Live Sport Extra/IRFU Live Blog)

IRELAND: Jordan Larmour (St. Mary’s College/Leinster); Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Chris Farrell (Young Munster/Munster), Dave Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster); Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Munster), Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster); Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Ulster), Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), Jean Kleyn (Munster), Rhys Ruddock (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) (capt), Tommy O’Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster), Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Ulster).

Replacements: Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster), Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Iain Henderson (Queen’s University/Ulster), Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster), Kieran Marmion (Galwegians/Connacht), Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht), Mike Haley (Munster).

ITALY: Edoardo Padovani (Zebre); Angelo Esposito (Benetton Rugby), Tommaso Benvenuti (Benetton Rugby), Marco Zanon (Benetton Rugby), Giulio Bisegni (Zebre); Carlo Canna (Zebre), Guglielmo Palazzani (Zebre); Nicola Quaglio (Benetton Rugby), Oliviero Fabiani (Zebre), Marco Riccioni (Benetton Rugby), Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Rugby), Dean Budd (Benetton Rugby) (capt), Giovanni Licata (Zebre), Maxime Mbanda (Zebre), Jimmy Tuivaiti (Zebre).

Replacements: Federico Zani (Benetton Rugby), Andrea Lovotti (Zebre), Simone Ferrari (Benetton Rugby), Marco Lazzaroni (Benetton Rugby), Renato Giammarioli (Zebre), Callum Braley (Gloucester), Ian McKinley (Benetton Rugby), Matteo Minozzi (Wasps).

Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant Referees: Tom Foley (England), Mike Adamson (Scotland)
Television Match Official: Graham Hughes (England)

Head-To-Head:

Played – 30
Ireland Won – 26
Italy Won – 4

Ireland v Italy – Results Since 2000:

2000: Ireland won 60-13, Dublin
2001: Ireland won 41-22, Rome
2002: Ireland won 32-17, Dublin
2003: Ireland won 37-13, Rome; Ireland won 61-6, Limerick
2004: Ireland won 19-3, Dublin
2005: Ireland won 28-17, Rome
2006: Ireland won 26-16, Dublin
2007: Ireland won 51-24, Rome; Ireland won 23-20, Belfast
2008: Ireland won 16-11, Dublin
2009: Ireland won 38-9, Rome
2010: Ireland won 29-11, Dublin
2011: Ireland won 13-11, Rome; Ireland won 36-6, Dunedin
2012: Ireland won 42-10, Dublin
2013: Italy won 22-15, Rome
2014: Ireland won 46-7, Dublin
2015: Ireland won 26-3, Rome; Ireland won 16-9, London
2016: Ireland won 58-15, Dublin
2017: Ireland won 63-10, Rome
2018: Ireland won 56-19, Dublin; Ireland won 54-7, Chicago
2019: Ireland won 26-16, Rome

Biggest Wins:

Ireland: Points: 63-10, 2017 Six Nations; Margin: 61-6, 2003 Rugby World Cup Warm-Up

Italy: Points: 37-29, 1997 Test, Dublin; 37-22, 1997 Test, Bologna; Margin: 37-22, 1997 Test, Bologna

Individual Records In The Series:

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

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

Most Appearances – Ireland v Italy:

16 – Sergio Parisse
15 – Brian O’Driscoll
14 – Rory Best, Ronan O’Gara, Alessandro Zanni
13 – Martin Castrogiovanni
12 – Mauro Bergamasco, Gordon D’Arcy, Leonardo Ghiraldini, John Hayes, Andrea Masi, Paul O’Connell, Salvatore Perugini, Alessandro Troncon
11 – Mirco Bergamasco, Marco Bortolami, Gonzalo Canale, Sean Cronin, Rob Kearney, Luke McLean, Donncha O’Callaghan, Malcolm O’Kelly, Peter Stringer

Top Points Scorers – Ireland v Italy:

180 – Ronan O’Gara
96 – Diego Dominguez
76 – Jonathan Sexton
67 – David Humphreys
40 – Keith Earls, Denis Hickie
37 – Paddy Jackson
36 – Paul Burke
30 – Girvan Dempsey, Brian O’Driscoll

Top Try Scorers – Ireland v Italy:

8 – Keith Earls, Denis Hickie
6 – Girvan Dempsey, Brian O’Driscoll
5 – Shane Horgan
4 – Tommy Bowe, John Kelly, CJ Stander, Andrew Trimble
3 – Sean Cronin, Craig Gilroy, Jamie Heaslip, Rob Henderson, Jordan Larmour, Conor Murray, Ronan O’Gara, Jacob Stockdale, Paolo Vaccari

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)
Lost 25-7 v Wales away (Six Nations)

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

Lost 46-15 v England home (Six Nations)
Lost 56-19 v Ireland away (Six Nations)
Lost 34-17 v France away (Six Nations)
Lost 38-14 v Wales away (Six Nations)
Lost 29-27 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Lost 34-17 v Japan away (Summer Series)
Won 25-22 v Japan away (Summer Series)
Lost 54-7 v Ireland neutral (Autumn Test)
Won 28-17 v Georgia home (Autumn Series)
Lost 26-7 v Australia home (Autumn Series)
Lost 66-3 v New Zealand home (Autumn Series)
Lost 33-20 v Scotland away (Six Nations)
Lost 26-15 v Wales away (Six Nations)
Lost 26-16 v Ireland home (Six Nations)
Lost 57-14 v England away (Six Nations)
Lost 25-14 v France home (Six Nations)

Ireland – Most-Capped Players:

133 Brian O’Driscoll
128 Ronan O’Gara
117 Rory Best
108 Paul O’Connell
105 John Hayes
98 Peter Stringer
95 Jamie Heaslip
94 Donncha O’Callaghan
92 Malcolm O’Kelly
90 Rob Kearney
88 Cian Healy
83 Jonathan Sexton
82 Gordon D’Arcy
82 Girvan Dempsey
77 Keith Earls
72 David Humphreys
72 Geordan Murphy
72 Conor Murray
72 David Wallace
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

Italy – Most-Capped Players:

138 Sergio Parisse
119 Martin Castrogiovanni
112 Marco Bortolami
111 Alessandro Zanni
106 Mauro Bergamasco
104 Leonardo Ghiraldini
103 Andrea Lo Cicero
101 Alessandro Troncon
95 Andrea Masi
89 Mirco Bergamasco
89 Luke McLean
86 Gonzalo Canale
83 Carlo Checchinato
83 Salvatore Perugini
81 Fabio Ongaro

Italy – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

983 Diego Dominguez
483 Stefano Bettarello
294 Luigi Troiani
269 Tommaso Allan
260 Ramiro Pez
256 Mirco Bergamasco
154 Luciano Orquera

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

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)
951 Florin Vlaicu (Romania)
911 Michael Lynagh (Australia)
893 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
878 Matt Burke (Australia)
840 Merab Kvirikashvili (Georgia)
816 Owen Farrell (England)
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)
138 Sergio Parisse (Italy)
134 Gethin Jenkins (129-Wales, 5-Lions)
134 Alun Wyn Jones (125-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)
120 Florin Vlaicu (Romania)
119 Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
119 Jason Leonard (114-England, 5-Lions)
119 Kieran Read (New Zealand)
118 Fabien Pelous (France)
118 Tony Woodcock (New Zealand)
117 Adam Ashley-Cooper (Australia)
117 Rory Best (Ireland)
116 Nathan Sharpe (Australia)
115 Merab Kvirikashvili (Georgia)
115 Paul O’Connell (108-Ireland, 7-Lions)
114 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)
111 Alessandro Zanni (Italy)
110 Stephen Jones (104-Wales, 6-Lions)
109 Jean de Villiers (South Africa)
109 Tendai Mtawarira (South Africa)
109 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
109 Sam Whitelock (New Zealand)
108 Yuri Kushnarev (Russia)
107 Catalin Fercu (Romania)
107 Owen Franks (New Zealand)
107 John Hayes (105-Ireland, 2-Lions)
106 Mauro Bergamasco (Italy)
105 Sekope Kepu (Australia)
105 Sean Lamont (Scotland)
104 Leonardo Ghiraldini (Italy)
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 Will Genia (Australia)
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 Victor Gresev (Russia)
100 Jamie Heaslip (95-Ireland, 5-Lions)
100 Adam Jones (95-Wales, 5-Lions)
100 Mils Muliaina (New Zealand)