Head-To-Head: Ireland v Scotland

A statistical preview of today’s opening Guinness Six Nations tussle between Ireland and Scotland at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 4.45pm). The game marks Andy Farrell’s debut as Ireland head coach.

2020 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, February 1

IRELAND v SCOTLAND, Aviva Stadium, 4.45pm (live Virgin Media One/UTV/ITV/RTÉ Radio 1/BBC Radio Ulster/FR2/DMAX/NBC/IRFU Live Blog)

IRELAND: Jordan Larmour (St. Mary’s College/Leinster); Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht), Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) (capt), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Iain Henderson (Queen’s University/Ulster), James Ryan (UCD/Leinster), CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster), Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster), Caelan Doris (UCD/Leinster).

Replacements: Ronan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster), Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster), Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster), Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster). Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster).

SCOTLAND: Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) (capt); Sean Maitland (Saracens), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors), Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors), Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh); Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors), Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors); Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh), Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors), Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors), Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh), Hamish Watson (Edinburgh), Nick Haining (Edinburgh).

Replacements: Stuart McInally (Edinburgh), Allan Dell (London Irish), Simon Berghan (Edinburgh), Ben Toolis (Edinburgh), Cornell du Preez (Worcester Warriors), George Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints), Chris Harris (Gloucester).

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees: Pascal Gaüzère (France), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
Television Match Official: Glenn Newman (New Zealand)

Head-To-Head:

Played – 136
Ireland Won – 64
Scotland Won – 66
Drawn – 5
Abandoned – 1

The five drawn matches were in 1893, 1896, 1900 (all 0-0), 1979 (11-11) and 1994 (6-6). The abandoned game was in 1885 at Ormeau in Belfast, when the pitch became waterlogged during a storm.

Ireland v Scotland – Results Since 2000:

2000: Ireland won 44-22, Lansdowne Road
2001: Scotland won 32-10, Murrayfield
2002: Ireland won 43-22, Lansdowne Road
2003: Ireland won 36-6, Murrayfield; Ireland won 29-10, Murrayfield
2004: Ireland won 37-16, Lansdowne Road
2005: Ireland won 40-13, Murrayfield
2006: Ireland won 15-9, Lansdowne Road
2007: Ireland won 19-18, Murrayfield; Scotland won 31-21, Murrayfield
2008: Ireland won 34-13, Croke Park
2009: Ireland won 22-15, Murrayfield
2010: Scotland won 23-20, Croke Park
2011: Ireland won 21-18, Murrayfield; Scotland won 10-6, Murrayfield
2012: Ireland won 32-14, Aviva Stadium
2013: Scotland won 12-8, Murrayfield
2014: Ireland won 28-6, Aviva Stadium
2015: Ireland won 40-10, Murrayfield; Ireland won 28-22, Aviva Stadium
2016: Ireland won 35-25, Aviva Stadium
2017: Scotland won 27-22, BT Murrayfield
2018: Ireland won 28-8, Aviva Stadium
2019: Ireland won 22-13, BT Murrayfield; Ireland won 27-3, International Stadium Yokohama

Biggest Wins:

Ireland: Points: 44-22, 2000 Six Nations; Margin: 36-6, 2003 Six Nations; 40-10, 2015 Six Nations

Scotland: Points & Margin: 38-10, 1997 Five Nations

Individual Records In The Series:

Most Points In A Match: Ireland 26 (David Humphreys 2003); Scotland 18 (Chris Paterson 2007, Dan Parks 2010)

Most Tries In A Match: Ireland 3 (Eugene Davy 1930, Seamus Byrne 1953, Brian O’Driscoll 2002); Scotland 4 (Bill Stewart 1913)

Most Appearances – Ireland v Scotland:

15 – Rory Best, Brian O’Driscoll, Ronan O’Gara
14 – Ross Ford, Mike Gibson
13 – John Hayes, Willie John McBride, Chris Paterson
12 – Sean Lamont, Paul O’Connell, Phil Orr, Fergus Slattery, Peter Stringer
11 – Sandy Carmichael, Jim Hamilton, Scott Hastings, Jamie Heaslip, Moss Keane, Rob Kearney, Tom Kiernan, Bill Maclagan

Top Points Scorers – Ireland v Scotland:

125 – Ronan O’Gara
95 – Chris Paterson
84 – David Humphreys
79 – Jonathan Sexton
75 – Gavin Hastings
68 – Greig Laidlaw
56 – Michael Kiernan
51 – Ollie Campbell, Peter Dods
49 – Andy Irvine
31 – Mike Gibson

Top Try Scorers – Ireland v Scotland:

6 – Roy Laidlaw
5 – Alan Duggan, Brendan Mullin, Brian O’Driscoll
4 – Eugene Davy, Andrew Henderson, Denis Hickie, Arthur Smith, Tony Stanger, George Stephenson, Bill Stewart, Ivan Tukalo, Bunny Wauchope
3 – David Bedell-Sivright, Tommy Bowe, Seamus Byrne, Keith Earls, Mike Gibson, Jamie Heaslip, Stuart Hogg, Jack Kyle, Jim McCarthy, Robert Mackenzie, Fred Moran, Maurice Mortell, Conor Murray, Trevor Ringland, Jacob Stockdale, Andrew Trimble, David Wallace, William Wotherspoon

Ireland – Form Guide From Start Of The 2019 Six Nations:

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)
Won 29-10 v Italy home (GUINNESS Summer Series)
Lost 57-15 v England away (Rugby World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 22-17 v Wales away (Rugby World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 19-10 v Wales home (GUINNESS Summer Series)
Won 27-3 v Scotland neutral (Rugby World Cup Pool A)
Lost 19-12 v Japan away (Rugby World Cup Pool A)
Won 35-0 v Russia neutral (Rugby World Cup Pool A)
Won 47-5 v Samoa neutral (Rugby World Cup Pool A)
Lost 46-14 v New Zealand neutral (Rugby World Cup Quarter-Final)

Scotland – Form Guide From Start Of The 2019 Six Nations:

Won 33-20 v Italy home (Six Nations)
Lost 22-13 v Ireland home (Six Nations)
Lost 27-10 v France away (Six Nations)
Lost 18-11 v Wales home (Six Nations)
Drew 38-38 v England away (Six Nations)
Lost 32-3 v France away (Rugby World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 17-14 v France home (Rugby World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 44-10 v Georgia away (Rugby World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 36-9 v Georgia home (Rugby World Cup Warm-Up)
Lost 27-3 v Ireland neutral (Rugby World Cup Pool A)
Won 34-0 v Samoa neutral (Rugby World Cup Pool A)
Won 61-0 v Russia neutral (Rugby World Cup Pool A)
Lost 28-21 v Japan away (Rugby World Cup Pool A)

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)
402 Owen Farrell (England)
388 Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)
380 Jonathan Sexton (Ireland)
290 Greig Laidlaw (Scotland)
288 Gavin Hastings (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 –
69 Sergio Parisse (Italy)
65 Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)
64 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 Leonardo Ghiraldini (Italy)
53 Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)
53 Willie John McBride (Ireland)
53 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
52 Alessandro Zanni (Italy)
51 Marco Bortolami (Italy)
51 Paul O’Connell (Ireland)
51 Martyn Williams (Wales)
50 Stephen Jones (Wales)
50 Philippe Sella (France)
50 Rory Underwood (England)

Ireland – Most-Capped Players:

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

Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

1083 Ronan O’Gara
791 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 Rob Kearney
16 Ronan O’Gara
16 Jacob Stockdale
15 Kevin Maggs
15 Keith Wood
14 Conor Murray
14 George Stephenson
13 Jamie Heaslip
12 Rory Best
12 Keith Crossan
12 Jonathan Sexton
12 David Wallace
11 Alan Duggan
11 Simon Geoghegan

Scotland – Most-Capped Players:

110 Ross Ford
109 Chris Paterson
105 Sean Lamont
87 Scott Murray
85 Mike Blair
82 Gregor Townsend
77 Nathan Hines
77 Jason White
76 John Barclay
76 Greig Laidlaw
75 Gordon Bulloch
72 Stuart Hogg
71 Stuart Grimes
70 Chris Cusiter
70 Kenny Logan
67 Dan Parks

Scotland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

809 Chris Paterson
714 Greig Laidlaw
667 Gavin Hastings
269 Andy Irvine
266 Dan Parks
220 Kenny Logan
210 Peter Dods
166 Craig Chalmers
164 Gregor Townsend
144 Finn Russell

Scotland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

24 Ian Smith
24 Tony Stanger
22 Chris Paterson
20 Tommy Seymour
19 Stuart Hogg
17 Gavin Hastings
17 Alan Tait
17 Gregor Townsend
15 Ivan Tukalo
14 Sean Lamont
14 Tim Visser

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)
906 Owen Farrell (England)
893 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
878 Matt Burke (Australia)
840 Merab Kvirikashvili (Georgia)
809 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
796 Jonathan Sexton (791-Ireland, 5-Lions)

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 George North (39-Wales, 2-Lions)
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)
143 Alun Wyn Jones (134-Wales, 9-Lions)
142 Sergio Parisse (Italy)
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)
129 Stephen Moore (Australia)
127 Victor Matfield (South Africa)
127 Kieran Read (New Zealand)
124 Rory Best (Ireland)
124 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
121 Adam Ashley-Cooper (Australia)
120 Florin Vlaicu (Romania)
119 Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
119 Davit Kacharava (Georgia)
119 Jason Leonard (114-England, 5-Lions)
118 Fabien Pelous (France)
118 Tony Woodcock (New Zealand)
117 Tendai Mtawarira (South Africa)
117 Sam Whitelock (New Zealand)
117 Alessandro Zanni (Italy)
116 Nathan Sharpe (Australia)
115 Merab Kvirikashvili (Georgia)
115 Paul O’Connell (108-Ireland, 7-Lions)
112 Marco Bortolami (Italy)
112 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
112 Yuri Kushnarev (Russia)
111 Ross Ford (110-Scotland, 1-Lions)
111 Philippe Sella (France)
111 John Smit (South Africa)
111 George Smith (Australia)
110 Will Genia (Australia)
110 Stephen Jones (104-Wales, 6-Lions)
110 Sekope Kepu (Australia)
109 Jean de Villiers (South Africa)
109 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
108 Owen Franks (New Zealand)
107 Catalin Fercu (Romania)
107 John Hayes (105-Ireland, 2-Lions)
106 Mauro Bergamasco (Italy)
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 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 Jamie Heaslip (95-Ireland, 5-Lions)
100 Adam Jones (95-Wales, 5-Lions)
100 Mils Muliaina (New Zealand)
100 Rob Simmons (Australia)