WORLD CUP WARM-UP MATCH: Friday, August 24
IRELAND v ITALY, Ravenhill, 7.45pm (live RTE Two/BBC 2)
Ireland: Girvan Dempsey; Geordan Murphy, Andrew Trimble, Gordon D'Arcy, Denis Hickie; Ronan O'Gara, Peter Stringer; Marcus Horan, Rory Best, John Hayes, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell (capt), Simon Easterby, Neil Best, Denis Leamy.
Replacements: Jerry Flannery, Simon Best, Malcolm O'Kelly, Alan Quinlan, Isaac Boss, Paddy Wallace, Brian Carney.
Italy: David Bortolussi; Kaine Robertson, Gonzalo Canale, Mirco Bergamasco, Matteo Pratichetti; Roland De Marigny, Alessandro Troncon; Salvatore Perugini, Fabio Ongaro, Martin Castrogiovanni, Valerio Bernabo, Marco Bortolami (capt), Alessandro Zanni, Robert Barbieri, Sergio Parisse.
Replacements: Leonardo Ghiraldini, Matias Aguero, Josh Sole, Manoa Vosawai, Paul Griffen, Pablo Canavosio, Ezio Galon.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Touch Judges: Dave Pearson (England), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television Match Official: Derek Bevan (Wales)
Head-To-Head:
Played - 14
Ireland Won - 11
Italy Won - 3
Ireland v Italy In The Six Nations:
Played - 8
Ireland Won - 8
Italy Won - 0
(Italy won three successive games, in 1995 and twice in 1997, before joining the Six Nations championship in 2000)
Biggest Win In The Series:
Ireland - Points And Margin: 61-6 (2003 World Cup warm-up match)
Italy - Points: 37-29 (1997 friendly); Margin: 37-22 (1997 friendly)
Composite Six Nations Record (2000-2007):
Ireland - Played 40, Won 29, Drawn 0, Lost 11
Italy - Played 40, Won 5, Drawn 1, Lost 34
Form Guide From 2006 Six Nations:
Ireland:
Italy (6N) home - won 26-16
France (6N) away - lost 31-43
Wales (6N) home - won 31-5
Scotland (6N) home - won 15-9
England (6N) away - won 28-24
New Zealand away - lost 23-34
New Zealand away - lost 17-27
Australia away - lost 15-37
South Africa home - won 32-15
Australia home - won 21-6
Pacific Islanders home - won 61-17
Wales (6N) away - won 19-9
France (6N) home - lost 17-20
England (6N) home - won 43-13
Scotland (6N) away - won 19-18
Italy (6N) home - won 51-24
Argentina away - lost 20-22
Argentina away - lost 0-16
Scotland away - lost 21-31
Italy:
Ireland (6N) away - lost 16-26
England (6N) home - lost 16-31
France (6N) away - lost 12-37
Wales (6N) away - drew 18-18
Scotland (6N) home - lost 10-13
Japan away - won 52-6
Fiji away - lost 18-29
Portugal (RWCQ) home - won 83-0
Russia (RWCQ) away - won 67-7
Australia home - lost 18-25
Argentina home - lost 16-23
Canada home - won 41-6
France (6N) home - lost 3-39
England (6N) away - lost 7-20
Scotland (6N) away - won 37-17
Wales (6N) home - won 23-20
Ireland (6N) home - lost 24-51
Uruguay away - won 29-5
Argentina away - lost 6-24
Japan home - won 36-12
Most Capped Players:
Ireland:
86 - Malcolm O'Kelly
76 - Peter Stringer
75 - Brian O'Driscoll
74 - Girvan Dempsey, John Hayes
72 - David Humphreys, Ronan O'Gara
70 - Kevin Maggs
Italy:
96 - Alessandro Troncon
83 - Carlo Checchinato
74 - Diego Dominguez
69 - Massimo Cuttitta, Cristian Alessandro Stoica
67 - Andrea Lo Cicero
64 - Paolo Vaccari
World's Most-Capped Players:
134 - George Gregan
119 - Jason Leonard*
112 - Fabien Pelous
111 - Philippe Sella
101 - David Campese, Stephen Larkham
99 - Gareth Thomas**
96 - Alessandro Troncon
93 - Serge Blanco
92 - Sean Fitzpatrick, Martin Johnson***, Gareth Llewellyn
(*Leonard has 114 caps for England and 5 for the Lions, **Thomas has 96 caps for Wales and 3 for the Lions, ***Johnson has 84 caps for England and 8 for the Lions)
All-Time Top Points Scorers:
Ireland:
742 - Ronan O'Gara
560 - David Humphreys
308 - Michael Kiernan
296 - Eric Elwood
217 - Ollie Campbell
Italy:
983 - Diego Dominguez
483 - Stefano Bettarello
296 - Luigi Troiani
243 - Ramiro Pez
All-Time Top Try Scorers:
Italy:
25 - Marcello Cuttitta
22 - Paolo Vaccari
21 - Carlo Checchinato, Manrico Marchetto
Ireland:
29 - Denis Hickie, Brian O'Driscoll
20 - Shane Horgan
17 - Girvan Dempsey, Geordan Murphy, Brendan Mullin
15 - Keith Wood, Kevin Maggs
14 - George Stephenson
World's All-Time Top Points Scorers:
1090 - Neil Jenkins (1049 for Wales, 41 for the Lions)
1010 - Diego Dominguez (27 for Argentina, 983 for Italy)
967 - Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand)
962 - Jonny Wilkinson (915 for England, 47 for the Lions)
911 - Michael Lynagh (Australia)
878 - Matt Burke (Australia)
742 - Ronan O'Gara (Ireland)
733 - Gavin Hastings (667 for Scotland, 66 for the Lions)