Head-To-Head: England v Ireland

See below for a statistical preview of next Saturday’s Six Nations clash between England and Ireland at Twickenham (kick-off 3pm).

2008 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, March 15

ENGLAND v IRELAND, Twickenham, 3pm (live RTE Two/BBC One) 

ENGLAND: Iain Balshaw; Paul Sackey, Jamie Noon, Toby Flood, Lesley Vainikolo; Danny Cipriani, Richard Wigglesworth; Andrew Sheridan, Lee Mears, Phil Vickery (capt), Simon Shaw, Steve Borthwick, Tom Croft, Michael Lipman, Nick Easter.

Replacements: George Chuter, Matt Stevens, Ben Kay, James Haskell, Paul Hodgson, Jonny Wilkinson, Mathew Tait.

IRELAND: Geordan Murphy; Tommy Bowe, Andrew Trimble, Shane Horgan, Robert Kearney; Ronan O’Gara (capt), Eoin Reddan; Marcus Horan, Rory Best, John Hayes, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Denis Leamy, David Wallace, Jamie Heaslip.

Replacements: Bernard Jackman, Tony Buckley, Mick O’Driscoll, Simon Easterby, Peter Stringer, Paddy Wallace, Luke Fitzgerald.

Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch Judges: Christophe Berdos (France), Tim Hayes (Wales)
Television Match Official: Hugh Watkins (Wales)
Assessor: Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

Head-To-Head:

Played – 120
England Won – 69 
Ireland Won – 43
Drawn – 8

Biggest Wins In Series:

England: Points: 50-18, 2000 Six Nations; Margin: 46-6, 1997 Five Nations

Ireland: Points & Margin: 43-13, 2007 Six Nations

Biggest Wins & Losses In The International Championship:

England: Win – Points & Margin: 80-23 v Italy (2001); Loss – Points & Margin: 43-13 v Ireland (2007)

Ireland: Win – Points & Margin: 60-13 v Italy (2000); Loss – Points: 50-18 v England (2000); Margin: 46-6 v England (1997)

England v Ireland – In The Six Nations Since 2000: 

2000 – Twickenham: England won 50-18
2001 – Lansdowne Road: Ireland won 20-14
2002 – Twickenham: England won 45-11
2003 – Lansdowne Road: England won 42-6
2004 – Twickenham: Ireland won 19-13
2005 – Lansdowne Road: Ireland won 19-13
2006 – Twickenham: Ireland won 28-24
2007 – Croke Park: Ireland won 43-13

England – Form Guide From Start Of The 2007 Six Nations:

Won 42-20 v Scotland home (6N)
Won 20-7 v Italy home (6N)
Lost 43-13 v Ireland away (6N)
Won 26-18 v France home (6N)
Lost 27-18 v England away (6N)
Lost 58-10 v South Africa (Tour)
Lost 55-22 v South Africa (Tour)
Won 62-5 v Wales home (RWC Warm-Up)
Lost 21-15 v France home (RWC Warm-Up)
Lost 22-9 v France away (RWC Warm-Up)
Won 28-10 v USA neutral (RWC)
Lost 36-0 v South Africa neutral (RWC)
Won 44-22 v Samoa neutral (RWC)
Won 36-20 v Tonga neutral (RWC)
Won 12-10 v Australia neutral (RWC quarter-final)
Won 14-9 v France away (RWC semi-final)
Lost 15-6 v South Africa neutral (RWC final)
Lost 26-19 v Wales home (6N)
Won 23-19 v Italy away (6N)
Won 24-13 v France away (6N)
Lost 15-9 v Scotland away (6N)

Ireland – Form Guide From Start Of The 2007 Six Nations: 

Won 19-9 v Wales away (6N)
Lost 20-17 v France home (6N)
Won 43-13 v England home (6N)
Won 19-18 v Scotland away (6N)
Won 51-24 v Italy away (6N)
Lost 22-20 v Argentina away (Tour)
Lost 16-0 v Argentina away (Tour)
Lost 31-21 v Scotland away (RWC Warm-Up)
Won 23-20 v Italy home (RWC Warm-Up)
Won 32-17 v Namibia neutral (RWC)
Won 14-10 v Georgia neutral (RWC)
Lost 25-3 v France away (RWC)
Lost 30-15 v Argentina neutral (RWC)
Won 16-11 v Italy home (6N)
Lost 26-21 v France away (6N)
Won 34-13 v Scotland home (6N)
Lost 16-12 v Wales home (6N)

World Rugby All-Time Top Points Scorers:

1099 Jonny Wilkinson (1032-England, 67-Lions)* 
1090 Neil Jenkins (1049-Wales, 41-Lions) 
1010 Diego Dominguez (27-Argentina, 983-Italy)
967 Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand)
911 Michael Lynagh (Australia)
878 Matt Burke (Australia)
873 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
822 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)

* includes 20 points for the British and Irish Lions against Argentina (May 2005) (IRB ruling, March 5, 2008)

World Rugby All-Time Top Drop Goal Scorers:

29 Jonny Wilkinson (29-England, 0-Lions)
28 Hugo Porta (26-Argentina, 2-South America)
23 Rob Andrew (21-England, 2-Lions)

World Rugby All-Time Top Try Scorers:

65 Daisuke Ohata (Japan)
64 David Campese (Australia)
50 Rory Underwood (49-England, 1-Lions)
49 Doug Howlett (New Zealand)
46 Christian Cullen (New Zealand)
44 Jeff Wilson (New Zealand)
43 Joe Rokocoko (New Zealand)
41 Gareth Thomas (40-Wales, 1-Lions)
40 Chris Latham (Australia), Shane Williams (Wales)
38 Serge Blanco (France)
38 Joost van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
37 Jonah Lomu (New Zealand)

International Championship All-Time Scoring Records:

Points –

479 Jonny Wilkinson (England)
438 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
406 Neil Jenkins (Wales)
328 Stephen Jones (Wales) 
309 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
288 Gavin Hastings (Scotland)
270 David Humphreys (Ireland)

Tries –

24 Ian Smith (Scotland)
18 Cyril Lowe (England)
18 Rory Underwood (England)
18 Gareth Edwards (Wales)
17 Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)

England – Most-Capped Players:

114 Jason Leonard
85 Rory Underwood
85 Lawrence Dallaglio
84 Martin Johnson
77 Matt Dawson
75 Mike Catt
72 Will Carling
71 Richard Hill
71 Rob Andrew
69 Jonny Wilkinson
69 Danny Grewcock
66 Neil Back
65 Jeremy Guscott
65 Joe Worsley

England – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

1032 Jonny Wilkinson
400 Paul Grayson
396 Rob Andrew
296 Jon Webb
259 Charlie Hodgson
240 Dusty Hare
210 Rory Underwood (includes four-point tries)

England – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

49 Rory Underwood
31 Ben Cohen
31 Will Greenwood
30 Jeremy Guscott
28 Jason Robinson
24 Dan Luger
22 Josh Lewsey
18 Cyril Lowe
17 Lawrence Dallaglio
16 Matt Dawson
16 Neil Back
15 Austin Healey
13 Tony Underwood
13 Mike Tindall
13 Mark Cueto
13 Iain Balshaw

Ireland – Most-Capped Players: 

91 Malcolm O’Kelly
83 Brian O’Driscoll
83 John Hayes
81 Ronan O’Gara
81 Peter Stringer
80 Girvan Dempsey
72 David Humphreys
70 Kevin Maggs
69 Mike Gibson
64 Simon Easterby
63 Willie John McBride

Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers: 

822 Ronan O’Gara
560 David Humphreys
308 Michael Kiernan
296 Eric Elwood
217 Ollie Campbell
167 Brian O’Driscoll

Ireland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers: 

31 Brian O’Driscoll
29 Denis Hickie
20 Shane Horgan
19 Girvan Dempsey
18 Geordan Murphy
17 Brendan Mullin
15 Keith Wood
15 Kevin Maggs
14 George Stephenson
14 Ronan O’Gara

Data supplied by SAS Software – the official data and competitive intelligence partner of the RBS 6 Nations championship