Head-To-Head: Ireland v Italy
See below for a statistical preview of Saturday afternoon’s RBS 6 Nations match between Ireland and Italy at Croke Park (kick-off 2.30pm).
2010 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Saturday, February 6
IRELAND v ITALY, Croke Park, 2.30pm (live RTÉ Two/BBC One)
IRELAND: Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster); Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster) (capt), Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster), Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster); Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster), Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin/Munster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster), John Hayes (Bruff/Munster), Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster), Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster), Kevin McLaughlin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster), Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster).
Replacements: Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster), Tom Court (Malone/Ulster), Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster), Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster), Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster), Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster), Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster).
ITALY: Luke McLean (Benetton Treviso); Kaine Robertson (MPS Viadana), Gonzalo Canale (Clermont Auvergne), Gonzalo Garcia (Benetton Treviso), Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais); Craig Gower (Bayonne), Tito Tebaldi (Plusvalore Gran Parma); Salvatore Perugini (Bayonne), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Benetton Treviso) (capt), Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers), Carlo Del Fava (MPS Viadana), Quintin Geldenhuys (MPS Viadana), Josh Sole (MPS Viadana), Mauro Bergamasco (Stade Francais), Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Treviso).
Replacements: Fabio Ongaro (Saracens), Matias Aguero (Saracens), Marco Bortolami (Gloucester), Paul Derbyshire (Petrarca Padova), Simon Picone (Benetton Treviso), Riccardo Bocchino (Femi-CZ Rovigo), Andrea Masi (Racing Metro Paris).
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees: Christophe Berdos (France), Jerome Garces (France)
Television Match Official: Geoff Warren (England)
Head-to-Head:
Played – 17
Ireland Won – 14
Italy Won – 3
Ireland have won the last 13 matches in succession; Italy won three times between 1995 and 1997 before their entry into the RBS 6 Nations Championship
Biggest Wins:
Ireland: Points & Margin: 61-6, 2003 Rugby World Cup Warm-Up
Italy: Points: 37-29, 1997 Friendly Match, 37-22, 1997 Friendly Match; Margin: 37-22, 1997 Friendly Match
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)
Ireland v Italy In The Six Nations:
2000 Ireland won 60-13, Dublin
2001 Ireland won 41-22, Rome
2002 Ireland won 32-17, Dublin
2003 Ireland won 37-13, Rome
2004 Ireland won 19-3, Dublin
2005 Ireland won 28-17, Rome
2006 Ireland won 26-16, Dublin
2007 Ireland won 51-24, Rome
2008 Ireland won 16-11, Dublin
2009 Ireland won 38-9, Rome
Italy’s Wins And Draws In The Six Nations:
2000 Scotland Rome, Won 34-20
2003 Wales Rome, Won 30-22
2004 Scotland Rome, Won 20-14
2006 Wales Cardiff, Drew 18-18
2007 Scotland Murrayfield, Won 37-17
2007 Wales Rome, Won 23-20
2008 Scotland Rome, Won 23-20
Ireland – Form Guide From Start Of The 2009 Six Nations:
Won 30-21 v France home (6N)
Won 38-9 v Italy away (6N)
Won 14-13 v England home (6N)
Won 22-15 v Scotland away (6N)
Won 17-15 v Wales away (6N)
Won 25-6 v Canada away (Summer Tour)
Won 27-10 v USA away (Summer Tour)
Drew 20-20 v Australia home (Autumn Series)
Won 41-6 v Fiji home (Autumn Series)
Won 15-10 v South Africa home (Autumn Series)
Italy – Form Guide From Start Of The 2009 Six Nations:
Lost 36-11 v England away (6N)
Lost 38-9 v Ireland home (6N)
Lost 26-6 v Scotland away (6N)
Lost 20-15 v Wales home (6N)
Lost 50-8 v France home (6N)
Lost 31-8 v Australia away (Summer Tour)
Lost 34-12 v Australia away (Summer Tour)
Lost 27-6 v New Zealand away (Summer Tour)
Lost 20-6 v New Zealand home (Autumn Series)
Lost 32-10 v South Africa home (Autumn Series)
Won 24-6 v Samoa home (Autumn Series)
International Championship All-Time Records:
Points –
499 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
479 Jonny Wilkinson (England)
406 Neil Jenkins (Wales)
382 Stephen Jones (Wales)
361 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
297 Gavin Hastings (Scotland)
270 David Humphreys (Ireland)
Tries –
24 Ian Smith (Scotland)
21 Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)
18 Cyril Lowe (England)
18 Rory Underwood (England)
18 Gareth Edwards (Wales)
17 Shane Williams (Wales)
Ireland – Most-Capped Players:
97 John Hayes
96 Brian O’Driscoll
93 Ronan O’Gara
92 Malcolm O’Kelly
91 Peter Stringer
82 Girvan Dempsey
72 David Humphreys
70 Kevin Maggs
69 Mike Gibson
66 Marcus Horan
65 Paul O’Connell
65 Shane Horgan
65 Simon Easterby
63 Geordan Murphy
63 Willie John McBride
Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:
929 Ronan O’Gara
560 David Humphreys
308 Michael Kiernan
296 Eric Elwood
217 Ollie Campbell
205 Brian O’Driscoll
Ireland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:
38 Brian O’Driscoll
29 Denis Hickie
21 Shane Horgan
19 Girvan Dempsey
18 Geordan Murphy
17 Brendan Mullin
15 Keith Wood
15 Kevin Maggs
14 George Stephenson
14 Ronan O’Gara
12 Keith Crossan
11 Tommy Bowe
11 David Wallace
11 Simon Geoghegan
11 Alan Duggan
Italy – Most-Capped Players:
101 Alessandro Troncon
83 Carlo Checchinato
79 Mauro Bergamasco
78 Andrea Lo Cicero
77 Marco Bortolami
74 Diego Dominguez
71 Cristian Alessandro Stoica
71 Marco Bortolami
69 Massimo Cuttitta
67 Sergio Parisse
66 Mirco Bergamasco
66 Salvatore Perugini
64 Fabio Ongaro
64 Paolo Vaccari
62 Martin Castrogiovanni
Italy – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:
983 Diego Dominguez
483 Stefano Bettarello
294 Luigi Troiani
260 Ramiro Pez
153 David Bortolussi
Italy – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:
25 Marcello Cuttitta
22 Paolo Vaccari
21 Carlo Checchinato
21 Enrico Marchetto
19 Alessandro Troncon
17 Mirco Bergamasco
17 Serafino Ghizzoni
17 Massimo Mascioletti
16 Ivan Francescato
14 Mauro Bergamasco
13 Kaine Robertson
World Rugby All-Time Top Points Scorers:
1125 Jonny Wilkinson (1058-England, 67-Lions)
1090 Neil Jenkins (1049-Wales, 41-Lions)
1010 Diego Dominguez (27-Argentina, 983-Italy)
994 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
967 Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand)
929 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
911 Michael Lynagh (Australia)
893 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
878 Matt Burke (Australia)
784 Stephen Jones (731-Wales, 53-Lions)
741 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
733 Gavin Hastings (667-Scotland, 66-Lions)
World Rugby All-Time Top Try Scorers:
64 David Campese (Australia)
50 Shane Williams (48-Wales, 2-Lions)
50 Rory Underwood (49-England, 1-Lions)
49 Doug Howlett (New Zealand)
46 Christian Cullen (New Zealand)
45 Joe Rokocoko (New Zealand)
44 Jeff Wilson (New Zealand)
41 Gareth Thomas (40-Wales, 1-Lions)
40 Chris Latham (Australia)
39 Brian O’Driscoll (38-Ireland, 1-Lions)
(Note: Daisuke Ohata scored 69 tries for Japan, but not all against major international opposition)
The ‘100 Caps’ Club:
139 George Gregan (Australia)
119 Jason Leonard (114-England, 5-Lions)
118 Fabien Pelous (France)
111 Philippe Sella (France)
110 George Smith (Australia)
103 Gareth Thomas (100-Wales, 3-Lions)
102 Brian O’Driscoll (96-Ireland, 6-Lions)
102 Stephen Larkham (Australia)
102 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
101 David Campese (Australia)
101 Alessandro Troncon (Italy)
99 John Hayes (97-Ireland, 2-Lions)
98 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
98 Raphael Ibanez (France)
96 Colin Charvis (94-Wales, 2-Lions)
95 Ronan O’Gara (93-Ireland, 2-Lions)
95 Martyn Williams (91-Wales, 4-Lions)
Data supplied by SAS Software – the official data and competitive intelligence partner of the RBS 6 Nations Championship