Head-To-Head: France v Ireland

2012 RBS 6 NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Sunday, March 4

FRANCE (2nd) v IRELAND (4th), Stade de France, 4pm local time/3pm Irish time (live RTÉ Two/BBC Two)

FRANCE: Clément Poitrenaud (Toulouse); Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), Aurélien Rougerie (Clermont Auvergne), Wesley Fofana (Clermont Auvergne), Julien Malzieu (Clermont Auvergne); François Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), Morgan Parra (Clermont Auvergne); Jean-Baptiste Poux (Toulouse), Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Français), Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), Pascal Papé (Stade Français), Yoann Maestri (Toulouse), Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse) (capt), Julien Bonnaire (Clermont Auvergne), Imanol Harinordoquy (Biarritz Olympique).

Replacements: William Servat (Toulouse), Vincent Debaty (Clermont Auvergne), Lionel Nallet (Racing-Metro 92), Louis Picamoles (Toulouse), Julien Dupuy (Stade Français), Lionel Beauxis (Toulouse), Maxime Mermoz (Perpignan).

IRELAND: Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster); Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster), Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster), Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster), Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster), Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster) (capt), Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster), Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster).

Replacements: Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Tom Court (Malone/Ulster), Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster), Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster), Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster).

Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Barnes, Andrew Small (both England)
Television Match Official: Geoff Warren (England)

Head-to-Head:

Played – 89
France Won – 55
Ireland Won – 29
Drawn – 5

France have won eleven of the last twelve meetings between the sides including victories at the 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups. Ireland’s win was at the start of their 2009 Grand Slam season.

The five draws so far were in 1950 (3-3 in Paris), 1965 (3-3 in Dublin), 1971 (9-9 in Dublin), 1979 (9-9 in Dublin) and
1985 (15-15 in Dublin).

Ireland v France: IRFU Stats Vault

Biggest Wins:

France: Points: 45-10, 1996 Five Nations; Margin: 44-5, 2002 Six Nations

Ireland: Points: 30-21, 2009 Six Nations; Margin: 24-0, 1913 Five Nations

Individual Records In The Series:

Most Tries In A Match: France 3 (Christian Darrouy 1963, David Venditti 1967, Vincent Clerc 2007); Ireland 3 (Joe Quinn 1913, Brian O’Driscoll 2000)

Most Points In A Match: France 26 (Thierry Lacroix (1995 RWC); Ireland 17 (Michael Kiernan 1989, Ronan O’Gara 2001 and 2007)

Ireland v France Since 2000:

Played – 16
France Won – 12 (2002, 2003 RWC, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2007 RWC, 2008, 2010, 2011×3)
Ireland Won – 4 (2000, 2001, 2003, 2009)

Ireland – Form Guide From Start Of The 2010 Six Nations:

Won 29-11 v Italy home (Six Nations)
Lost 33-10 v France away (Six Nations)
Won 20-16 v England away (Six Nations)
Won 27-12 v Wales home (Six Nations)
Lost 23-20 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Lost 66-28 v New Zealand away (Summer Tour)
Lost 22-15 v Australia away (Summer Tour)
Lost 23-21 v South Africa home (Autumn Series)
Won 20-10 v Samoa home (Autumn Series)
Lost 38-18 v New Zealand home (Autumn Series)
Won 29-9 v Argentina home (Autumn Series)
Won 13-11 v Italy away (Six Nations)
Lost 25-22 v France home (Six Nations)
Won 21-18 v Scotland away (Six Nations)
Lost 19-13 v Wales away (Six Nations)
Won 24-8 v England home (Six Nations)
Lost 10-6 v Scotland away (World Cup Warm-Up)
Lost 19-12 v France away (World Cup Warm-Up)
Lost 26-22 v France home (World Cup Warm-Up)
Lost 20-9 v England home (World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 22-10 v USA neutral (World Cup Pool C)
Won 15-6 v Australia neutral (World Cup Pool C)
Won 62-12 v Russia neutral (World Cup Pool C)
Won 36-6 v Italy neutral (World Cup Pool C)
Lost 22-10 v Wales neutral (World Cup Quarter-Final)
Lost 23-21 v Wales home (Six Nations)
Won 42-10 v Italy home (Six Nations)

France – Form Guide From Start Of The 2010 Six Nations:

Won 18-9 v Scotland away (Six Nations)
Won 33-10 v Ireland home (Six Nations)
Won 26-20 v Wales away (Six Nations)
Won 46-20 v Italy home (Six Nations)
Won 12-10 v England home (Six Nations)
Lost 42-17 v South Africa away (Summer Tour)
Lost 41-13 v Argentina away (Summer Tour)
Won 34-12 v Fiji home (Autumn Series)
Won 15-9 v Argentina home (Autumn Series)
Lost 59-16 v Australia home (Autumn Series)
Won 34-21 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Won 25-22 v Ireland away (Six Nations)
Lost 17-9 v England away (Six Nations)
Lost 22-21 v Italy away (Six Nations)
Won 28-9 v Wales home (Six Nations)
Won 19-12 v Ireland home (World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 26-22 v Ireland away (World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 47-21 v Japan neutral (World Cup Pool A)
Won 46-19 v Canada neutral (World Cup Pool A)
Lost 37-17 v New Zealand away (World Cup Pool A)
Lost 19-14 v Tonga neutral (World Cup Pool A)
Won 19-12 v England neutral (World Cup Quarter-Final)
Won 9-8 v Wales neutral (World Cup Semi-Final)
Lost 8-7 v New Zealand away (World Cup Final)
Won 30-12 v Italy home (Six Nations)
Won 23-17 v Scotland away (Six Nations)

International Championship All-Time Records:

Points –
551 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
546 Jonny Wilkinson (England)
467 Stephen Jones (Wales)
406 Neil Jenkins (Wales)
403 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
288 Gavin Hastings (Scotland)
270 David Humphreys (Ireland)

Tries –
25 Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)
24 Ian Smith (Scotland)
22 Shane Williams (Wales)
18 Cyril Lowe (England)
18 Rory Underwood (England)
18 Gareth Edwards (Wales)

Caps –
58 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
56 Mike Gibson (Ireland)
55 Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)
54 John Hayes (Ireland)
54 Jason Leonard (England)
53 Willie John McBride (Ireland)
53 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
51 Martyn Williams (Wales)
50 Philippe Sella (France)
50 Rory Underwood (England)
50 Stephen Jones (Wales)

Ireland – Most-Capped Players:

118 Ronan O’Gara
117 Brian O’Driscoll
105 John Hayes
98 Peter Stringer
92 Malcolm O’Kelly
84 Paul O’Connell
82 Girvan Dempsey
82 Donncha O’Callaghan
72 David Humphreys
72 David Wallace
72 Geordan Murphy
70 Kevin Maggs
69 Mike Gibson

Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

1075 Ronan O’Gara
560 David Humphreys
308 Michael Kiernan
296 Eric Elwood
240 Brian O’Driscoll
217 Ollie Campbell
189 Jonathan Sexton
158 Tom Kiernan

Ireland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

45 Brian O’Driscoll
29 Denis Hickie
22 Tommy Bowe
21 Shane Horgan
19 Girvan Dempsey
18 Geordan Murphy
17 Brendan Mullin
16 Ronan O’Gara
15 Kevin Maggs
15 Keith Wood

France – Most-Capped Players:

118 Fabien Pelous
111 Philippe Sella
98 Raphael Ibanez
93 Serge Blanco
89 Olivier Magne
86 Damien Traille
84 Sylvain Marconnet
79 Imanol Harinordoquy
78 Abdelatif Benazzi
73 Yannick Jauzion
73 Aurélien Rougerie

France – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

380 Christophe Lamaison
367 Thierry Lacroix
367 Dimitri Yachvili
354 Didier Camberabero
267 Gerald Merceron
265 Jean-Pierre Romeu
252 Thomas Castaignede
252 Frederic Michalak
242 Morgan Parra
233 Serge Blanco
214 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde
200 Jean-Patrick Lescarboura

France – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

38 Serge Blanco
32 Vincent Clerc
32 Philippe Saint-Andre
30 Philippe Sella
26 Philippe Bernat-Salles
26 Emile Ntamack
25 Christophe Dominici
23 Christian Darrouy
23 Aurélien Rougerie
20 Yannick Jauzion
20 Patrice Lagisquet

World Rugby All-Time Top Points Scorers:

1250 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
1246 Jonny Wilkinson (1179-England, 67-Lions)
1090 Neil Jenkins (1049-Wales, 41-Lions)
1075 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
1010 Diego Dominguez (27-Argentina, 983-Italy)
970 Stephen Jones (917-Wales, 53-Lions)
967 Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand)
911 Michael Lynagh (Australia)
893 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
878 Matt Burke (Australia)
809 Chris Paterson (Scotland)

World Rugby All-Time Top Try Scorers:

64 David Campese (Australia)
60 Shane Williams (58-Wales, 2-Lions)
50 Rory Underwood (49-England, 1-Lions)
49 Doug Howlett (New Zealand)
46 Christian Cullen (New Zealand)
46 Joe Rokocoko (New Zealand)
46 Brian O’Driscoll (45-Ireland, 1-Lions)
44 Jeff Wilson (New Zealand)
41 Gareth Thomas (40-Wales, 1-Lions)
40 Chris Latham (Australia)
40 Bryan Habana (South Africa)

(Note: Daisuke Ohata scored 69 tries for Japan, but not all against major international opposition)

The ‘100 Caps’ Club:

139 George Gregan (Australia)
123 Brian O’Driscoll (117-Ireland, 6-Lions)
120 Ronan O’Gara (118-Ireland, 2-Lions)
119 Jason Leonard (114-England, 5-Lions)
118 Fabien Pelous (France)
111 Philippe Sella (France)
111 John Smit (South Africa)
110 George Smith (Australia)
110 Victor Matfield (South Africa)
110 Stephen Jones (104-Wales, 6-Lions)
109 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
107 John Hayes (105-Ireland, 2-Lions)
103 Gareth Thomas (100-Wales, 3-Lions)
103 Martyn Williams (99-Wales, 4-Lions)
103 Richie McCaw (New Zealand)
102 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
102 Stephen Larkham (Australia)
101 David Campese (Australia)
101 Nathan Sharpe (Australia)
101 Alessandro Troncon (Italy)
100 Mils Muliaina (New Zealand)