Head-To-Head: Ireland v South Africa

2012 GUINNESS SERIES MATCH: Saturday, November 10

IRELAND v SOUTH AFRICA, Aviva Stadium, 5.30pm (live RTÉ Two/BBC Two)

IRELAND: Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster); Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), 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), Richardt Strauss (Old Wesley/Leinster), Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster), Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster), Mike McCarthy (Buccaneers/Connacht), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), Chris Henry (Malone/Ulster), Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster) (capt).

Replacements: Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), David Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster), Michael Bent (Leinster), Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster), Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster), Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster), Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster).

SOUTH AFRICA: Zane Kirchner (Blue Bulls); JP Pietersen (Sharks), Jaco Taute (Golden Lions), Jean de Villiers (Western Province) (capt), Francois Hougaard (Blue Bulls); Pat Lambie (Sharks), Ruan Pienaar (Ulster); Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks), Adriaan Strauss (Cheetahs), Jannie du Plessis (Sharks), Eben Etzebeth (Western Province), Juandré Kruger (Blue Bulls), Francois Louw (Bath), Willem Alberts (Sharks), Duane Vermeulen (Western Province).

Replacements: Schalk Brits (Saracens), CJ van der Linde (Golden Lions), Pat Cilliers (Golden Lions), Flip van der Merwe (Blue Bulls), Marcell Coetzee (Sharks), Morné Steyn (Blue Bulls), Juan de Jongh (Western Province), Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks).

Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant Referees: Steve Walsh (Australia), Stuart Terheege (England)
Television Match Official: Giulio De Santis (Italy)

Head-to-Head:

Played – 20
Ireland Won – 4
South Africa Won – 15
Drawn – 1

Ireland v South Africa: IRFU Stats Vault

Previous Meetings:

November 24, 1906 – Tour Match – Ireland 12 South Africa 15, Balmoral Showgrounds
November 30, 1912 – Tour Match – Ireland 0 South Africa 38, Lansdowne Road
December 19, 1931 – Tour Match – Ireland 3 South Africa 8, Lansdowne Road
December 8, 1951 – Tour Match – Ireland 5 South Africa 17, Lansdowne Road
December 17, 1960 – Tour Match – Ireland 3 South Africa 8, Lansdowne Road
May 13, 1961 – Tour Match – South Africa 24 Ireland 8, Newlands
April 10, 1965 – Tour Match – Ireland 9 South Africa 6, Lansdowne Road
January 10, 1970 – Tour Match – Ireland 8 South Africa 8, Lansdowne Road
May 30, 1981 – Tour Match – South Africa 23 Ireland 15, Newlands
June 06, 1981 – Tour Match – South Africa 12 Ireland 10, ABSA Stadium
June 13, 1998 – Tour Match – South Africa 37 Ireland 13, Vodacom Park
June 20, 1998 – Tour Match – South Africa 33 Ireland 0, Loftus Versfeld
November 28, 1998 – Tour Match – Ireland 13 South Africa 27, Lansdowne Road
November 19, 2000 – Tour Match – Ireland 18 South Africa 28, Lansdowne Road
June 12, 2004 – Tour Match – South Africa 31 Ireland 17, Vodacom Park
June 19, 2004 – Tour Match – South Africa 26 Ireland 17, Newlands
November 13, 2004 – Tour Match – Ireland 17 South Africa 12, Lansdowne Road
November 11, 2006 – Tour Match – Ireland 32 South Africa 15, Lansdowne Road
November 28, 2009 – Tour Match – Ireland 15 South Africa 10, Croke Park
November 6, 2010 – Tour Match – Ireland 21 South Africa 23, Aviva Stadium

Biggest Wins And Margins:

Ireland: Points & Margin: 32-15, 2006 Autumn Test

South Africa: Points & Margin: 38-0, 1912 Tour Match

Individual Records In The Series Since 1998:

Most Points In A Match: Ireland 17 (Ronan O’Gara, 2004 Autumn Test); South Africa 20 (Stefan Terblanche, 1998 Summer Second Test)

Most Tries In A Match: Ireland 1 (by twelve players); South Africa 4 (Stefan Terblanche, 1998 Summer Tour First Test)

Top Points Scorers – Ireland v South Africa Since 1998:

56 – Ronan O’Gara, Percy Montgomery
24 – Jonathan Sexton
23 – Gaffie du Toit
20 – Stefan Terblanche
16 – Eric Elwood, Morne Steyn
15 – Joost van der Westhuizen
10 – Johan Erasmus, Tyrone Howe, Bakkies Botha, Shane Horgan

Top Try Scorers – Ireland v South Africa Since 1998:

4 – Stefan Terblanche
3 – Joost van der Westhuizen
2 – Johan Erasmus, Tyrone Howe, Bakkies Botha, Shane Horgan
1 – Mark Andrews, Justin Bishop, James Dalton, Pieter Rossouw, Gary Teichmann, Keith Wood, Denis Hickie, Corne Krige, Andre Venter, Wayne Julies, Pedrie Wannenburg, Brian O’Driscoll, Jaque Fourie, Breyton Paulse, Ronan O’Gara, Marcus Horan, Andrew Trimble, David Wallace, Bryan Habana, Francois Steyn, Schalk Burger, Tommy Bowe, Rob Kearney, Juan Smith, Gio Aplon

Ireland – Form Guide From Start Of The 2011 Six Nations:

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)
Drew 17-17 v France away (Six Nations)
Won 32-14 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Lost 30-9 v England away (Six Nations)
Lost 42-10 v New Zealand away (Summer Tour)
Lost 22-19 v New Zealand away (Summer Tour)
Lost 60-0 v New Zealand away (Summer Tour)

South Africa – Form Guide From Start Of The 2011 Tri Nations:

Lost 39-20 v Australia away (Tri Nations)
Lost 40-7 v New Zealand away (Tri Nations)
Lost 14-9 v Australia home (Tri Nations)
Won 18-5 v New Zealand home (Tri Nations)
Won 17-16 v Wales neutral (Rugby World Cup Pool D)
Won 49-3 v Fiji neutral (Rugby World Cup Pool D)
Won 87-0 v Namibia neutral (Rugby World Cup Pool D)
Won 13-5 v Samoa neutral (Rugby World Cup Pool D)
Lost 11-9 v Australia neutral (Rugby World Cup quarter-final)
Won 22-17 v England home (Summer Series)
Won 36-27 v England home (Summer Series)
Drew 14-14 v England home (Summer Series)
Won 27-6 v Argentina home (Rugby Championship)
Drew 16-16 v Argentina away (Rugby Championship)
Lost 26-19 v Australia away (Rugby Championship)
Lost 21-11 v New Zealand away (Rugby Championship)
Won 31-8 v Australia home (Rugby Championship)
Lost 32-16 v New Zealand home (Rugby Championship)

Ireland – Most-Capped Players:

124 Ronan O’Gara
120 Brian O’Driscoll
105 John Hayes
98 Peter Stringer
92 Malcolm O’Kelly
88 Donncha O’Callaghan
85 Paul O’Connell
82 Girvan Dempsey
72 David Humphreys
72 David Wallace
72 Geordan Murphy
70 Kevin Maggs
69 Gordon D’Arcy
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
236 Jonathan Sexton
217 Ollie Campbell
158 Tom Kiernan

Ireland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

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

South Africa – Most-Capped Players:

111 John Smit
110 Victor Matfield
102 Percy Montgomery
89 Joost van der Westhuizen
83 Bryan Habana
81 Jean de Villiers
80 Os du Randt
77 Mark Andrews
76 Bakkies Botha
73 CJ van der Linde
69 Jaque Fourie
69 Juan Smith

South Africa – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

893 Percy Montgomery
486 Morne Steyn
312 Naas Botha
240 Joel Stransky
235 Bryan Habana
221 Braam van Straaten
190 Joost van der Westhuizen
181 Jannie de Beer
171 Andre Pretorius
160 Jaque Fourie

South Africa – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

47 Bryan Habana
38 Joost van der Westhuizen
32 Jaque Fourie
26 Breyton Paulse
25 Percy Montgomery
21 Pieter Rossouw
20 James Small
20 Jean de Villiers
19 Danie Gerber
19 Stefan Terblanche

World Rugby All-Time Top Points Scorers:

1360 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)
47 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
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)

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

The ‘100 Caps’ Club:

139 George Gregan (Australia)
126 Brian O’Driscoll (120-Ireland, 6-Lions)
126 Ronan O’Gara (124-Ireland, 2-Lions)
119 Jason Leonard (114-England, 5-Lions)
118 Fabien Pelous (France)
113 Richie McCaw (New Zealand)
112 Nathan Sharpe (Australia)
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)
104 Martyn Williams (100-Wales, 4-Lions)
103 Gareth Thomas (100-Wales, 3-Lions)
102 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
102 Stephen Larkham (Australia)
101 David Campese (Australia)
101 Alessandro Troncon (Italy)
100 Keven Mealamu (New Zealand)
100 Mils Muliaina (New Zealand)