Head-To-Head: Ireland v Italy

2016 RBS 6 NATIONS: Saturday, March 12

IRELAND (5th) v ITALY (6th), Aviva Stadium, 1.30pm (live RTÉ Two/ITV/RTÉ Radio 1/IRFU Live Blog)

IRELAND: Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster); Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster), Jared Payne (Ulster), Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Connacht), Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) (capt), Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster), Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), CJ Stander (Munster), Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster).

Replacements: Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht), Nathan White (Connacht), Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht), Rhys Ruddock (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht), Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster), Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster).

ITALY: David Odiete (Marchiol Mogliano); Leonardo Sarto (Zebre), Michele Campagnaro (Exeter Chiefs), Gonzalo Garcia (Zebre), Mattia Bellini (Petrarca Padova); Edoardo Padovani (Zebre), Guglielmo Palazzani (Zebre); Andrea Lovotti (Zebre), Davide Giazzon (Benetton Treviso), Lorenzo Cittadini (Wasps), George Biagi (Zebre), Marco Fuser (Benetton Treviso), Francesco Minto (Benetton Treviso), Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Treviso), Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais) (capt).

Replacements: Oliviero Fabiani (Zebre), Matteo Zanusso (Benetton Treviso), Dario Chistolini (Zebre), Quintin Geldenhuys (Zebre), Braam Steyn (Benetton Treviso), Alberto Lucchese (Benetton Treviso), Kelly Haimona (Zebre), Luke McLean (Benetton Treviso).

Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Romain Poite (France), Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Television Match Official: George Ayoub (Australia)

Head-To-Head:

Played – 25
Ireland Won – 21
Italy Won – 4

Ireland v Italy: IRFU Stat Zone

Ireland had won 17 matches in succession against Italy before losing in Rome in March 2013; Italy won three times between 1995 and 1997 before their entry into the RBS 6 Nations Championship

Ireland v Italy – Results Since 2000:

2000: Ireland won 60-13, Dublin
2001: Ireland won 41-22, Rome
2002: Ireland won 32-17, Dublin
2003: Ireland won 37-13, Rome; Ireland won 61-6, Limerick
2004: Ireland won 19-3, Dublin
2005: Ireland won 28-17, Rome
2006: Ireland won 26-16, Dublin
2007: Ireland won 51-24, Rome; Ireland won 23-20, Belfast
2008: Ireland won 16-11, Dublin
2009: Ireland won 38-9, Rome
2010: Ireland won 29-11, Dublin
2011: Ireland won 13-11, Rome; Ireland won 36-6, Dunedin
2012: Ireland won 42-10, Dublin
2013: Italy won 22-15, Rome
2014: Ireland won 46-7, Dublin
2015: Ireland won 26-3, Rome; Ireland won 16-9, London

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)

Most Appearances – Ireland v Italy:

15 – Brian O’Driscoll
14 – Ronan O’Gara
13 – Martin Castrogiovanni, Sergio Parisse
12 – Mauro Bergamasco, Rory Best, Gordon D’Arcy, John Hayes, Andrea Masi, Paul O’Connell, Salvatore Perugini, Alessandro Troncon
11 – Mirco Bergamasco, Marco Bortolami, Gonzalo Canale, Donncha O’Callaghan, Malcolm O’Kelly, Peter Stringer, Alessandro Zanni

Top Points Scorers – Ireland v Italy:

180 – Ronan O’Gara
96 – Diego Dominguez
67 – David Humphreys
55 – Jonathan Sexton
40 – Denis Hickie
36 – Paul Burke
30 – Girvan Dempsey, Brian O’Driscoll

Top Try Scorers – Ireland v Italy:

8 – Denis Hickie
6 – Girvan Dempsey, Brian O’Driscoll
5 – Shane Horgan
4 – Tommy Bowe, Keith Earls, John Kelly
3 – Rob Henderson, Ronan O’Gara, Andrew Trimble, Paolo Vaccari

Ireland – Form Guide From Start Of The 2015 Six Nations:

Won 26-3 v Italy away (Six Nations)
Won 18-11 v France home (Six Nations)
Won 19-9 v England home (Six Nations)
Lost 23-16 v Wales away (Six Nations)
Won 40-10 v Scotland away (Six Nations)
Won 35-21 v Wales away (World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 28-22 v Scotland home (World Cup Warm-Up)
Lost 16-10 v Wales home (World Cup Warm-Up)
Lost 21-13 v England away (World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 50-7 v Canada neutral (World Cup Pool D)
Won 44-10 v Romania neutral (World Cup Pool D)
Won 16-9 v Italy neutral (World Cup Pool D)
Won 24-9 v France neutral (World Cup Pool D)
Lost 43-20 v Argentina neutral (World Cup Quarter-Final)
Drew 16-16 v Wales home (Six Nations)
Lost 10-9 v France away (Six Nations)
Lost 21-10 v England away (Six Nations)

Italy – Form Guide From Start Of The 2015 Six Nations:

Lost 26-3 v Ireland home (Six Nations)
Lost 47-17 v England away (Six Nations)
Won 22-19 v Scotland away (Six Nations)
Lost 29-0 v France home (Six Nations)
Lost 61-20 v Wales home (Six Nations)
Lost 16-12 v Scotland home (World Cup Warm-Up)
Lost 48-7 v Scotland away (World Cup Warm-Up)
Lost 23-19 v Wales away (World Cup Warm-Up)
Lost 32-10 v France neutral (World Cup Pool D)
Won 23-18 v Canada neutral (World Cup Pool D)
Lost 16-9 v Ireland neutral (World Cup Pool D)
Won 32-22 v Romania neutral (World Cup Pool D)
Lost 23-21 v France away (Six Nations)
Lost 40-9 v England home (Six Nations)
Lost 36-20 v Scotland home (Six Nations)

International Championship All-Time Records:

Points –
557 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
546 Jonny Wilkinson (England)
467 Stephen Jones (Wales)
406 Neil Jenkins (Wales)
403 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
288 Gavin Hastings (Scotland)
277 Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)
270 David Humphreys (Ireland)
264 Jonathan Sexton (Ireland)
232 Paul Grayson (England)

Tries –
26 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 –
65 Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)
63 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
59 Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
56 Mike Gibson (Ireland)
55 Gethin Jenkins (Wales)
54 John Hayes (Ireland)
54 Jason Leonard (England)
53 Willie John McBride (Ireland)
53 Sergio Parisse (Italy)
53 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
51 Marco Bortolami (Italy)
51 Paul O’Connell (Ireland)
51 Martyn Williams (Wales)
50 Philippe Sella (France)
50 Rory Underwood (England)
50 Stephen Jones (Wales)

Ireland – Most-Capped Players:

133 Brian O’Driscoll
128 Ronan O’Gara
108 Paul O’Connell
105 John Hayes
98 Peter Stringer
94 Donncha O’Callaghan
92 Rory Best
92 Malcolm O’Kelly
83 Jamie Heaslip
82 Gordon D’Arcy
82 Girvan Dempsey
72 David Humphreys
72 David Wallace
72 Geordan Murphy
70 Kevin Maggs
69 Mike Gibson
69 Rob Kearney
69 Eoin Reddan

Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

1083 Ronan O’Gara
560 David Humphreys
550 Jonathan Sexton
308 Michael Kiernan
296 Eric Elwood
245 Brian O’Driscoll
217 Ollie Campbell
158 Tom Kiernan
150 Tommy Bowe

Ireland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

46 Brian O’Driscoll
30 Tommy Bowe
29 Denis Hickie
21 Shane Horgan
19 Girvan Dempsey
18 Geordan Murphy
17 Brendan Mullin
16 Keith Earls
16 Andrew Trimble
16 Ronan O’Gara
15 Kevin Maggs
15 Keith Wood
14 George Stephenson
13 Rob Kearney

Italy – Most-Capped Players:

118 Martin Castrogiovanni
117 Sergio Parisse
112 Marco Bortolami
106 Mauro Bergamasco
103 Andrea Lo Cicero
101 Alessandro Troncon
97 Alessandro Zanni
95 Andrea Masi
89 Mirco Bergamasco
86 Gonzalo Canale
83 Carlo Checchinato
83 Salvatore Perugini
81 Leonardo Ghiraldini
81 Fabio Ongaro

Italy – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

983 Diego Dominguez
483 Stefano Bettarello
294 Luigi Troiani
260 Ramiro Pez
256 Mirco Bergamasco
154 Luciano Orquera

Italy – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

25 Marcello Cuttitta
22 Paolo Vaccari
21 Carlo Checchinato
21 Manrico Marchetto
19 Alessandro Troncon
17 Mirco Bergamasco
17 Serafino Ghizzoni
17 Massimo Mascioletti

World Rugby All-Time Top Points Scorers:

1598 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
1246 Jonny Wilkinson (1179-England, 67-Lions)
1090 Neil Jenkins (1049-Wales, 41-Lions)
1083 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)
64 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
60 Shane Williams (58-Wales, 2-Lions)
50 Rory Underwood (49-England, 1-Lions)
49 Doug Howlett (New Zealand)
47 Brian O’Driscoll (46-Ireland, 1-Lions)
46 Christian Cullen (New Zealand)
46 Joe Rokocoko (New Zealand)
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:

148 Richie McCaw (New Zealand)
141 Brian O’Driscoll (133-Ireland, 8-Lions)
139 George Gregan (Australia)
132 Keven Mealamu (New Zealand)
130 Ronan O’Gara (128-Ireland, 2-Lions)
127 Gethin Jenkins (122-Wales, 5-Lions)
127 Victor Matfield (South Africa)
119 Jason Leonard (114-England, 5-Lions)
118 Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
118 Fabien Pelous (France)
118 Tony Woodcock (New Zealand)
117 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
117 Sergio Parisse (Italy)
116 Nathan Sharpe (Australia)
115 Paul O’Connell (108-Ireland, 7-Lions)
114 Adam Ashley-Cooper (Australia)
112 Marco Bortolami (Italy)
112 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
111 Philippe Sella (France)
111 John Smit (South Africa)
111 George Smith (Australia)
110 Stephen Jones (104-Wales, 6-Lions)
109 Jean de Villiers (South Africa)
109 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
107 John Hayes (105-Ireland, 2-Lions)
106 Mauro Bergamasco (Italy)
104 Martyn Williams (100-Wales, 4-Lions)
103 Alun Wyn Jones (97-Wales, 6-Lions)
103 Andrea Lo Cicero (Italy)
103 Ma’a Nonu (New Zealand)
103 Gareth Thomas (100-Wales, 3-Lions)
102 Matt Giteau (Australia)
102 Sean Lamont (Scotland)
102 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
102 Stephen Larkham (Australia)
102 Stephen Moore (Australia)
101 David Campese (Australia)
101 Alessandro Troncon (Italy)
100 Adam Jones (95-Wales, 5-Lions)
100 Mils Muliaina (New Zealand)
100 Vasco Uva (Portugal)