Head-To-Head: Ireland v Canada

A statistical preview of Saturday’s GUINNESS Series opener between Ireland and Canada at the Aviva Stadium (kick-off 7.15pm).

2016 GUINNESS SERIES: Saturday, November 12

IRELAND v CANADA, Aviva Stadium, 7.15pm (live RTÉ 2/Sky Sports 3 HD/ RTÉ Radio 1/IRFU Live Blog)

IRELAND: Tiernan O’Halloran (Buccaneers/Connacht); Craig Gilroy (Bangor/Ulster), Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster), Luke Marshall (Ballymena/Ulster), Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster); Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster), Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht); Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht), Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht), Billy Holland (Cork Constitution/Munster), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) (capt), Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster), Jack O’Donoghue (UL Bohemians/Munster).

Replacements: James Tracy (UCD/Leinster), Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster), John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster), Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster), Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster), Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Leinster), Niyi Adeolokun (Galwegians/Connacht).

CANADA: Matt Evans (Cornish Pirates); DTH van der Merwe (Scarlets), Conor Trainor (RC Vannes/BC Bears), Ciaran Hearn (London Irish), Taylor Paris (Agen); Connor Braid (James Bay AA/BC Bears), Gordon McRorie (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack); Djustice Sears-Duru (Glasgow Warriors/Ontario Blues), Ray Barkwill (Castaway Wanderers/Ontario Blues), Jake Ilnicki (Manawatu Turbos/BC Bears), Brett Beukeboom (Cornish Pirates), Evan Olmstead (Newcastle Falcons/Prairie Wolf Pack), Kyle Baillie (Westshore RFC/Atlantic Rock), Lucas Rumball (Balmy Beach RFC/Ontario Blues), Aaron Carpenter (London Welsh/Ontario Blues) (capt).

Replacements: Eric Howard (Brantford Harlequins/Ontario Blues), Rob Brouwer (Lindsay RFC/Ontario Blues), Matt Tierney (Section Paloise/Ontario Blues), Admir Cejvanovic (Burnaby Lake RFC/BC Bears), Matt Heaton (Darlington Mowden Park/Atlantic Rock), Phil Mack (James Bay AA/BC Bears), Patrick Parfrey (James Bay AA/Atlantic Rock), Nick Blevins (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack).

Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Matthew Carley (England), Thomas Charabas (France)
Television Match Official: Tim Hayes (Wales)

Head-to-Head:

Played – 7
Ireland Won – 6
Canada Won – 0
Drawn – 1

Ireland v Canada: IRFU Stats Vault

Previous Meetings:

1987: Rugby World Cup Pool 2 – Canada 19 Ireland 46, Carisbrook, Dunedin
1997: Autumn Test – Ireland 33 Canada 11, Lansdowne Road
2000: Summer Tour – Canada 27 Ireland 27, Fletcher’s Field, Markham
2008: Autumn Test – Ireland 55 Canada 0, Thomond Park
2009: Summer Tour – Canada 6 Ireland 25, Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver
2013: Summer Tour – Canada 14 Ireland 40, BMO Stadium, Toronto
2015: Rugby World Cup Pool D – Ireland 50 Canada 7, Millennium Stadium

Biggest Wins And Margins:

Ireland: Points & Margin: 55-0, 2008 Autumn Test

Canada: –

Individual Records In The Series:

Most Points In A Match: Ireland 19 (Michael Kiernan 1987); Canada 17 (Scott Stewart 2000)

Most Tries In A Match: Ireland 3 (Fergus McFadden, 2013); Canada 1 (Mark Cardinal 1987, 1997; Phil Murphy 2000, Winston Stanley 2000, Scott Stewart 2000; Tyler Ardron 2013)

Most Appearances – Ireland v Canada:

4 – Aaron Carpenter, Ciaran Hearn, Jebb Sinclair
3 – Rory Best, Eddie Evans, Tyler Hotson, Phil Mack, James Pritchard, Eoin Reddan, Gareth Rees, Mike Ross, Peter Stringer, Doug Wooldridge

Top Points Scorers – Ireland v Canada:

22 – Ronan O’Gara
21 – Gareth Rees, Mark Wyatt
19 – Michael Kiernan
17 – Scott Stewart
15 – Rob Kearney, Fergus McFadden, James Pritchard
14 – Jonathan Sexton
12 – Ian Madigan
10 – Tommy Bowe, Ian Keatley, Kevin Nowlan

Top Try Scorers – Ireland v Canada:

3 – Rob Kearney, Fergus McFadden
2 – Tommy Bowe, Mark Cardinal, Keith Crossan, Kevin Nowlan

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)
Won 58-15 v Italy home (Six Nations)
Won 35-25 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Won 26-20 v South Africa away (Summer Tour)
Lost 32-26 v South Africa away (Summer Tour)
Lost 19-13 v South Africa away (Summer Tour)
Won 40-29 v New Zealand neutral (Autumn Test)

Canada – Form Guide From Start Of The 2015 Test Season:

Lost 20-6 v Japan neutral (Pacific Nations Cup)
Lost 28-18 v Tonga home (Pacific Nations Cup)
Lost 21-20 v Samoa home (Pacific Nations Cup)
Lost 15-13 v USA home (Pacific Nations Cup)
Lost 41-23 v USA home (World Cup Warm-Up)
Won 16-15 v Georgia neutral (World Cup Warm-Up)
Lost 47-18 v Fiji neutral (World Cup Warm-Up)
Lost 50-7 v Ireland neutral (Rugby World Cup Pool D)
Lost 23-18 v Italy neutral (Rugby World Cup Pool D)
Lost 41-18 v France neutral (Rugby World Cup Pool D)
Lost 17-15 v Romania neutral (Rugby World Cup Pool D)
Won 33-17 v Uruguay home (Americas Rugby Championship)
Lost 30-22 v USA away (Americas Rugby Championship)
Won 52-25 v Brazil home (Americas Rugby Championship)
Lost 54-21 v Argentina XV away (Americas Rugby Championship)
Won 64-13 v Chile away (Americas Rugby Championship)
Lost 26-22 v Japan home (Summer Test)
Won 46-21 v Russia home (Summer Test)
Lost 20-18 v Italy home (Summer Test)

Ireland – Most-Capped Players:

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

Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

1083 Ronan O’Gara
584 Jonathan Sexton
560 David Humphreys
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 Keith Earls
17 Brendan Mullin
17 Andrew Trimble
16 Ronan O’Gara
15 Kevin Maggs
15 Keith Wood
14 George Stephenson
13 Jamie Heaslip
13 Rob Kearney
12 Keith Crossan
12 David Wallace

Canada – Most-Capped Players:

76 Alan Charron
74 Aaron Carpenter
66 Winston Stanley
64 Scott Stewart
62 James Pritchard
62 Rod Snow
58 Bobby Ross
57 Ed Fairhurst
56 Mike James
56 Morgan Williams

Canada – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

607 James Pritchard
491 Gareth Rees
419 Bobby Ross
234 Mark Wyatt
226 Jared Barker
135 Gordon McRorie
123 Winston Stanley

Canada – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

24 Winston Stanley
20 DTH van der Merwe
18 James Pritchard
16 Aaron Carpenter
13 Morgan Williams
10 Kyle Nichols

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:

66 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
64 David Campese (Australia)
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)
45 Julian Savea (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 Gethin Jenkins (127-Wales, 5-Lions)
132 Keven Mealamu (New Zealand)
130 Ronan O’Gara (128-Ireland, 2-Lions)
127 Victor Matfield (South Africa)
123 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
119 Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
119 Jason Leonard (114-England, 5-Lions)
119 Sergio Parisse (Italy)
118 Fabien Pelous (France)
118 Tony Woodcock (New Zealand)
116 Adam Ashley-Cooper (Australia)
116 Nathan Sharpe (Australia)
115 Paul O’Connell (108-Ireland, 7-Lions)
113 Stephen Moore (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)
108 Alun Wyn Jones (102-Wales, 6-Lions)
107 John Hayes (105-Ireland, 2-Lions)
106 Mauro Bergamasco (Italy)
105 Sean Lamont (Scotland)
104 Martyn Williams (100-Wales, 4-Lions)
103 Matt Giteau (Australia)
103 Andrea Lo Cicero (Italy)
103 Ma’a Nonu (New Zealand)
103 Gareth Thomas (100-Wales, 3-Lions)
102 Stephen Larkham (Australia)
102 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
101 David Campese (Australia)
101 Alessandro Troncon (Italy)
101 Vasco Uva (Portugal)
100 Ross Ford (99-Scotland, 1-Lions)
100 Adam Jones (95-Wales, 5-Lions)
100 Mils Muliaina (New Zealand)