List of Ireland national rugby union team records

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in international rugby union and plays in the Six Nations Championship and Rugby World Cup.

Thomas Gisborne Gordon, who played for Ireland between 1877–78, is the only one handed player to have competed in international rugby of either code.[1]

Career[]

Most caps[]

Seven current or retired members of the Ireland team have earned 100 or more test caps. Ireland's all-time caps leader is Brian O'Driscoll with 133. The active player with the most caps is Cian Healy with 112 caps, followed by Jonathan Sexton with 101 caps.[2]

These figures do not include caps for the Lions. When those are included, O'Driscoll has 140 international caps. O'Gara has 130, O'Connell has 113, and Hayes and Sexton both have 107.[3]

# Player Career Span Caps Tries Pts
1 Brian O'Driscoll 1999–2014 133 46 245
2 Ronan O'Gara 2000–2013 128 16 1083
3 Rory Best 2005–2019 124 12 60
4 Cian Healy 2009– 112 10 50
5 Paul O'Connell 2002–2015 108 8 40
6 John Hayes 2000–2011 105 2 10
7 Jonathan Sexton 2009– 101 15 946
8 Peter Stringer 2000–2011 98 6 30
9 Keith Earls 2008– 96 34 170
10 Jamie Heaslip 2006–2017 95 13 65
Rob Kearney 2007–2019 95 16 82

Last updated: Ireland vs Argentina, 21 November 2021. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Most tries[]

Ireland's record try scorer is Brian O'Driscoll, who notched 46 career tries,[4] which ranks him eighth in international tries.

# Player Career Span Tries Caps Ave.
1 Brian O'Driscoll 1999–2014 46 133 0.35
2 Keith Earls 2008– 34 96 0.35
3 Tommy Bowe 2004–2017 30 69 0.43
4 Denis Hickie 1997–2007 29 62 0.47
5 Shane Horgan 2000–2009 21 65 0.32
6 Girvan Dempsey 1998–2008 19 82 0.23
Jacob Stockdale 2017– 19 35 0.54
7 Geordan Murphy 2000–2011 18 72 0.25
9 Brendan Mullin 1984–1995 17 55 0.31
Andrew Trimble 2005–2017 17 69 0.25

Last updated: Ireland vs Argentina, 21 November 2021. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Most points[]

Ronan O'Gara holds the Ireland record for test points with 1,083,[5] placing him fourth all-time in international rugby union. O'Gara is also the highest points scorer in the Six Nations with 557 points, ahead of Jonny Wilkinson with 546, and Stephen Jones with 467.[6]

# Player Career span Points Caps Tries Con. Pen. DG Ave.
1 Ronan O'Gara 2000–2013 1083 128 16 176 202 15 8.46
2 Jonathan Sexton 2009– 946 101 15 137 195 4 9.37
3 David Humphreys 1996–2005 560 72 6 88 110 8 7.78
4 Michael Kiernan 1982–1991 308 43 6 40 62 6 7.16
5 Eric Elwood 1993–1999 296 35 0 43 68 2 8.46
6 Brian O'Driscoll 1999–2014 245 133 46 0 0 5 1.84
7 Ollie Campbell 1976–1984 217 22 1 15 54 7 9.86
8 Paddy Jackson 2013–2017 195 25 2 46 30 1 7.8
9 Keith Earls 2008– 170 96 34 0 0 0 1.77
10 Tom Kiernan 1960–1973 158 54 2 26 31 2 2.93

Last updated: Ireland vs Argentina, 21 November 2021. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Most matches as captain[]

Brian O'Driscoll is second on the all-time list for test matches as captain. He has captained Ireland 83 times and the Lions once.[7]

# Player Span Captaincies Caps Win %
1 Brian O'Driscoll 2002–2012 83 133 63%
2 Rory Best 2009–2019 38 124 64%
3 Keith Wood 1996–2003 36 58 43%
4 Paul O'Connell 2004–2015 28 108 63%
5 Tom Kiernan 1963–1973 24 54 67%
6 Ciarán Fitzgerald 1982–1986 19 25 50%
7 Dónal Lenihan 1986–1990 17 52 47%
Fergus Slattery 1979–1981 17 61 35%
9 Michael Bradley 1992–1995 15 40 37%
William Crawford 1924–1927 15 30 70%
Karl Mullen 1947–1952 15 25 73%

Last updated: Ireland vs Argentina, 21 November 2021. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Single match[]

Most points in a match[]

# Player Pos Pts Tries Con Pen DG Result Opposition Date
1 Ronan O'Gara Fly-half 32 2 2 5 1 40–14  Samoa 20 June 2003
2 Ronan O'Gara Fly-half 30 0 6 6 0 60–13  Italy 4 March 2000
3 David Humphreys Fly-half 26 1 3 5 0 36–6  Scotland 16 February 2003
David Humphreys Fly-half 26 1 6 3 0 61–6  Italy 30 August 2003
Paddy Wallace Fly-half 26 1 6 3 0 61–17 Pacific Islanders 26 November 2006
6 Paul Burke Fly-half 24 0 0 8 0 29–37  Italy 4 January 1997
David Humphreys Fly-half 24 0 0 7 1 24–28  Argentina 20 October 1999
8 Ralph Keyes Fly-half 23 0 4 5 0 55–11  Zimbabwe 6 October 1991
Ronan O'Gara Fly-half 23 0 10 1 0 78–9  Japan 11 November 2000
10 David Humphreys Fly-half 22 0 2 6 0 54–10  Wales 3 February 2002
Jonathan Sexton Fly-half 22 0 2 6 0 32–18  England 20 March 2021

Last updated: Ireland vs Argentina, 21 November 2021. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Most tries in a match[]

Tries Player Position Result Opposition Date
4 Brian Robinson Number 8 55–11  Zimbabwe 6 October 1991
Keith Wood Hooker 53–8  United States 2 October 1999
Denis Hickie Wing 61–6  Italy 30 August 2003
Rónan Kelleher Hooker 71–10  United States 10 July 2021
3 (Several players tied)

Last updated: Ireland vs Argentina, 21 November 2021. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Player age[]

Youngest players[]

# Player Age DOB Debut Opposition
1. 17 years 157 days 3 October 1906 8 March 1924  Wales
2. 17 years 229 days 26 June 1944 10 February 1962  England
3. 18 years 13 days 2 February 1878 15 February 1896  Scotland
4. 18 years 57 days 5 October 1870 1 December 1888 New Zealand N.Z. Natives
5. 18 years 68 days 1 January 1916 10 March 1934  Wales
6. George Stephenson 18 years 103 days 22 December 1901 3 April 1920  France
7. 18 years 131 days 9 September 1939 18 January 1958  Australia
8. 18 years 189 days 1 September 1888 9 March 1907  Wales
9. Dickie Lloyd 18 years 192 days 4 August 1891 12 February 1910  England
10. Jasper Brett 18 years 218 days 8 August 1895 14 March 1914  Wales

Last updated: Ireland vs Argentina, 21 November 2021. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Oldest players[]

# Player Age DOB Last Match Opposition
1. John Hayes 37 years 277 days 2 November 1973 6 August 2011  Scotland
2. Rory Best 37 years 65 days 15 August 1982 19 October 2019  New Zealand
3. Mike Gibson 36 years 195 days 3 December 1942 16 June 1979  Australia
4. Mike Ross 36 years 187 days 21 December 1979 25 June 2016  South Africa
5. Phil Orr 36 years 175 days 14 December 1950 7 June 1987  Australia
6. Jonathan Sexton 36 years 125 days 11 July 1985 13 November 2021  New Zealand
7. Peter Clohessy 36 years 15 days 22 March 1966 6 April 2002  France
8. Paul O'Connell 35 years 356 days 20 October 1979 12 October 2015  France
9. Ronan O'Gara 35 years 354 days 7 March 1977 24 February 2013  Scotland
10. Syd Millar 35 years 295 days 23 May 1934 14 March 1970  Wales

Last updated: Ireland vs Argentina, 21 November 2021. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Team margins[]

Biggest winning margin[]

Margin Date Game Ground
80 10 June 2000  United States 3–83  Ireland Singer Family Park, Manchester, New Hampshire, US
70 14 November 1998  Ireland 70–0  Georgia Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
69 11 November 2000  Ireland 78–9  Japan Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
61 10 July 2021  Ireland 71–10  United States Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
60 1 November 1986  Ireland 60–0  Romania Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
57 19 October 2003  Ireland 64–7  Namibia Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia
55 6 November 2021  Ireland 60–5  Japan Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
8 November 2008  Ireland 55–0  Canada Thomond Park, Limerick, Republic of Ireland
30 August 2003  Ireland 61–6  Italy Thomond Park, Limerick, Republic of Ireland
53 11 February 2017  Ireland 63–10  Italy Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy
50 25 September 2011  Ireland 62–12  Russia Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua, New Zealand
49 20 November 2004  Ireland 55–6  United States Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Last updated: Ireland vs Argentina, 21 November 2021. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Biggest losing margin[]

Margin Date Game Ground
60 23 June 2012  New Zealand 60–0  Ireland Waikato Stadium, Hamilton, New Zealand
53 6 June 1992  New Zealand 59–6  Ireland Athletic Park, Wellington, New Zealand
48 15 November 1997  Ireland 15–63  New Zealand Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
42 24 August 2019  England 57–15  Ireland Twickenham, London, England
40 15 February 1997  Ireland 6–46  England Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
39 6 April 2002  France 44–5  Ireland Stade de France, Paris, France
38 12 June 2010  New Zealand 66–28  Ireland Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth, New Zealand
38 12 November 2005  Ireland 7–45  New Zealand Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
38 30 November 1912  Ireland 0–38  South Africa Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Last updated: Ireland vs Argentina, 21 November 2021. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ "Thomas Gordon Profile". espnscrum.com. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Statistics". Irish Rugby. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  3. ^ "International Matches Record List". stats.espnscrum.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Ireland Squad | Profiles : Irish Rugby". Irishrugby.ie. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  5. ^ "ESPNScrum Stasguru Overall Points Record". espnscrum.com. 23 September 2019. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  6. ^ "Six Nations: Total Points Scored". stats.espnscrum.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  7. ^ "Statsguru / Player analysis / Brian O'Driscoll / Test matches (filter: as captain)". Scrum.com. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
Retrieved from ""