03-08-2010, 03:59 PM
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#26 (permalink)
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Join Date: Nov 2009
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Previews of the upcoming weekends' tests...
Ireland v Wales:
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Ireland secured their first Grand Slam since 1948 against Wales in Cardiff last season and will be keen for a repeat performance as they go in search of another Triple Crown at Croke Park on Saturday.
There have been 114 encounters between the countries since the first match, staged at Lansdowne Road, in 1882. Wales have won 62, Ireland 46 and the last of the six draws was 21-all at Cardiff in 1991.
Ireland set the records for the highest score and biggest winning margin of the series in their 54-10 victory in Dublin in 2002. Wales's 34-9 Lansdowne Road win in 1976 is their highest score and the 29-0 victory at Cardiff in 1907 their biggest winning margin of the series.
The most tries scored by a team is six. Wales did so in the matches of 1903, 1907 and 1920; Ireland in 2002 and 2004.
David Humphreys created the individual record for a match by scoring 22 points for Ireland in Dublin in 2002. Neil Jenkins set the corresponding record for Wales when he collected 20 points there in the 30-21 win in 1998.
The first of the four try hat-tricks recorded in the series was scored for Ireland by Robert Montgomery in the 1887 match staged at Birkenhead RFC (to save the then impoverished Irish Union travelling expenses). Johnnie Williams crossed three times for Wales in both 1907 and 1910, and the last player to perform the feat, also for Wales, was Bryn Williams in 1920.
Mike Gibson did not miss a match between 1964 and 1978, turning out a record 14 times for Ireland against Wales. Owing to political problems, the fixture was cancelled in 1972. Ieuan Evans played a dozen times for Wales between 1987 and 1997.
Johnnie Williams set the record for most tries in the rubber. During the early 1900s he crossed eight times in five matches for Wales (1907 to 1911). Brian O'Driscoll heads the Irish try-scorers on five to date.
Neil Jenkins is the leading overall scorer in the series. He scored 113 points for Wales in ten appearances between 1991 and 2000. Ronan O'Gara overtook David Humphreys as the leading Irish scorer in last years game and Stephen Jones took his total to 95 to date.
Wales-Ireland Six Nations results:
2000 Wales 23-19 (Dublin)
2001 Ireland 36-6 (Cardiff)
2002 Ireland 54-10 (Dublin)
2003 Ireland 25-24 (Cardiff)
2004 Ireland 36-15 (Dublin)
2005 Wales 32-20 (Cardiff)
2006 Ireland 31-5 (Dublin)
2007 Ireland 19-9 (Cardiff)
2008 Wales 16-12 (Dublin)
2009 Ireland 17-15 (Cardiff)
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Scotland v England:
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England v Scotland is the oldest fixture on the international calendar. There have been 126 matches between the nations since 1871, when Scotland beat England by a goal and a try to a try at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh in the days before scoring by points was introduced.
England have held the lead in the series since 1939 and is now ahead by 67 wins to 42. There have been 17 draws - the record for any international fixture.
Jason Leonard set the record for most appearances in the series. He played in 14 successive matches from 1991 to 2003, including the 1991 Rugby World Cup semi-final at Murrayfield. Scotland's Sandy Carmichael, Scott Hastings and Alastair McHarg played in 11 games.
England set the highest score and best margin for the matches in the 43-3 Twickenham win in 2001. They scored a record seven tries in another high-scoring win (43-22) at Twickenham in 2005.
Scotland's record victory was 33-6 at Murrayfield in 1986. Their best try-return is six at Murrayfield in a 28-19 victory in 1931.
Jonny Wilkinson set the individual record for most points in a match. He went through the card of scoring actions collecting 27 when England won at Twickenham in 2007. Paul Grayson is the only other player with a full-house of scoring actions in a match in the series: he collected a try, landed four conversions, dropped a goal and kicked a penalty in England's 34-20 win at Murrayfield in 1998.
The best individual scoring performance for Scotland is 21 points by Gavin Hastings at Murrayfield in 1986.
There have been three try hat-tricks in the series, each scored by England threequarters. Cyril Lowe's at Inverleith in 1914 helped England lift the Triple Crown while John Carleton's tries at Murrayfield in 1980 carried his side to the Grand Slam. Jamie Noon also scored three at Twickenham in 2005.
The famous Flying Scot, Ian Smith, scored the most tries in the matches. During his eight appearances (1924 to 1933) he crossed for nine tries. Cyril Lowe ran in six tries for England between 1913 and 1923 and Jason Robinson did so in five appearances between 2001 and 2007.
The leading overall scorer in the series is Jonny Wilkinson. He scored 91 points for England in seven games between 1999 and 2008.
Chris Paterson holds the corresponding record for Scotland. He scored 70 in ten matches between 2000 and 2009.
England-Scotland Six Nations results:
2000 Scotland 19-13 (Murrayfield)
2001 England 43-3 (Twickenham)
2002 England 29-3 (Murrayfield)
2003 England 40-9 (Twickenham)
2004 England 35-13 (Murrayfield)
2005 England 43-22 (Twickenham)
2006 Scotland 18-12 (Murrayfield)
2007 England 42-20 (Twickenham)
2008 Scotland 15-9 (Murrayfield)
2009 England 26-12 (Twickenham)
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France v Italy:
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France take on Italy in Paris on Sunday as they go in search of another win to keep alive their hopes of a first Six Nations Grand Slam since 2004.
France prevailed last season following a battering by England, ending their Championship on a high by racking up a half-century in Rome.
The Azzurri are on a high after a narrow loss to England and a vital victory over Scotland, their first in the Six Nations since 2008. They lost all of their Championship matches in 2001, 2002 and 2005.
The nations meet for the 31st time since 1937 in a major Test. The first game was staged as part of a Paris exhibition tournament that also featured Belgium and Germany.
The sides did not meet again at full cap level until 1952, when the French engaged on a 15-year exchange of spring fixtures with the Italians. After 1967, the match was downgraded by the French to a B-fixture. Full official hostilities resumed at the beginning of the professional era, in 1995.
This will be the 11th time the countries have met in the International Championship since 2000. France head the series by 29 wins to one. Italy's only win to date was in a friendly played in Grenoble a week after France had won the 1997 Five Nations Grand Slam.
France hold the records for the highest score, the biggest winning margin and most tries scored in a match. They won 60-13 in Toulon in 1967, scoring eleven tries.
Italy's highest score is their 40-32 win in Grenoble in 1997. They scored four tries that day, a feat they later achieved in their matches of 2000 and 2003.
Guy Camberabero, with 27 points for France in Toulon in 1967, holds the series record for most points scored in a match. Diego Dominguez scored 20 for Italy in 1997.
Maurice Celhay set the record for most tries in a match, scoring four for France when the sides first met, at the original Parc des Princes in 1937. Alessandro Troncon crossed twice for Italy in Paris in 2000.
Christian Darrouy heads the list of try scorers for the overall series, crossing seven times between 1957 and 1967.
Italians hold the other major records for the matches: Diego Dominguez scored 71 points (compared with 54 for France by Dimitri Yachvili), and Sergio Lanfranchi, a versatile forward who was capped as a prop, lock, flanker and No 8, played 11 times in this fixture between 1953 and 1964.
Italy-France Six Nations results:
2000 France 42-31 (Paris)
2001 France 30-19 (Rome)
2002 France 33-12 (Paris)
2003 France 53-27 (Rome)
2004 France 25-0 (Paris)
2005 France 56-13 (Rome)
2006 France 37-12 (Paris)
2007 France 39-3 (Rome)
2008 France 25-13 (Paris)
2009 France 50-8 (Rome)
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France eye penultimate hurdle | Rugby Union | Six Nations 2010 | Rugby Head to Head | Scrum.com |
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