Wales and England set to lock horns again

Wales and England will resume their intense rivalry on Friday night when they meet at the Millennium Stadium in the opening match of the 2011 Six Nations.

There have been 119 matches between the nations since February 1881. England led the series until 1907, when Welsh rugby was enjoying its first Golden Era. After that, there were never more than two wins separating the sides until 1925. England then stayed in front until 1970 when Wales were embarking on another Golden Era.

The Welsh led the series from 1971 until 2003, but England now lead in the all-time results by one victory thanks to their victory at Twickenham last year. The last of the dozen draws was at Cardiff in 1983.

Wales have won 34 of the 57 meetings between the sides staged in the principality including the last three Championship clashes played at the Millennium Stadium.

England’s 62-5 win at Twickenham in the 2007 World Cup warm-up friendly and Wales’s 34-21 Cardiff win in 1967 – Keith Jarrett’s famous debut match – are the best scores recorded by the teams in this series.

England did win, however, by seven goals, six tries and a dropped goal to nil at Blackheath in 1881, before scoring by points were introduced. The try-count of 13 that day stands as the series record for a match.

The best winning margin (57 points) in the matches was established in England’s success at Twickenham in 2007. Wales won 25-0 in 1905 – their best margin – and scored eight tries – their best return for the fixture – in the mud at Cardiff in 1922.

Jonny Wilkinson set the record for the highest individual score in a match contributing 30 points at Twickenham in 2002. The Welsh record for a match is 22 points by Neil Jenkins at Wembley in the last ever Five Nations fixture, in 1999. James Hook equalled that Welsh record when the sides met in Cardiff in 2007.

Four players have scored four tries in a match. George Burton and Nick Easter – both forwards – respectively performed the feat for England in the Blackheath match of 1881 and the Twickenham friendly in 2007. Wing three-quarter Willie Llewellyn crossed four times for Wales on his Test debut at Swansea in 1899 and Maurice Richards, also a wing, went over for Wales at Cardiff in 1969.

Wilkinson is the leading overall scorer in the matches. He has scored 151 points for England since 1999. Neil Jenkins holds the corresponding record for Wales with 65 in his ten appearances between 1991 and 2001.

Will Greenwood’s try for England when the sides met in the 2003 Rugby World Cup quarter-finals in Brisbane made him the leading try-getter in the series with seven. Gerald Davies, Dewi Bebb and Willie Llewellyn each scored six for Wales.

Rory Underwood set the record for most appearances in the series, playing 14 times between 1984 and 1996 (including a World Cup match in 1987). Gareth Thomas also featured in 14 matches for Wales.

Wales-England Six Nations results:

2000 England 46-12 Wales (Twickenham)

2001 Wales 15-44 England (Cardiff)

2002 England 50-10 Wales (Twickenham)

2003 Wales 9-26 England (Cardiff)

2004 England 31-21 Wales (Twickenham)

2005 Wales 11-9 England (Cardiff)

2006 England 47-13 Wapes (Twickenham)

2007 Wales 27-18 England (Cardiff)

2008 England 19-26 Wales (Twickenham)

2009 Wales 23-15 England (Cardiff)

2010 England 30-17 Wales (Twickenham)

Ireland eye repeat win in Rome

Italy and Ireland are set to launch their respective assaults on the Six Nations crown when they go head-to-head at the Stadio Flaminio on Saturday.

Ireland were the first Home Union to award Test status for internationals against Italy. The nations have met 18 times in major Tests since 1988. Ireland lead the series by 15 wins (including the last 14 matches) to three. Italy’s wins were between 1995 and 1997 in successive friendly internationals outside the Six Nations Championship.

Ireland thumped Italy 38-9 on their last visit to Rome in 2009 on their ways to a Grand Slam.

Ireland hold the record for the most tries, highest score and biggest winning margin of the series. They scored eight tries in the 61-6 win at Thomond Park, Limerick when the sides met in 2003 in a World Cup warm-up match. Ireland also scored eight tries in the 2007 Six Nations match in Rome.

Italy’s highest scores are their 37-29 and 37-22 (biggest margin) victories in Dublin and Bologna respectively, both in 1997.

Ronan O’Gara, with 30 points for Ireland in Dublin in 2000, holds the series record for most points scored in a match. Denis Hickie set the record for most tries in a match, scoring four for Ireland when the sides met at Limerick in 2003.

The corresponding match records for Italy belong to Diego Dominguez (27 points in Bologna in 1997) and Paulo Vaccari (two tries in Dublin in 1997).

Hickie heads the list of try scorers for the overall series, crossing eight times in eight appearances between 1997 and 2007. Paulo Vaccari is the leading Italian try scorer in the matches with three in four games.

The other overall records include Ronan O’Gara’s tally of 161 points from 11 appearances (compared with 96 for Italy by Diego Dominguez), and Alessandro Troncon’s dozen appearances in the series.

Italy-Ireland Six Nations results:

2000 Ireland 60-13 Italy (Dublin)

2001 Italy 22-41 Ireland (Rome)

2002 Ireland 32-17 Italy (Dublin)

2003 Italy 13-27 Ireland (Rome)

2004 Ireland 19-3 Italy (Dublin)

2005 Italy 17-28 Ireland (Rome)

2006 Ireland 26-16 Italy (Dublin)

2007 Italy 24-51 Ireland (Rome)

2008 Ireland 16-11 Italy (Dublin)

2009 Ireland 38-9 (Rome)

2010 Ireland 29-11 Italy (Dublin)

Scots eye end to French dominance

Scotland will go in search of a rare win over France when the two sides go head-to-head in Paris on Saturday in their opening Six Nations fixture.

The two sides have played each other a total of 83 times since their first meeting in 1910. France hold the all-time advantage with 46 victories to Scotland’s 34 with three games (in 1922, 1966 and 1987 at the inaugural Rugby World Cup) the other three games ending in a draw. France has won 11 of the last 12 matches, including a record run of seven in a row between 2000 and 2005.

France prevailed last season thanks to a brace from centre Mathieu Bastareaud in their 18-9 victory at Murrayfield. Les Bleus were also victorious when the two sides last met in Paris – where a try from Fulgence Ouedraogo and 17 points from the boot of fly-half Lionel Beauxis carried the hosts to a 22-13 win.

The records for the highest score and best win are held by France, who won 51-9 in Sydney in a Rugby World Cup pool match in 2003. France also won 51-16 at Murrayfield in 1998.

Scotland’s highest score was 36-22 in the 1999 Paris win that clinched the last ever Five Nations title. Their biggest margin of victory stands as the 31-3 win in 1912 when French rugby was in its infancy.

The record individual score for a match in this series was established by Frederic Michalak in the 2003 World Cup pool game when he scored 28 in Sydney. He finished with a full-house of scoring actions: try, four conversions, four penalty goals and a dropped goal. The scoring record for Scotland was set by Michael Dods with 19 points at Murrayfield in 1996.

Scotland have never won at the Stade de France in the Six Nations with their only two victories in the last 20 meetings of the side being a Gavin Hastings and a Gregor Townsend-inspired 23-21 success in 1995 and 36-22 win in 1999.

The legendary Flying Scot, Ian Smith, is the only player who has crossed for four tries in a match. He did so in 1925 in a 25-4 victory during Scotland’s first Grand Slam season. That match was the last-ever international staged at Inverleith. The only French try hat-trick was scored by wing Eric Bonneval in Paris in 1987.

Some of the game’s household names head the lists of overall records for the series. Philippe Sella appeared 14 times in the series between 1981 and 1995 (Jim Renwick played a dozen times for Scotland), Gavin Hastings scored 116 points in eleven games between 1986 and 1995 (Serge Blanco and Christophe Lamaison share the corresponding French record on 42 points) and the famous Scottish wings in the all-Oxford threequarter line of the 1920s, “Johnnie” Wallace and Ian Smith, each rattled up six tries. Blanco scored five tries for France.

France-Scotland Six Nations results:

2000 Scotland 16-28 France (Murrayfield)

2001 France 16-6 Scotland (Paris)

2002 Edinburgh 10-22 France (Murrayfield)

2003 France 38-3 Scotland (Paris)

2004 Scotland 0-31 France (Murrayfield)

2005 France 16-9 Scotland (Paris)

2006 Scotland 20-16 France (Murrayfield)

2007 France 46-19 Scotland (Paris)

2008 Scotland 6-27 France (Murrayfield)

2009 France 22-13 Scotland (Paris)

2010 Scotland 9-18 France (Edinburgh)