List of Ireland national rugby union team records

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

Ten 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 132 caps, followed by Conor Murray with 119 caps.^[2]

These figures do not include caps for the Lions. When those are included, O'Driscoll has 141 international caps, O'Gara has 130, and Conor Murray has 127, Sexton has 124 caps.^[3]

#	Player	Career Span	Caps	Tries	Pts
1	Brian O'Driscoll	1999–2014	133	46	245
2	Cian Healy	2009–	132	12	60
3	Ronan O'Gara	2000–2013	128	16	1083
4	Rory Best	2005–2019	124	12	60
5	Conor Murray	2011–	119	18	115
6	Johnny Sexton	2009–2023	118	18	1108
7	Paul O'Connell	2002–2015	108	8	40
7	Peter O'Mahony	2012–	108	5	25
9	John Hayes	2000–2011	105	2	10
10	Keith Earls	2008–2023	101	36	180

Last updated: Ireland vs New Zealand, 8 November 2024. 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	2008–2023	36	101	0.36
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
6	Jacob Stockdale	2017–	19	37	0.51
8	Geordan Murphy	2000–2011	18	72	0.25
	Conor Murray	2011–	18	119	0.15
	Johnny Sexton	2009–2023	18	118	0.15

Last updated: Ireland vs New Zealand, 8 November 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[2]

Most points

Johnny Sexton holds the Ireland record for test points with 1,101,^[5] placing him fourth all-time in international rugby union. Johnny Sexton is the highest points scorers in the Six Nations with 566 points, followed by Ronan O'Gara with 557.^[6]^[7]

#	Player	Career span	Points	Caps	Tries	Con.	Pen.	DG	Ave.
1	Johnny Sexton	2009–2023	1,108	118	18	182	214	4	9.39
2	Ronan O'Gara	2000–2013	1,083	128	16	176	202	15	8.46
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	2008–2023	180	101	36	0	0	0	1.78
10	Joey Carbery	2016–2022	164	37	2	56	14	0	4.43

Last updated: Ireland vs New Zealand, 8 November 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[2]

Most matches as captain

Brian O'Driscoll is third on the all-time list for test matches as captain. He has captained Ireland 83 times and the Lions once.^[8]

#	Player	Span	Captaincies	Caps	Wins	Win %
1	Brian O'Driscoll	2002–2012	83	133	52	62.65%
2	Rory Best	2009–2019	38	124	24	63.16%
3	Keith Wood	1996–2003	36	58	15	41.67%
4	Johnny Sexton	2019–2023	30	118	25	83.33%
5	Paul O'Connell	2004–2015	28	108	18	64.29%
6	Tom Kiernan	1963–1973	24	54	16	66.67%
7	Ciarán Fitzgerald	1982–1986	19	25	9	47.37%
8	Dónal Lenihan	1986–1990	17	52	8	47.06%
8	Fergus Slattery	1979–1981	17	61	5	29.41%
10	Michael Bradley	1992–1995	15	40	5	33.33%
	William Crawford	1924–1927	15	30	11	73.33%
	Karl Mullen	1947–1952	15	25	10	66.67%

Last updated: Ireland vs New Zealand, 8 November 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[2]^[9]

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
	Johnny Sexton	Fly-half	24	2	7	0	0	82–8	Romania	9 September 2023
9	Ralph Keyes	Fly-half	23	0	4	5	0	55–11	Zimbabwe	6 October 1991
9	Ronan O'Gara	Fly-half	23	0	10	1	0	78–9	Japan	11 November 2000

Last updated: Ireland vs New Zealand, 8 November 2024. 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 New Zealand, 8 November 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[2]

Player age

Youngest players

#	Player	Age	DOB	Debut	Opposition
1	Frank Hewitt	17 years 157 days	3 October 1906	8 March 1924	Wales
2	John Quirke	17 years 229 days	26 June 1944	10 February 1962	England
3	George McAllan	18 years 13 days	2 February 1878	15 February 1896	Scotland
4	Edmund Forrest	18 years 57 days	5 October 1870	1 December 1888	N.Z. Natives
5	Aidan Bailey	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	David Hewitt	18 years 131 days	9 September 1939	18 January 1958	Australia
8	Frederick Harvey	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 New Zealand, 8 November 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[2]

Oldest players

#	Player	Age	DOB	Last Match	Opposition
1	Johnny Sexton	38 years 92 days	11 July 1985	14 October 2023	New Zealand
2	John Hayes	37 years 277 days	2 November 1973	6 August 2011	Scotland
3	Rory Best	37 years 65 days	15 August 1982	19 October 2019	New Zealand
4	Cian Healy	37 years 32 days	7 October 1987	8 November 2024	New Zealand
5	Mike Gibson	36 years 195 days	3 December 1942	16 June 1979	Australia
6	Mike Ross	36 years 187 days	21 December 1979	25 June 2016	South Africa
7	Phil Orr	36 years 175 days	14 December 1950	7 June 1987	Australia
8	Peter Clohessy	36 years 15 days	22 March 1966	6 April 2002	France
9	Paul O'Connell	35 years 356 days	20 October 1979	12 October 2015	France
10	Ronan O'Gara	35 years 354 days	7 March 1977	24 February 2013	Scotland

Last updated: Ireland vs New Zealand, 8 November 2024. 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
74	9 September 2023	Ireland 82–8 Romania	Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
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

Last updated: Ireland vs New Zealand, 8 November 2024. 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
	12 November 2005	Ireland 7–45 New Zealand	Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
	30 November 1912	Ireland 0–38 South Africa	Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland
36	30 March 2003	Ireland 6–42 England	Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Last updated: Ireland vs New Zealand, 8 November 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.^[2]

References

^ "Thomas Gordon Profile". espnscrum.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k "Statistics". Irish Rugby. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
^ "International Matches Record List". stats.espnscrum.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
^ "Ireland Squad | Profiles : Irish Rugby". Irishrugby.ie. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
^ "ESPNScrum Stasguru Overall Points Record". espnscrum.com. 23 September 2019. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
^ "IRELAND". Six Nations Rugby. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
^ "Six Nations: Total Points Scored". stats.espnscrum.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
^ "Statsguru / Player analysis / Brian O'Driscoll / Test matches (filter: as captain)". Scrum.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
^ "Poll: Who is the greatest Irish rugby captain of all time?". JOE. Archived from the original on 17 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.

[1] "Thomas Gordon Profile". espnscrum.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2019.

[Ireland_Squad-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k "Statistics". Irish Rugby. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2022.

[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.

[Six_nations_records-6] "IRELAND". Six Nations Rugby. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.

[7] "Six Nations: Total Points Scored". stats.espnscrum.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 23 September 2019.

[BOD_as_captain_Scrum.com-8] "Statsguru / Player analysis / Brian O'Driscoll / Test matches (filter: as captain)". Scrum.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2019.

[Ireland_captains-9] "Poll: Who is the greatest Irish rugby captain of all time?". JOE. Archived from the original on 17 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.

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