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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

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Most caps

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Ten current or retired members of the Ireland team have earned 100 or more test caps. Ireland's all-time cap leader is Cian Healy with 137 followed by Brian O'Driscoll with 133. The active player with the most caps is Iain Henderson with 85 caps, followed by Robbie Henshaw with 82 caps.[2]

These figures do not include caps for the Lions. When those are included, O'Driscoll has 141 international caps, Murray has 133 caps, O'Gara has 130 caps and Sexton has 124 caps.[3]

# Player Career Span Caps Tries Pts
1 Cian Healy 2009–2025 137 13 65
2 Brian O'Driscoll 1999–2014 133 46 245
3 Ronan O'Gara 2000–2013 128 16 1083
4 Conor Murray 2011–2025 125 18 115
5 Rory Best 2005–2019 124 12 60
6 Johnny Sexton 2009–2023 118 18 1108
7 Peter O'Mahony 2012–2025 114 5 25
8 Paul O'Connell 2002–2015 108 8 40
9 John Hayes 2000–2011 105 2 10
10 Keith Earls 2008–2023 101 36 180

Last updated: Italy vs Ireland, 15 March 2025. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Most tries

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Ireland's record try scorer is Brian O'Driscoll, who notched 46 career tries,[4] which ranks him tenth 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
Jacob Stockdale 2017– 19 39 0.49
8 Bundee Aki 2017– 18 65 0.28
Geordan Murphy 2000–2011 18 72 0.25
Conor Murray 2011–2025 18 125 0.14
Johnny Sexton 2009–2023 18 118 0.15

Last updated: Georgia vs Ireland, 5 July 2025. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Most points

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Johnny Sexton holds the Ireland record for test points with 1,108,[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: Italy vs Ireland, 15 March 2025. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Most matches as captain

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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%
Fergus Slattery 1979–1981 17 61 5 29.41%
10 Michael Bradley 1992–1995 15 40 5 33.33%
Ernie Crawford 1924–1927 15 30 11 73.33%
Karl Mullen 1947–1952 15 25 10 66.67%

Last updated: Italy vs Ireland, 15 March 2025. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2][9]

Single match

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Most points in a match

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# 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
Jack Crowley Fly-half 24 0 12 0 0 106–7  Portugal 12 July 2025
Johnny Sexton Fly-half 24 2 7 0 0 82–8  Romania 9 September 2023

Last updated: Portugal vs Ireland, 12 July 2025. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Most tries in a match

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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: Italy vs Ireland, 15 March 2025. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Player age

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Youngest players

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# 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 New Zealand 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 Argentina, 15 November 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Oldest players

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# 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 Cian Healy 37 years 161 days 7 October 1987 8 March 2025  France
4 Rory Best 37 years 65 days 15 August 1982 19 October 2019  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 France, 8 March 2025. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Team margins

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Biggest winning margin

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Margin Date Game Ground
99 12 July 2025  Portugal 7–106  Ireland Estadio Nacional do Jamor, Algés Portugal
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, Ireland
69 11 November 2000  Ireland 78–9  Japan Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland
61 10 July 2021  Ireland 71–10  United States Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland
60 1 November 1986  Ireland 60–0  Romania Lansdowne Road, Dublin, 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, Ireland
8 November 2008  Ireland 55–0  Canada Thomond Park, Limerick, Ireland
30 August 2003  Ireland 61–6  Italy Thomond Park, Limerick, Ireland

Last updated: Portugal vs Ireland, 12 July 2025. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

Biggest losing margin

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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, Ireland
42 24 August 2019  England 57–15  Ireland Twickenham, London, England
40 15 February 1997  Ireland 6–46  England Lansdowne Road, Dublin, 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, Ireland
30 November 1912  Ireland 0–38  South Africa Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland
36 30 March 2003  Ireland 6–42  England Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland

Last updated: Ireland vs Argentina, 15 November 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Thomas Gordon Profile". espnscrum.com. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Statistics". IRFU Instagram. Archived from the original on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 15 March 2025.
  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. ^ "Irish Rugby Career Summary: Johnny Sexton". Irishrugby.ie. 29 November 2024. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
  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.
  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.
  9. ^ "Poll: Who is the greatest Irish rugby captain of all time?". JOE. 28 January 2014. Archived from the original on 17 March 2023. Retrieved 16 March 2023.