Ireland v England, Six Nations, Lansdowne Road, March 19
England eye end to Dublin drought
ESPNscrum Staff
March 14, 2011
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England's Tom Croft hunts for the ball during his side's clash with Ireland at Croke Park in 2009
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England's Six Nations showdown with Ireland in Dublin on Saturday will be the 124th meeting between the two sides whose rivalry dates back to 1875. The fixture is the second oldest on the international calendar - behind England v Scotland - and England lead the all-time stats with 70 wins to Ireland's 44. The last of the eight drawn games was in 1968. It will be England's first visit to the Aviva Stadium - built on the site of the old Lansdowne Road - and they will be hoping for a change of luck having lost on four of their last five visits to the Irish capital the most recent of which resulted in a 14-13 defeat at Croke Park in 2009. England's last visit to Lansdowne Road ended in a 19-13 defeat in 2005 while the most recent meeting between the two sides at Twickenham last year also went the way of the Irish - 20-16. England's highest score to date is 50-18 at Twickenham in 2000. Their 46-6 win in Dublin in 1997 is the biggest winning margin of the matches. Ireland's best result is 43-13 at Croke Park in 2007. England scored a record seven tries at a windy Lansdowne Road in their 36-14 victory in 1938. Their skipper that day, Peter Cranmer, was however relieved of the captaincy for the rest of the season. Ireland's best try total is five: in 1905 at Cork, and in freezing conditions in Dublin in 1947, when they won 22-0. England's Paul Grayson set the record for most points in a match, scoring 23 at Twickenham in 1996. Ollie Campbell established the points record for Ireland by scoring 21 in Dublin in 1983 and Ronan O'Gara matched that achievement at Croke Park in 2007. The only try hat-tricks scored in the series were by Henry Taylor for England at Manchester in 1881 and Chris Oti at Twickenham in 1988. A dozen Irishmen have scored two tries in a match - Shane Horgan's brace at Twickenham in 2006 being the most recent instance. The overall record for scoring most tries in the fixture belongs to Rory Underwood, who scored seven for England between 1984 and 1996. Jonny Wilkinson is the leading overall scorer in the fixture with 97 for England in nine games between 1998 (when he made his Test debut as an eighteen-year-old) and 2010. Ronan O'Gara holds the Irish record for the series with 86 points from 10 matches. Mike Gibson, who played in 15 successive matches for Ireland (1964-78), set the record for most appearances in the games. Rory Underwood appeared 14 times for England.
Ireland-England Six Nations results:
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