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.

Career Most caps 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 are Tadhg Furlong and Iain Henderson with 86 caps, followed by Robbie Henshaw with 84 caps.

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.

# PlayerCareer spanCapsTriesPts 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.

Most tries Ireland's record try scorer is Brian O'Driscoll, who notched 46 career tries, which ranks him tenth in international tries.

# PlayerCareer spanTriesCapsAve. 1 Brian O'Driscoll 1999–2014 46 133 2 Keith Earls 2008–2023 36 101 3 Tommy Bowe 2004–2017 30 69 4 Denis Hickie 1997–2007 29 62 5 Shane Horgan 2000–2009 21 65 6 Jacob Stockdale 2017– 20 43 7 Girvan Dempsey 1998–2008 19 82 8 Bundee Aki 2017– 18 72 Geordan Murphy 2000–2011 18 72 Conor Murray 2011–2025 18 125 Johnny Sexton 2009–2023 18 118 Dan Sheehan 2021– 18 41

Last updated: New Zealand vs Ireland, 18 July 2026. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most points Johnny Sexton holds the Ireland record for test points with 1,108, 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.

# PlayerCareer spanPointsCapsTriesCon.Pen.DGAve. 1 Johnny Sexton 2009–2023 1,108 118 18 182 214 4 2 Ronan O'Gara 1,083 128 16 176 202 15 3 David Humphreys 1996–2005 560 72 6 88 110 8 4 Michael Kiernan 1982–1991 308 43 6 40 62 6 5 Eric Elwood 1993–1999 296 35 0 43 68 2 6 Brian O'Driscoll 1999–2014 245 133 46 0 0 5 7 Jack Crowley 2022– 231 35 4 65 26 1 8 Ollie Campbell 1976–1984 217 22 1 15 54 7 9 Paddy Jackson 2013–2017 195 25 2 46 30 1 10 Keith Earls 2008–2023 180 101 36 0 0 0

Last updated: Ireland vs Scotland, 14 March 2026. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

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.

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

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

Single match Most points in a match # PlayerPtsTriesConPenDGResultOppositionDate 1 Ronan O'Gara Fly-half 32 2 2 5 1 40–14 20 June 2003 2 Ronan O'Gara Fly-half 30 0 6 6 0 60–13 4 March 2000 3 David Humphreys Fly-half 26 1 3 5 0 36–6 16 February 2003 David Humphreys Fly-half 26 1 6 3 0 61–6 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 4 January 1997 David Humphreys Fly-half 24 0 0 7 1 24–28 20 October 1999 Jack Crowley Fly-half 24 0 12 0 0 106–7 12 July 2025 Johnny Sexton Fly-half 24 2 7 0 0 82–8 9 September 2023

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

Most tries in a match Tries PlayerPositionResultOppositionDate 4 Brian Robinson Number 8 55–11 6 October 1991 Keith Wood Hooker 53–8 2 October 1999 Denis Hickie Wing 61–6 30 August 2003 Rónan Kelleher Hooker 71–10 10 July 2021 3 (Several players tied)

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

Player age Youngest players # PlayerAgeDOBDebutOpposition 1 Frank Hewitt 17 years 157 days 3 October 1906 8 March 1924 2 John Quirke 26 June 1944 10 February 1962 3 George McAllan 18 years 13 days 2 February 1878 15 February 1896 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 6 George Stephenson 18 years 103 days 22 December 1901 3 April 1920 7 David Hewitt 18 years 131 days 9 September 1939 18 January 1958 8 Frederick Harvey 18 years 189 days 1 September 1888 9 March 1907 9 Dickie Lloyd 18 years 192 days 4 August 1891 12 February 1910 10 Jasper Brett 18 years 218 days 8 August 1895 14 March 1914

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

Oldest players # PlayerAgeDOBLast matchOpposition 1 38 years 92 days 11 July 1985 14 October 2023 2 37 years 277 days 2 November 1973 6 August 2011 3 37 years 161 days 7 October 1987 8 March 2025 4 37 years 65 days 15 August 1982 19 October 2019 5 36 years 195 days 3 December 1942 16 June 1979 6 36 years 187 days 21 December 1979 25 June 2016 7 36 years 175 days 14 December 1950 7 June 1987 8 36 years 15 days 22 March 1966 6 April 2002 9 35 years 356 days 20 October 1979 12 October 2015 10 35 years 354 days 7 March 1977 24 February 2013

Last updated: Ireland vs France, 8 March 2025. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Team margins Biggest winning margin Margin Date Game Ground 99 12 July 2025 7–106 Estadio Nacional do Jamor, Algés Portugal 80 10 June 2000 3–83 Singer Family Park, Manchester, New Hampshire, US 74 9 September 2023 82–8 Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France 70 14 November 1998 70–0 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 69 11 November 2000 78–9 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 61 10 July 2021 71–10 Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland 60 1 November 1986 60–0 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 57 19 October 2003 64–7 Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney, Australia 55 6 November 2021 60–5 Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland 8 November 2008 55–0 Thomond Park, Limerick, Ireland 30 August 2003 61–6 Thomond Park, Limerick, Ireland Last updated: Portugal vs Ireland, 12 July 2025. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Biggest losing margin Margin Date Game Ground 60 23 June 2012 60–0 Waikato Stadium, Hamilton, New Zealand 53 6 June 1992 59–6 Athletic Park, Wellington, New Zealand 48 15 November 1997 15–63 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 42 24 August 2019 57–15 Twickenham, London, England 40 15 February 1997 6–46 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 39 6 April 2002 44–5 Stade de France, Paris, France 38 12 June 2010 66–28 Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth, New Zealand 12 November 2005 7–45 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 30 November 1912 0–38 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland 36 30 March 2003 6–42 Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland Last updated: Ireland vs Argentina, 15 November 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

References