History of rugby union matches between Ireland and Italy

The History of rugby union matches between Ireland and Italy dates back to New Year's Eve 1988 when Ireland defeated Italy in a tour test match, 31–15. Ireland have dominated the meetings, with the Italians having achieved only four victories. The teams' most recent meeting was in the 2025 Six Nations Championship in Rome, where Ireland won 17–22.^[1]

A scrum during Italy vs Ireland at the Six Nations 2011

Summary

Overview

Details	Played	Won by Ireland	Won by Italy	Drawn	Ireland points	Italy points
In Ireland	20	19	1	0	772	263
In Italy	15	12	3	0	476	270
Neutral venue	3	3	0	0	106	22
Overall	38	34	4	0	1,354	555

Records Note: Date shown in brackets indicates when the record was or last set. Record Ireland Italy Longest winning streak 17 (10 April 1999 – 16 March 2013) 3 (6 May 1995 – 10 April 1999) Largest points for Home 61 (30 August 2003) 37 (20 December 1997) Away 63 (11 February 2017) 37 (4 January 1997) Neutral 54 (3 November 2018) 9 (4 October 2015) Largest winning margin Home 55 (30 August 2003) 15 (20 December 1997) Away 53 (11 February 2017) 8 (4 January 1997) Neutral 47 (3 November 2018) —

Attendance Up to date as of 15 March 2025. Total attendance* 1,441,646 Average attendance* 43,686 Highest attendance 77,686 Ireland 29–11 Italy 6 February 2010 *Excludes three matches in which no attendance was reported and two matches in which Covid restricted attendance

Results

No.	Date	Venue	Score	Winner	Competition	Attendance	Ref.
1	31 December 1988	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	31–15	Ireland	1988–89 Italy tour of Ireland	—	[2]
2	6 May 1995	Stadio Comunale di Monigo, Treviso	22–12	Italy	1995 Rugby World Cup warm-up match	—	[3]
3	3 January 1997	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	29–37	Italy	1997 Italy tour of Ireland	25,000	[4]
4	20 December 1997	Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna	37–22	Italy	1997 Ireland tour of Italy	—	[5]
5	10 April 1999	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	39–30	Ireland	Six Nations Preparation International[a]	25,000	[6]
6	4 March 2000	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	60–13	Ireland	2000 Six Nations Championship	40,000	[7]
7	3 February 2001	Stadio Flaminio, Rome	22–41	Ireland	2001 Six Nations Championship	30,000	[8][9]
8	23 March 2002	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	32–17	Ireland	2002 Six Nations Championship	49,000	[10][11]
9	22 February 2003	Stadio Flaminio, Rome	13–37	Ireland	2003 Six Nations Championship	22,500	[12][13]
10	30 August 2003	Thomond Park, Limerick	61–6	Ireland	2003 Rugby World Cup warm-up match	14,000	[14][15]
11	20 March 2004	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	19–3	Ireland	2004 Six Nations Championship	49,250	[16][17]
12	6 February 2005	Stadio Flaminio, Rome	17–28	Ireland	2005 Six Nations Championship	30,000	[18]
13	4 February 2006	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	26–16	Ireland	2006 Six Nations Championship	49,500	[19]
14	17 March 2007	Stadio Flaminio, Rome	24–51	Ireland	2007 Six Nations Championship	24,973	[20]
15	24 August 2007	Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast	23–20	Ireland	2007 Rugby World Cup warm-up match	14,100	[21][22]
16	2 February 2008	Croke Park, Dublin	16–11	Ireland	2008 Six Nations Championship	75,387	[23]
17	15 February 2009	Stadio Flaminio, Rome	9–38	Ireland	2009 Six Nations Championship	32,000	[24]
18	6 February 2010	Croke Park, Dublin	29–11	Ireland	2010 Six Nations Championship	77,686	[25]
19	5 February 2011	Stadio Flaminio, Rome	11–13	Ireland	2011 Six Nations Championship	32,000	[26]
20	2 October 2011	Otago Stadium, Dunedin (New Zealand)	36–6	Ireland	2011 Rugby World Cup	28,027	[27]
21	25 February 2012	Aviva Stadium, Dublin	42–10	Ireland	2012 Six Nations Championship	51,000	[28]
22	16 March 2013	Stadio Olimpico, Rome	22–15	Italy	2013 Six Nations Championship	74,174	[29]
23	8 March 2014	Aviva Stadium, Dublin	46–7	Ireland	2014 Six Nations Championship	52,000	[30]
24	7 February 2015	Stadio Olimpico, Rome	3–26	Ireland	2015 Six Nations Championship	57,700	[31]
25	4 October 2015	Olympic Stadium, London (England)	16–9	Ireland	2015 Rugby World Cup	53,817	[32]
26	12 March 2016	Aviva Stadium, Dublin	58–15	Ireland	2016 Six Nations Championship	51,700	[33]
27	11 February 2017	Stadio Olimpico, Rome	10–63	Ireland	2017 Six Nations Championship	50,197	[34]
28	10 February 2018	Aviva Stadium, Dublin	56–19	Ireland	2018 Six Nations Championship	51,700	[35]
29	3 November 2018	Soldier Field, Chicago (United States)	54–7	Ireland	2018 Autumn International	35,000	[36]
30	24 February 2019	Stadio Olimpico, Rome	16–26	Ireland	2019 Six Nations Championship	49,720	[37]
31	10 August 2019	Aviva Stadium, Dublin	29–10	Ireland	2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up match	30,000	[38]
32	24 October 2020	Aviva Stadium, Dublin	50–17	Ireland	2020 Six Nations Championship	0*	[39]
33	27 February 2021	Stadio Olimpico, Rome	10–48	Ireland	2021 Six Nations Championship	0*	[40]
34	28 February 2022	Aviva Stadium, Dublin	57–6	Ireland	2022 Six Nations Championship	51,000	[41][42]
35	25 February 2023	Stadio Olimpico, Rome	20–34	Ireland	2023 Six Nations Championship	51,034	[43]
36	5 August 2023	Aviva Stadium, Dublin	33–17	Ireland	2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up match	43,500	[44]
37	11 February 2024	Aviva Stadium, Dublin	36–0	Ireland	2024 Six Nations Championship	51,700	[45][46]
38	15 March 2025	Stadio Olimpico, Rome	17–22	Ireland	2025 Six Nations Championship	68,981	[1]

Gallery

Irish player, Ryan Baird makes a carry against Italy in the 2023 Six Nations.

James Lowe fends off Italian defender during the 2023 Six Nations contest.

James Ryan makes a break during the 2023 Six Nations.

Ange Capuozzo with a carry during the 2023 Six Nations.

Notes

1. In the year preceding Italy joining the Six Nations, the fixtures were played in a shadow format, with Italy playing each of the then Five Nations during the 1999 Five Nations tournament.

External links

• Complete Results and Details at ESPN
• Pick and Go Rugby test match database
• Ireland v Italy stats on irishrugby.ie