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England v Ireland – the modern day rivalry

Last Updated: 17:39 GMT+2, Thu 19 February 2026. Written by Ollie Keohane

Few fixtures in northern hemisphere rugby have evolved as sharply in the professional era as England v Ireland. What was once a largely one-sided rivalry has, over the last two decades, become one of the defining match-ups of the Six Nations calendar. In the past five years in particular, the balance of power has shifted.

In the professional era of rugby union (since 1995), the head-to-head between England and Ireland has been far closer than the early years of the fixture. From 1875 to 2025 the sides had met 143 times overall, with England winning 81, Ireland 54 and 8 draws. In the professional era specifically, they had met 35 times, with England winning 19 and Ireland 16, illustrating how the gap has narrowed significantly compared with the pre-1995 era.

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England v Ireland head-to-head

Professional era results (post-1995):
- England wins: 19
- Ireland wins: 16
- Draws: 0
  — England still edges overall, but by a narrow margin.

The contest for the Millennium Trophy, awarded annually in the Six Nations to the winner of England v Ireland, further highlights this balance: as of the 2025 championship, England have won it 21 times and Ireland 17 times.

Six Nations head-to-head in the last five years

Focusing on Six Nations meetings from 2020 through 2025 provides clear evidence of Ireland’s recent edge in the rivalry:

Six Nations results between England and Ireland (2020–24):

23 Feb 2020: England 24–12 Ireland (England win)
20 Mar 2021: Ireland 32–18 England (Ireland win)
12 Mar 2022: England 15–32 Ireland (Ireland win)
18 Mar 2023: Ireland 29–16 England (Ireland win)
09 Mar 2024: England 23–22 Ireland (England win)
01 Feb 2025: Ireland 27–22 England (Ireland win)
— Result trends: Ireland 4 wins, England 2 wins in these five fixtures.

Aggregate points patterns:

Ireland’s victories have often been by sizable margins (e.g., 32–15 in 2022, 29–16 in 2023), while England’s wins (2020, 2024) were narrower one-score affairs

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Six Nations performance context (last five years)

Looking beyond direct head-to-head matches, tournament placements give further context:

Ireland in Six Nations:

2025: Ireland finished third, picking up 19 competition points and narrowly winning their final match to stay in title contention.

England in Six Nations:

2025: England finished second, highlighted by strong overall scoring ability across the tournament.

This suggests that even when the teams do not face each other directly, both have maintained consistent Six Nations competitiveness in recent years.

Historic perspective – professional era overall

Even though England historically dominated the fixture in the early professional era, the landscape has shifted:

Pre-1995: England frequently enjoyed larger winning margins and more overall victories.
1995–present: The gap tightened to a near level head-to-head (19–16 in England’s favour).

The Millennium Trophy record also supports this shift: the contest has been competitive for decades, with Ireland picking up 17 wins to England’s 21 as of 2025.