Hurricanes v Force Stat Attack

• By Peter Marriott

SUPER RUGBY TRANS-TASMAN
Round 3 v Force: Won 43-6

The Hurricanes record against the Force is now played 12, won 11, lost one and drawn none.

The Hurricanes have won their last 10 matches in a row against the Force. This is a new record for most consecutive wins against another Super Rugby side. The Hurricanes previous record of nine consecutive wins was against the Blues.

Napier is one of the four venues used by the Hurricanes for their home matches. They have now played 13 times at McLean Park winning 10 of those matches, including all four against Australian sides, and lost three.

After 15 matches of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, the Hurricanes are the only side not to have been issued with a yellow or a red card.
After three rounds of competition the Hurricanes and the Crusaders are first-equal on the try-scoring list with 22 tries apiece.

The Force is the first side to not score a try against the Hurricanes since the Jaguares went tryless at Buenos Aires on 3 March 2018. The Hurricanes played 58 matches in between.

The Force’s six points is the lowest score by any team against the Hurricanes since the Rebels were beaten 71-6 at Wellington on 4 March 2017. A total of 75 matches have been played in between.

The Force failed to score a try: this is the 18th time the Hurricanes have not conceded a try to an opponent. It was also the second time against the Force: it first occurred at Palmerston North on 18 March 2016.

After three Super Rugby Trans-Tasman matches, the Hurricanes have yet to kick a penalty. Only one attempt has been made, compared to 23 conversion attempts.

The Hurricanes have conceded 6003 points in all Super Rugby matches played in New Zealand.

The Hurricanes have won their last six matches against Australian sides. Their last loss was against the Brumbies at Canberra (12-24) on 30 June 2018. This winning sequence is only bettered by the Hurricanes 12 victories in a row: the last four matches in 2016, all six in 2017 and the first two in 2018. After this sequence came the loss just mentioned, so the Hurricanes have, in fact, won 18 of their last 19 matches against Australian sides.

The Hurricanes seven tries at Napier equals their record against the Force, set at Wellington in 2010.

The Hurricanes have scored 203 tries against Australian sides in all matches played in New Zealand.

Reed Prinsep became the 20th different player to lead the Hurricanes in a Super Rugby match. He is the third (including Dane Coles) to do so against the Force and the third at Napier. He is also the 10th captain to win his first match in charge.

This was the first match in Napier for six Hurricanes players namely Luke Campbell, Orbyn Leger, Billy Proctor, Pouri Rakete-Stones, Salesi Rayasi and Cameron Roigard. They bring the number of players to have appeared in a match for the Hurricanes in Napier to 145.

Jordie Barrett still remains as the only player to have started in all 11 of the Hurricanes matches played so far in 2021.

Barrett’s 13 points in the match (one try and four conversions) took his total in all Super Rugby matches to 490. However, with the 11 points he kicked in the match against the British and Irish Lions in 2017, he has passed 500 and currently sits on a total of 501. He is the third player after brother Beauden (1238) and David Holwell (676) to bring up 500 points in all matches for the Hurricanes.

After three rounds of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman Jordie Barrett has scored 40 points, second only to Richie Mo’unga of the Crusaders who has scored 56 points.

Barrett’s 13 points at Napier took his total in all matches at the venue to 32: just one short of David Holwell’s record 33 points.

Jordie Barrett’s try, the seventh and final one for the Hurricanes, was the 99th to be scored in this year’s Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition.

Ngani Laumape scored his 47th try and fifth at Napier. This equals the Hurricane’s record for most tries by an individual at the venue, also held by Vince Aso. Laumape has now played four times in Napier and scored in every match: one try in 2017, two in 2018, one in 2020 and one in 2021.

Wes Goosen and Du’Plessis Kirifi both scored their first try at Napier. Goosen’s try was the 200th to be scored by a Hurricanes player against all Australian sides in New Zealand.

Asafo Aumua scored his first try at Napier and he has now dotted down in each of the three matches played in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman. His try was the 50th to be scored by a Hurricanes player in Napier.

Salesi Rayasi scored two tries for the third time in a match. It was his second pair for the year. His first try was the 50th to be scored by a Hurricanes player against the Force. They were Rayasi’s first tries at Napier.

Gareth Evans made his first start in a match since the first match of Super Rugby Aotearoa against the Blues at Auckland on 14 June 2020.
Of the squad of 23, all of whom took the field, just seven had previously played for the Hurricanes against the Force. They were Vince Aso, Jordie Barrett, James Blackwell, Ngani Laumape, Reed Prinsep, Ricky Riccitelli and Ardie Savea.

Flankers Reed Prinsep and Du’Plessis Kirifi both started their 31st Super Rugby match for the Hurricanes but it was just the 22nd time they had started together on both sides of the scrum.

Locks Isaia Walker-Leawere and Scott Scrafton both started their 18th Super Rugby match for the Hurricanes but it was only the fourth time they had started together.