Hurricanes v Blues Stat Attack

4,000 points. With this try to Riley Higgins, the Hurricanes surpassed that marker of points in Super Rugby. The total now stands at 4,003. points.

• By Peter Marriott

Some key facts and figures from the third round Super Rugby match at Wellington Stadium between the Hurricanes and the Blues.

Week 3 v Blues: Won 29-21

The Hurricanes and the Blues have now met on 41 occasions. The Hurricanes have won 20 matches to the Blues 20. There has been one drawn match.

The sides first played each other in 1996, in Palmerston North, a match the Blues won. They went on to win the next seven on the trot and then there was a draw. The Hurricanes won the 10th encounter and the next two before the Blues got back to their winning ways. It was not until 2015 the Hurricanes asserted themselves and from then until 2019 they won nine matches in a row. Before that sequence though, the Blues had won 14 matches to the Hurricanes eight. The win/loss ratio now favoured the Hurricanes 17 to 14.

Interestingly, the games which followed have resulted thus for the Hurricanes: L L W L L W L L and now W. After 29 years the Hurricanes once again have parity in terms of wins with the Blues.

For just the sixth time in their history the Hurricanes have won their first three matches of a new season. They did so in 1998, 2005, 2006 and 2010 but in 2015 they excelled themselves by winning their first seven matches.

The Hurricanes first try of the match brought up 1000 points scored against the Blues and the total now stands at 1027. The Hurricanes have scored at least 1000 points against two other New Zealand franchises: 1034 against the Chiefs and 1006 against the Highlanders They have scored 936 points against the Crusaders.

The Hurricanes last try of the match brought up 4000 points scored against the other four New Zealand franchises combined. The total now stands at 4003 points.

Of the 20 home matches the Hurricanes have played against the Blues, they have won 10 and lost nine. There was a drawn match in 2004.
This match also saw the Hurricanes celebrate Club Round .

This was the Hurricanes first match at home this season, their opening two having been played in Australia.

The Hurricanes made just three changes to their starting line-up against the Blues from their starting XV against the Reds the previous week. There was one change in the backs and two in the forwards.

After the first three rounds, the Hurricanes are the only side to remain unbeaten and sit at the top of the Standings.

All six winners in Week 3 scored in the 20s. The Hurricanes 29 points was top-equal with the Rebels. Threeof the losing sides also registered scores in the 20s.

The Hurricanes are the only side not to have had a penalty kicked against them. Having said that only one attempt has been made in three matches and that was by the Blues in the final moments of the game when chasing a bonus point.

James Tucker made his debut for the Hurricanes having previously played for the Chiefs, Brumbies and more recently the Blues. He is the third player to debut this season for the Hurricanes.

James Tucker started the match and was replaced by Caleb Delany just after half-time. When Delany went off for an HIA in the last minute, Tucker went back on for a very brief cameo.

Apart from Tucker, three other players made their first appearance this season for the Hurricanes: Tevita Mafileo, TJ Perenara and Peter Umaga-Jensen. A total of 29 players have now made at least one appearance this season.

TJ Perenara had not played for the Hurricanes since their Quarter-final match against the Brumbies at Canberra on 4 June 2022. He missed 17 matches in the interim and was unavailable for a total of 644 days.

Billy Proctor led the Hurricanes for the first time, along with co-captain Asafo Aumua.

Xavier Numia appeared in his 50th match for the Hurricanes: he is the 61st player to reach this milestone for the franchise. He made his debut off the bench against the Waratahs at Sydney in 2019. He has scored one try.

Josh Moorby scored two tries for the third time in a match. He also scored a hat-trick on another outing. He now has three tries against the Blues and a total of 17 in 27 match appearances.

Kini Naholo scored his 11th try for the Hurricanes, in his 13th appearance for the franchise. He had previously scored twice against the Blues during the match played at Auckland last season.

Riley Higgins scored his first try, in his seventh match. It was also his first start.

Brett Cameron kicked nine points and now has a total of 72 for the Hurricanes, in 10 matches.

For the Blues Mark Telea was the first to score a try. It was his 28th in Super Rugby but seven of those have been scored against the Hurricanes. In 2020 he dotted down once in Wellington, the following season he scored another, in Auckland, and in 2023 he scored four times to equal the Blues record for most tries scored in a match against the Hurricanes. Doug Howlett shares the record: his four tries were scored at Wellington in 2002.

Howlett also holds the record for most tries scored by a Blues player against the Hurricanes with 10.

Kurt Eklund’s try was his fourth against the Hurricanes. He scored one at Wellington in 2020 and two on neutral ground in Dunedin in 2022.

Stephen Perofeta converted all three tries and has a total of 23 in all appearances against the Hurricanes.

Overall, the Hurricanes have now played 394 Super Rugby matches. They have won 225 (57.1%), lost 163 and drawn six.