Hurricanes v Crusaders Stat Attack

Cam Roigard makes a break in their previous match against the Blues.

• By Peter Marriott

Some key facts and figures from the fourth round Super Rugby match in Christchurch between the Hurricanes and the Crusaders.

Week 4 v Crusaders: Won 14-10

The Hurricanes and the Crusaders have now met on 45 occasions. The Hurricanes have won 15 matches to the Crusaders 28. There have been two drawn matches.

The Hurricanes have played against the Crusaders more often than any other side and lost more matches against them than any other side.
There have now been 23 matches played in Christchurch at two different venues. The Crusaders have won 15 matches to the Hurricanes seven. There has been one draw.

The first Christchurch venue was the well-established Lancaster Park but it subsequently changed its name to Jade Stadium and then AMI Stadium. In 2011, Christchurch suffered the earthquake which damaged the ground beyond repair and so the Crusaders had to find a new home venue. Their current one was first used in 2012 and was referred to as the AMI Stadium (Addington). The name then changed briefly to Christchurch Stadium before becoming Orangetheory Stadium. This season it changed its sponsor yet again and currently is known as Apollo Projects Stadium.

This is just the second time the Hurricanes have won their first four matches of the new season. The previous occasion was in 2015 when they went on to win the first seven in succession.

By contrast, the Crusaders have lost their first four matches of the season for the first time in their history. In 1996, their previous worst start, they lost the first three matches followed by a draw but then won for the first time at their fifth attempt.

The Crusaders have never before lost four matches in a row but on eight separate occasions they have lost three matches on the trot and that includes twice in 1996. Three of those eight instances were split over two seasons.

This was the first occasion the Hurricanes have held the Crusaders scoreless in the first half. It was their 15th time in all matches and second instance this year.

The Crusaders had not previously been held scoreless at halftime since the Waratahs were ahead 17-0 at Sydney in April 2022.

This was also the first time the Hurricanes have won successive matches against the Crusaders since 2017/18.

The Hurricanes 14 points is their lowest-ever score to win a match against the Crusaders. Previously the record had been their 16-9 win at Wellington in 2014.

After Week 4, The Hurricanes remain at the top of the Standings, for the second week in a row and third week in total.

The Crusaders have brought up exactly 100 conversions against the Hurricanes. With 144 tries scored that represents a kicking success rate of 69.4%.

The last time the Crusaders scored one try against the Hurricanes was at Christchurch in 2017. On that occasion an additional five penalties allowed the host to win the match 20-12.

Curiously, in five of the six matches played this round, one side had a halftime score of seven points. In their match the Hurricanes led 7-0, the Rebels were behind 7-33, the Force were behind 7-12, The Brumbies trailed 7-11 and the Blues led 7-3. In the sixth match the Fijian Drua were behind 17-24 at halftime to the Chiefs.

The Hurricanes made only two changes to their starting line-up against the Crusaders from their starting XV against the Blues the previous week. There were no changes in the backs and two in the forwards.

The Hurricanes have brought up 5,000 points in all matches played at away venues. The total presently stands at 5,005.

And in all those away matches the Hurricanes have now scored exactly 600 tries.

The Hurricanes had their first successful penalty kicked against them during the match. They were the last of the 12 sides to concede a penalty this season.

Tyrel Lomax scored the first try of the match. It was his eighth overall in 97 matches and fifth try in 54 matches for the Hurricanes. It was his second try against the Crusaders, his first was in 2018 when he was playing for the Highlanders.

Lomax appeared in his 50th start for the Hurricanes and celebrated his 28th birthday the day before the match.

Justin Sangster scored his second try in his 16th match for the Hurricanes. It was his first try against the Crusaders.

in the 46th minute of the match, Cameron Roigard ran away from the opposition to score a try which was awarded by the referee. However, on being referred to the TMO it was disallowed as Roigard was adjudged to have knocked the ball on.

Former Crusaders player, Brett Cameron, kicked four points against his previous side. With 19 points for the Crusaders and now 76 points for the Hurricanes, he is just five short of bringing up 100 points in SuperRugby.

TJ Perenara appeared in his 152nd Super Rugby match to equal the record of former Hurricanes player Julian Savea. Their individual Super Rugby records are very similar. Perenara started in 142 of his matches and has scored 58 tries. Savea started in 140 matches and scored 60 tries. For the moment however, the record for most matches played for the Hurricanes is still held by Savea. When the match he played in 2017 against the British & Irish Lions is included his total is 153. Both missed two years of competition.

Cullen Grace scored the Crusaders only try. It was significant though as it brought up the 1,000th point in this year’s competition.
Riley Hohepa kicked five points in the match. He appeared twice for the Hurricanes off the bench last year.

Ioane Moananu was listed on the Crusaders reserves bench but did not take the field.

The Crusaders were awarded two yellow cards during the match: one each to Jamie Hannah and Owen Franks. Franks played 16 times for the Hurricanes in 2022/23.

There was a moment’s silence before the match to acknowledge the terrible tragedy which occurred at the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre on 15 March 2019, five years ago to the day.

Overall, the Hurricanes have now played 395 Super Rugby matches. They have won 226 (57.2%), lost 163 and drawn six.