Hurricanes v Highlanders Stat Attack

TJ Perenara brought up his 60th try against the Highlanders this past Easter weekend  to equal the Hurricanes record also held by Julian Savea. Savea’s 60th try was scored in his 150th match: Perenara scored his 60 tries in 154 matches.

• By Peter Marriott

The Hurricanes went 5/0 this past weekend to start the 2024 season. Some facts and figures from the game here by Peter Marriott.

Week 6 v Highlanders: Won 47-12

The Hurricanes and the Highlanders have now met on 41 occasions. The Hurricanes have won 26 matches to the Highlanders 15. There have been no drawn matches. The Highlanders, incidentally, are the only New Zealand side the Hurricanes have never drawn a match against.

The Hurricanes have beaten the Highlanders more often than they have any other team. In second place sits the Chiefs who have lost 21 times to the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes were the first New Zealand side the Highlanders met in Super Rugby. It was their fifth-ever match following three games against South African sides and one against an Australian side.

The Hurricanes won that first encounter 44-15 at the old Carisbrook ground in Dunedin on 30 March 1996, 28 years to the day this current match was played. It was also the Hurricanes first win against a New Zealand side.

The Hurricanes have won the first six matches of 2024. They are now just one short of equalling their record of being unbeaten in their first seven matches, which they achieved in 2015.

The Hurricanes actually have twice won 10 matches on the trot: in 2016 they won their last eight and then the first two of 2017. In 2018 they had a sequence of 10 straight wins from their second match onwards.

The Hurricanes 47 points in this match was their highest score against the Highlanders since their 56-20 win at Napier in 2015.

The Hurricanes winning margin of 35 points is just one short of their record 36 points against the Highlanders in their 56-20 win mentioned above.

During this match against the Highlanders the Hurricanes brought up 11,000 points in Super Rugby. The total now sits on 11,016 and after 397 matches they average 27.75 points per match.

The Hurricanes kept the Highlanders scoreless at halftime. It was the third occasion in six matches this season.

At the break they led 22-0 against the Force in their first match of the year, 7-0 against the Crusaders and now26-0 against the Highlanders.

This was the fourth match of the six they have played, the Hurricanes have led from the outset and have not been behind at any stage on the scoreboard.

The Hurricanes have won their last six matches against the Highlanders. This beats their previous record of five successive wins between 2006 and 2010.

The Hurricanes have scored a total of 1053 points against the Highlanders. This is a new record against all Super Rugby sides. Previously the Hurricanes record was 1034 points against the Chiefs.

The Hurricanes seven tries against the Highlanders took their tally in all matches to 128. This equals their record for most tries against any side: they have also scored 128 tries against the Chiefs, in 43 matches.

The Highlanders loss to the Hurricanes is their 19th straight defeat against New Zealand sides. They have not won since beating the Blues 35-29 at Dunedin in April 2021. That sequence includes seven losses to the Blues, five to the Hurricanes, four to the Chiefs and three to the Crusaders.

The Hurricanes made 11 changes to their starting line-up against the Highlanders from their starting XV against the Rebels the previous week. There were six changes in the backs and five in the forwards.

The Hurricanes remain the only unbeaten side after six Rounds and stay at the top of the Standings for the fourth week in a row.

Amongst the Hurricanes “firsts” after six weeks are most tries scored (33, the Reds are next with 30), most points scored (226, the Reds are next with 201), most tries scored in the first half of a match (18, the Chiefs and Reds are next with 15) and equal-most tries scored in the second half of a match (15, equal with the
Rebels and the Reds).

TJ Perenara brought up his 60th try to equal the Hurricanes record also held by Julian Savea. Savea’s 60th try was scored in his 150th match: Perenara scored his 60 tries in 154 matches.

A comparison of the sides they scored their tries against is as follows:

Together they scored at least one try each in 13 matches.

TJ Perenara scored three tries in a match on one occasion and two tries in a match six times. Julian Savea scored three tries in a match on two occasions and two tries in a match eight times.

Julian Savea moved to Moana Pasifika for 2024 and has since scored a further try to place him at the top of the all-time Super Rugby try-scorers list with 61. TJ Perenara lies second-equal on that list along with the former Waratahs player Israel Folau.

The match against the Highlanders was TJ Perenara’s 154th in Hurricanes colours and he is now the new record holder for most matches played for the franchise. He moved past Julian Savea’s record of 153 which included a non-Super Rugby match against the British & Irish Lions in 2017.

Tyrel Lomax played in his 100th match for a Super Rugby team. He had previously made 13 appearances for the Rebels in 2017 and 31 appearances for the Highlanders in 2018/19. One of those appearances though was against a touring French Barbarians side and was not a Super Rugby match. This was his 56th match for the Hurricanes and so his total number of appearances in Super Rugby currently sits on 99.

Xavier Numia scored his second try in his 52nd match for the Hurricanes.

Peter Lakai and Justin Sangster scored their third try for the Hurricanes: in their 12th and 18th match respectively.

Josh Moorby’s try was his 18th in his 30th outing for the Hurricanes.

Both Asafo Aumua and Cameron Roigard scored their 12th try for the Hurricanes. Aumua was appearing in his 62nd match and Roigard his 32nd. He also scored a try against the Highlanders last year.

Cameron Roigard was stretchered off the park in the 56th minute with a suspected injury to his knee.

For the first time this season Jordie Barrett put on his kicking boots to successfully convert two tries. Those four points took his total in all matches against the Highlanders to 85 which is almost exactly half the number of points (169) brother Beauden scored during his time with the Hurricanes. Jordie has now accumulated 756 Super Rugby points.

When the Barrett brothers points are combined, they are just six short of raising 2000 points in Super Rugby matches for the Hurricanes.

Brett Cameron kicked eight points to take his total in 12 matches for the Hurricanes to 84. When added to the 19 points he scored for his previous side the Crusaders, his total in all Super Rugby matches is 103.

Kini Naholo and Ngane Punivai, who had both played for other franchises before joining the Hurricanes, had not played against the Highlanders prior to this match.

The Highlanders try scorers Folau Fakatava and Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens both scored for the first time against the Hurricanes.

Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens was issued with a yellow card just 10 minutes into the match.

Sam Gilbert’s two points brought his total in all matches against the Hurricanes to eight.

The Hurricanes have a bye in the next round.

Overall, the Hurricanes have now played 397 Super Rugby matches. They have won 228 (57.4%), lost 163 and
drawn six.