Hurricanes v Chiefs Stat Attack

• By Peter Marriott

The Hurricanes beat the Chiefs 36-23 in their Super Rugby match at Wellington on Saturday night to maintain their seven from seven winning record. Some facts and figures from the contest below by Peter Marriott.

Week 8 v Chiefs: Won 36-23

The Hurricanes and the Chiefs have now met on 44 occasions. The Hurricanes have won 22 matches to the Chiefs 20. There have been two drawn matches.

This was the 15th win by the Hurricanes against the Chiefs at a home venue. This is a new record for most home wins against any Super Rugby team: the previous record of 14 wins at home was against the Highlanders.

The Hurricanes victory came after a record five losses in a row against the Chiefs.

The win also came after a record-equalling three losses in succession at home against the Chiefs.

The Hurricanes have now won 83 matches against all of the New Zealand teams.

They have also lost 83 matches against all of the other New Zealand teams.

The Hurricanes have won their first seven matches to equal their best-ever start to a season which previously occurred in 2015.

The Hurricanes five tries took their total in all matches against the Chiefs to 133. This betters their previous record against all sides: 128 tries against the Highlanders.

The Hurricanes 36 points took their total in all matches against the Chiefs to 1070. This betters their previous record against all sides: 1053 against the Highlanders.

The Hurricanes have aggregated exactly 6000 points in all of their matches played at home venues. That total is broken down as follows: Napier (444 points), New Plymouth (370 points), Palmerston North (449 points) and Wellington (4737 points). The 6000 points are made up of 761 tries, 528 conversions, 375 penalties and four drop goals.

The Hurricanes have now scored 1001 tries in all of their matches played in New Zealand. Kini Naholo scored the 1000th try.

The Chiefs 23 points brought up 1000 points in all matches against the Hurricanes. The total now sits on 1002.

The Chiefs are the third side to reach this milestone after the Crusaders (1246 points) and the Blues (1089 points).

The Hurricanes made just one change to their starting line-up against the Chiefs from their starting XV against the Highlanders the previous week. That change was in the backs. The forwards remained the same in successive matches for the first time since the Hurricanes played the Highlanders at Wellington following the Chiefs match at Hamilton in June 2021.

By the end of Week 8 the Hurricanes had regained the top position in the Standings after sitting out a bye in Week 7.

This was the Chiefs 401st Super Rugby match.

Tyrel Lomax played in his 100th Super Rugby match. He appeared 13 times for the Rebels in 2017, 30 timesfor the Highlanders in 2018 and 2019, and 57 times for the Hurricanes since 2020.

Brad Shields equalled the Hurricanes record for most starts on the side of the scrum. He is level with Ardie Savea with 71 appearances at Flanker, one more than the late Jerry Collins.

TJ Perenara scored two tries to take his total to a Hurricanes record of 62, in 155 appearances. Before the match he was sitting top-equal with former Hurricanes player Julian Savea on 60 tries. Perenara’s two tries also place him in top-equal position on the all-time Super Rugby try scorers list with Savea.

Perenara has now scored two or more tries in a match on eight occasions but has not done so since scoring a double, also against the Chiefs, in their Quarterfinal match at Wellington in 2018.

TJ Perenara has also equalled Julian Savea’s record for most tries scored by a Hurricanes player against the Chiefs: they have eight apiece.
Perenara has scored at least one try in each of the last three matches.

Perenara and Brett Cameron started together as a Halfback/First Five-eighth combination for the first time.

Perenara had previously started alongside eight different players, in chronological order as follows: Beauden Barrett (101 times), Tusi Pisi (twice), James Marshall (five times), Otere Black (six times), Ihaia West (twice), Jackson Garden-Bachop (12 times), Fletcher Smith (seven times), Aidan Morgan (eight times) and once with Brett Cameron. That is a record 144 starts for TJ Perenara at Halfback.

Brett Cameron kicked 11 points to bring up 50 points for the season. He now has 54 in 2024 and a total of 95 in 13 matches for the Hurricanes.

Brayden Iose scored his eighth try in 32 appearances for the Hurricanes. It was his second try against the Chiefs.

Kini Naholo scored his 12th try for the Hurricanes in 18 Super Rugby matches. It was his first against the Chiefs.

Asafo Aumua scored his third try against the Chiefs. It was his 13th overall in 63 matches for the Hurricanes.

In the 26th minute Aumua was awarded an on-field try by the referee James Doleman. However it was ruled out after the TMO determined Brad Shields had knocked the ball on before he passed it to Aumua.

For the Chiefs Cortez Ratima scored his second try against the Hurricanes and for Emoni Narawa it was his first.

Emoni Narawa was issued with a yellow card in the 28th minute.

Damian McKenzie kicked 13 points in the match to advance his total for the season to 95. He has now scored 176 points against the Hurricanes, only 17 short of Dan Carter’s record 193 points against the franchise.

McKenzie’s three penalty goals took the total kicked against the Hurricanes this season to just four. The last time three penalties were kicked against the Hurricanes was last year, by the Chiefs in Wellington. No team has kicked four penalties against the Hurricanes since 2021. That was in the match played at Hamilton and the team involved was, the Chiefs. Damian McKenzie was the sole goal kicker in all three matches.
Tupou Vaa’i played his 50th match for the Chiefs.

Overall, the Hurricanes have now played 398 Super Rugby matches. They have won 229 (57.5%), lost 163 and drawn six.