The Hurricanes met the Rebels in Wellington this past Saturday afternoon. Some facts and figures from that fixture by Peter Marriott below.
Quarterfinal v Rebels: Won 47-20
Quarterfinals were introduced into Super Rugby in 2011. The Hurricanes have now taken part in seven of them:
2016 v Sharks in Wellington: Won 41-0
2017 v Brumbies in Canberra: Won 35-16
2018 v Chiefs in Wellington: Won 32-31
2019 v Bulls in Wellington: Won 35-28
2022 v Brumbies in Canberra: Lost 25-35
2023 v Brumbies in Canberra: Lost 33-37
2024 v Rebels in Wellington: Won 47-20
They have not lost any of their four Quarterfinal matches played at home.
This was probably the Rebels final-ever Super Rugby match as they were placed in voluntary administration before the start of the season. They were late-comers to Super Rugby having started in 2011, 15 years after the competition began.
In all Super Rugby matches (including Super Rugby AU in 2020 and 2021) the Rebels played 213 matches winning 68 of them, losing 143 and drawing two. Their best years were 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020 when they won seven matches in each of those seasons. They won five times this year which was their best season since 2020.
The Hurricanes and the Rebels met on 13 occasions. The Hurricanes won 12 matches to the Rebels one. There were no drawn matches.
The Rebels beat the Hurricanes 42-25 in their first-ever encounter at AAMI Park in Melbourne in 2011. The Hurricanes were the first New Zealand franchise to lose to the Rebels.
Since that first match the Hurricanes have gone on to win all 12 which have followed. This is the Hurricanes best-ever winning sequence against another side: Next up are the Force (10 consecutive wins), the Blues and Reds (nine each) and the Lions (eight in a row).
The Hurricanes have won their last nine matches in a row at Sky Stadium. Their last loss was against the Chiefs: 17-33 in April last year. When their 54-28 win against the Rebels at Palmerston North in Week 5 this season is taken into consideration, the Hurricanes have won their last 10 matches in succession at home venues. This is approaching their record of 13 matches in a row between 2017 and 2019 and 12 in a row between 2016 and 2017. Those two sequences were separated by one match which the Hurricanes lost 14-17 against the Chiefs in Wellington. That means they won 25 home wins in 26 matches.
The Hurricanes played their 200th match at a home venue: 13 at Napier, 11 at New Plymouth, 15 at Palmerston North, 10 at the old Athletic Park, and 151 at Westpac/Sky Stadium. They have won 138 of those matches (69.0%), lost 59 and drawn three.
The Hurricanes have now won their last 19 matches in a row at home venues against Australian sides.
The Hurricanes conceded just two tries in the match against the Rebels. This was the eighth occasion in 2024 they have had that many scored against them and is a new record for the most times in one season. In 2014 and 2017 they conceded two tries in a match seven times. For anyone interested the Hurricanes have given up two tries in a match 118 times for 85 wins, 30 losses and three draws.
For the second match in a row, the Hurricanes won by a margin of 27 points. They beat the Highlanders 41-14 in their previous match. This is only the third time they have won by that many points, the first time being their 46-19 win over the Force at Perth in 2012.
The Hurricanes scored their first points (a try) against the Rebels after 25 minutes. This is the “latest” time this season in which they have put points on the scoreboard. The previous “latest” was a try after 19 minutes against the Chiefs in Week 14. The “earliest” score by the Hurricanes was a try after three minutes against the Waratahs in Week 11.
This match was the fourth of 15 played this year by the Hurricanes who were the second team to score points.
During the match an aggregate of 21,000 points was raised in all matches played by the Hurricanes. The total now sits on 21,043 and is made up of 11,317 points scored by the Hurricanes and 9,726 by all the other teams combined.
The Hurricanes made just three changes to their starting XV against the Rebels from the one which started against the Highlanders last week. There was one change in the backs and two in the forwards.
The seven tries scored by the Hurricanes in the match took their total this season to 77, a total only beaten by the 97 they scored in 2017 and equal to the Blues total for most tries scored by any team in 2024.
Brad Shields returned to the side after having missed the previous two matches. It was his 50th Super Rugby appearance at Westpac/Sky Stadium.
TJ Perenara made his 150th start for the Hurricanes, in his record-extending 162nd match. It was also his 68th appearance at the Stadium, one more than Julian Savea’s 67 appearances which included one against the British & Irish Lions in 2017.
Seven different players scored a try for the Hurricanes.
Pasilio Tosi’s try was his third in 25 matches.
Josh Moorby scored his 21st try in his 37th match. He also scored one against the Rebels last year. It was his 7th try of 2024.
Brayden Iose scored his 11th try in 38 appearances. He also scored a try in the previous match against the Highlanders.
Asafo Aumua has now scored 14 tries in 66 matches for the Hurricanes. He also scored against the Rebels in 2021.
Devan Flanders has scored eight tries in 52 appearances.
Du’Plessis Kirifi scored his 11th try in his 77th match. He also dotted down against the Rebels in Week 5. As did Iose, Kirifi scored in the previous round against the Highlanders as well but he picked up a brace in that match.
The final try scorer, Kini Naholo, picked up his 13th try in 24 Super Rugby appearances.
Brett Cameron missed just one of his seven conversion attempts. It was when converting Naholo’s try and the ball hit the right-hand upright. This was actually the sixth time this season Cameron has hit the uprights but two of those attempts did go over the crossbar.
Cameron’s 12 points took his tally in 19 matches for the Hurricanes to 138 including 97 for this season. He is now in 5th place on the point-scorers ladder. In his earlier 13-match career with the Crusaders he scored 19 points and so his total in all matches has passed 150 and he now sits on 157 points.
Lachie Anderson scored both of the Rebels tries and he now has 14 to his name. He is the only player in 15 matches this season to have scored two tries in the same match against the Hurricanes. In fact, the Hurricanes had gone 17 matches since the last occasion a player had scored two or more tries against them.
That was Mark Telea who scored four tries in the match at Auckland in Week 14 last year. By coincidence, Telea, and Emoni Narawa (Chiefs), have also scored two tries against the Hurricanes this year, but one in each of the two matches both of them have played against the franchise.
Interestingly, all six of the above mentioned tries were scored by a player wearing the No.14 jersey.
Carter Gordon kicked all four of his attempts at goal and totalled 10 in the match. With his eight points kicked earlier in Week 5 he tallied 18 in his two matches against the Hurricanes. In all, Gordon attempted eight kicks at goal and missed none of them. His total for the season has moved him to 96 and into sixth place on the point- scoring table, one point shy of Brett Cameron.
The Hurricanes will meet the Chiefs in their Semifinal match at Wellington next Saturday.
Overall, the Hurricanes have now played 406 Super Rugby matches. They have won 235 (57.9%), lost 165 and drawn six.