Hurricanes v Western Force Stat Attack

The Hurricanes drew their Super Rugby match with the Western Force on Saturday night in Perth. Some facts and figures about the game follow, compiled Hurricanes Statistics Manager Peter Marriott.

Round 10 v Force: Drawn 17-17 (aet)

The Hurricanes and the Force first met at New Plymouth in 2006 when the home side won 29-5. Yarrow Stadium was then one of the Hurricanes home grounds before it was absorbed into the Chiefs region.

The two sides have now met on 16 occasions: the Hurricanes have won 13 times to the Forces two. A drawn match has now been added to the results.

This was the Hurricanes seventh drawn match and first since they drew with the Chiefs at Hamilton in 2019.

Chronologically their drawn matches have been against the Crusaders (18-18 at Christchurch in 1999), the Blues (26-26 at Wellington in 2004), the Sharks (13-13 at Wellington in 2008), the Crusaders (26-26 at Wellington in 2010), the Chiefs (18-18 at Hamilton in 2010 and 23-23, again at Hamilton, in 2019) and now 17-17 against the Force at Perth in 2025.

This was the Hurricanes first drawn match played outside New Zealand and their first against an Australian side.

The Hurricanes and Force were tied at 17-17 at the conclusion of regular play which sent the teams into Golden Point. They were given an extra 10 minutes and the first side to score points would be affirmed as the winner.

As there was no further scoring during that time the match was declared a draw. However, with time up on the clock, Ruben Love had the opportunity to win the match for the Hurricanes but his drop-goal attempt hit the left-hand upright.

Since the Golden Point law was introduced, all matches which went into extra time had been resolved in one or other of the teams favour. This was the first time a winner was unable to be determined.

The Hurricanes have now been involved in four matches which went to Golden Point.

The Hurricanes five points at half-time is their lowest score after 40 minutes against the Force. The previous lowest half-time score was their narrow 7-5 lead at the Forces former ground, the Subiaco Oval, a match which the hosts won 18-17.

The Force have hosted the Hurricanes eight times. The Hurricanes have won five of those matches and the Force two. Apart from the match mentioned above they also won 27-22 at HBF Park in 2022.

The Hurricanes three matches at HBF Park have resulted in a loss, a win and a draw.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hurricanes (@hurricanesrugby)

The Hurricanes have now scored 17 points in a match on 17 occasions. They have won just three of those matches, lost 13 and drawn one.

On the other hand, they have conceded 17 points in a match 18 times for 12 wins, five losses and a draw. In this match the Hurricanes nominated three co-captains for the first time in their 30 year history. They were all forwards: Asafo Aumua, Brad Shields and Du’Plessis Kirifi.

The concept of co-captains was introduced in 2020 when Dane Coles and TJ Perenara combined for six  matches. It was not until 2024 the idea was utilised again but it was only for four matches. This season the Hurricanes had used two co-captains on seven occasions before adding one more to the mix.

During the match the Hurricanes scored their 450th try in all matches played against Australian sides. The total now stands at 452: 263 in New Zealand and 189 in Australia.

After having played their first eight matches this season in New Zealand, this was the Hurricanes first match in Australia.

The Hurricanes made four changes to their starting line-up from the one which started the previous match against the Crusaders. There were two changes in the backs and two in the forwards.

Riley Higgins and Billy Proctor both appeared for the first time this season. They took the number of players used in 2025 to 35.

Three Hurricanes players left the field for an HIA: they were Asafo Aumua, Peter Umaga-Jensen and Isaia Walker-Leawere. All of them failed their assessment.

Fatafehi Fineanganofo scored two tries for the first time in his Super Rugby career. He now has a total of three in eight appearances. The occasion is even more significant as it was the 150th time a player has scored two tries in a match for the Hurricanes. Twenty four players have scored three in a match and two have scored four.

Fineanganofo is the 60th Hurricanes player to score at least two tries in a match.

Reed Prinsep, who came off the bench for the Force, had previously played 72 times for the Hurricanes  between 2017 and 2022. During that time he captained the side three times including the match against the Force at Napier in 2021 which the Hurricanes won 43-6.

Max Burey, who was on the bench, did not get onto the field of play.

Bayley Kuenzle and Mac Grealy each scored their first try against the Hurricanes.

With his seven points off the boot, Ben Donaldson took his total number of points against the Hurricanes to 29.  Eighteen of those points were scored when he played for the Waratahs.

Damon Murphy was in charge of his fifth match involving the Hurricanes. They had won the first four including the earlier match this season against the Waratahs.

At the end of Week 10 the Hurricanes lie in seventh place in the Standings, up one place from the previous week and three points short of the Waratahs in sixth place.

Overall, the Hurricanes have now played 416 Super Rugby matches. They have won 238 (57.2%), lost 171 and drawn seven.