Hurricanes v Blues Stat Attack

In association with Hurricanes statistics compiler Peter Marriott, the Stat Attack returns in 2026. Facts and figures from the Hurricanes’ win over the Blue in Wellington below.

Round 9 v Blues:  Won 42-19

These two sides played the first-ever Super Rugby match back on 1 March 1996 at Palmerston North. The Blues won 36-28 and went on to beat the Hurricanes in the next seven games in a row, followed by a draw.

Hurricanes first win was not until their 10th encounter in 2005.

The Hurricanes and the Blues have now met on 45 occasions. The Hurricanes have won 21 times to the Blues 23 times. There has been one drawn match.

The Hurricanes have hosted the Blues on 22 occasions. The record is now won 11, lost 10 and drawn one.

The Hurricanes winning margin of 23 points has been bettered only once. At Auckland in 2015 the visitors beat the Blues 29-5.

The win brought to an end three successive losses by the Hurricanes against the Blues.

The Hurricanes have won their last seven matches at home venues. Their last loss was against the Brumbies at Wellington on 11 April 2025, exactly a year previously to the day.

This round of matches was designated the Heritage Round.

In what was perhaps an unprecedented occurrence, the kick off in both halves (Beauden Barrett for the Blues in the first half and Ruben Love for the Hurricanes in the second), went out on the full.

The Hurricanes scored first after five minutes and from then, for the first time this season, they led for every minute of the match.

The Hurricanes scored 42 points for the ninth time in a Super Rugby match. Three of those occasions have been against the Blues. The first time was at Auckland in 1997 when the home side won 45-42 and the second time was at Wellington in 2018 when the home side won 42-24.

The Hurricanes have conceded 19 points in a match a record 34 times. They have won 23 of those matches and lost 11. The next most conceded points total is shared by 18 and 20: both on 20 occasions.

The Blues have registered 19 points against the Hurricanes on six occasions winning twice. Both times have been close: in 2008 the score was 19-17 and when they played last year the score was 19-18. The Blues hosted both matches.

The Hurricanes six tries equalled their record for most tries in a match against the Blues. All three occasions have been at Wellington: in 2009, 2018 and 2026.

The Hurricanes made two changes to the starting XV from that which took the field in the previous match against the Reds. There was one change in the forwards (Pasilio Tosi for Tevita Mafileo) and one in the backs (Callum Harkin for Bailyn Sullivan).

The Hurricanes starting line-up between them sported 822 caps (457 in the forwards and 365 in the backs).

The bench boasted a total of 434 caps with five of the eight having played 57 or more matches.

After nine rounds the Hurricanes remain at the top of the Standings for the fifth week in a row. The Blues have slipped back to third after having been in second place for four weeks running.

The Hurricanes have scored the most tries (47) and conceded the fewest (17). They have also aggregated the most points (306) and conceded the fewest (117).

Callum Harkin scored two tries in a match for the first time. He now has four tries in 16 matches for the Hurricanes. They were his first tries against the Blues.

Billy Proctor’s try was his 26th in 74 Super Rugby matches. He now has scored six in 2026, his most prolific season to date bettering the five he scored in 2022. Proctor has scored two tries against the Blues.

Fehi Fineanganofo touched down for his 16th try in just 19 matches. It was his 10th this season and at the completion of the round he was the competition’s top try scorer. It was his first try against the Blues.

The last Hurricanes player to score 10 or more tries in a season was Ngani Laumape: 13 in 2019 in 16 matches.

Fineanganofo also picked up his first yellow card.

Asafo Aumua’s try was his 17th in his 82nd match. He has now scored four tries against the Blues including a pair at Wellington in 2021.

Aumua made his 50th Super Rugby start in the No 2 jersey.

Cameron Roigard scored his 24th try in his 54th match. He now has two against the Blues. Roigard has scored at least one try in each of his last four matches which is his best sequence after three in a row on two previous occasions.

Ruben Love converted all six tries and now has 155 points in his 47 Super Rugby matches. He has scored 16 points against the Blues.

For the sixth time in their seven matches this year, no attempt was made to kick a penalty goal. The only attempt so far has been by Jordie Barrett against the Fijian Drua. It was successful but that match remains as

the only one the Hurricanes have lost so far in 2026. By comparison there have been 47 conversion attempts, of which 34 have been successful.

Isaia Walker-Leawere was awarded his second yellow card of the season to take the Hurricanes total in 2026 to four.

Raymond Tuputupu made his first appearance this season, off the bench. He took the number of players to have been used in seven matches to 36, including five debutants.

Tuputupu celebrated his 23rd birthday on the day of the match.

Four of the Blues players had previously appeared for the Hurricanes. They were Pita Ahki, Beauden Barrett, Finlay Christie and Marcel Renata.

AJ Lam scored his first try for the Blues against the Hurricanes.

Caleb Clarke, however, extended the number of tries he has scored against the Hurricanes to six. Between 2019 and 2023 he scored one try in each of those five matches missing out in 2024 and 2025.

Doug Howlett, himself a one-season player for the Hurricanes, holds the Blues record for most tries against the Hurricanes with 10.

Clarke’s try was the 350th scored this year, in the 42nd match.

Malachi Wrampling scored his first try against the Hurricanes.

Beauden Barrett had a quiet day with the boot picking up just four points. However, they were significant in that they took his total of points in 49 appearances for the Blues to 352. Included in that figure are 31 points against his old side the Hurricanes.

In 125 appearances for the Hurricanes between 2011 and 2019 Barrett scored a record 1238 Hurricanes points which included 112 points against the Blues.

Combined, Barrett’s total for both sides is 1590, in 174 Super Rugby matches. He averages a smidge over nine points a match.

Beauden Barrett is the second most prolific point scorer in Super Rugby history, now “just” 118 points behind Dan Carter who scored 1708 points in 141 matches for the Crusaders between 2003 and 2015.

Finlay Christie, together with Barrett, partnered up in the no 9 and No 10 jerseys against the Hurricanes. Back

in 2018 and 2019 they were Hurricanes team-mates and on three occasions in their first year together they started as a Halfback/First Five-eight combination including the match against the Blues at Auckland. The Hurricanes won that match 36-15.

Nic Berry was in charge of this match. It was his 18th involving the Hurricanes and second with the Blues as the opposition side. Under Berry the Hurricanes have won 12 matches and lost six.

The Hurricanes have now played 429 Super Rugby matches. They have won 249 (58.0%), lost 173 and drawn seven.

For the first time in their history the Hurricanes have reached a winning success rate of 58%.

They started on the back foot by losing their first two matches in 1996.  By the end of a  poor first-up season their winning percentage was a low 27.27 when taken to two decimal places. They reached the 40s in late 1997 and first reached exactly 50% in 2006, against the Waratahs in Sydney. Rodney So’oialo was the captain.

That was match #126 and it has taken a further 303 matches to move through to 58 for the first time. The percentage at this moment is actually 58.04 (to two decimal places) but a loss in the next round will decline that winning percentage back to 57.90.

The Blues have played 430 Super Rugby matches. They have won 239 (55.9%), lost 184 and drawn seven.