Blues – Melbourne Rebels

6 May 2022

• The Blues have won three of their last four Super Rugby matches against the Melbourne Rebels (L1), including a 50-3 win in their most recent meeting (Round 1, 2021 Super Rugby Trans-Tasman); it’s the Blues’ second biggest win against any team in the history of the competition (60-7 v Hurricanes – 22 February 2002).
• The Melbourne Rebels won their most recent Super Rugby match in New Zealand against the Blues (20-10, 2 June 2018) after losing all their three such meetings prior.
• The Blues have won 16 of their last 17 Super Rugby matches (L1), including their last nine on the bounce; the last and only time they enjoyed a longer winning run in the competition was a 12-match span in 1997 in which they became Super Rugby champions.
• The Melbourne Rebels won their most recent Super Rugby match outside Victoria (22-21 v Western Force – 8 April 2022), snapping a seven-match losing run in such fixtures; they will be aiming for back-to-back wins outside their home state for the first time since April 2021.
• The Blues have won their last seven Super Rugby matches on the bounce against Australian opposition; the last and only time they enjoyed a longer winning run in such fixtures was a 10-match span from April 2016 to May 2018.
• The Melbourne Rebels have made dominant contact on 28% of their total carries (257/914) in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, the best rate of any team in the competition; the Blues (26%) are ranked third in this category (Hurricanes – 27%).
• The Blues have crossed the gainline on 66% of their total gainline carries (611/932) this Super Rugby Pacific season, the best rate of any team in the competition and 11 percentage points higher than the Melbourne Rebels (55%).
• The Melbourne Rebels (168) and Blues (156) have gained the most and third most metres from mauls of any teams this Super Rugby Pacific season (Crusaders – 165).
• Beauden Barrett (Blues) has made 11 kicks in play per 80 minutes this Super Rugby Pacific season, the most of any player in the competition and five more than any Melbourne Rebels player in this category.
• James Hanson (Melbourne Rebels) has crossed for five tries in his last five starts in Super Rugby competitions, including a brace of tries against Moana Pasifika in Round 11 of this Super Rugby Pacific season.

Queensland Reds – Highlanders

6 May 2022

• The Highlanders have won their last four Super Rugby matches on the bounce against the Queensland Reds; however, neither team has enjoyed a longer winning run in the history of this fixture.
• The Highlanders defeated the Queensland Reds in their most recent Super Rugby meeting at Suncorp Stadium (18-15, 26 May 2018), snapping a six-match losing run in away games against the Reds; they will be aiming for back-to-back wins in such fixtures for the first time in the history of the competition.
• The Queensland Reds have lost each of their last two Super Rugby matches after losing only one of their eight games prior (W7); the last time they lost more than two consecutive games was a four-match span from June 2019 to February 2020.
• The Highlanders lost their most recent Super Rugby match against Australian opposition (28-17 v Brumbies, 24 April 2022), snapping a five-match winning run in such fixtures prior; they will be looking to avoid back-to-back defeats against Australian teams for the first time since July 2014.
• The Queensland Reds have received 11 yellow cards in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, four more than any other team in the competition; the Reds’ 124 penalties conceded in the campaign is the second most by any side (NSW Waratahs – 130).
• The Highlanders have a success rate of 91% on their lineout throws this Super Rugby Pacific season (115/127) – the best of any team in the competition; only the Fijian Drua (69%) have a lower rate than the Queensland Reds (76%) in this category.
• The Queensland Reds (2) and Highlanders (1) are the only teams to have scored a try starting possession from a free kick in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific campaign.
• The Highlanders (25) and Queensland Reds (23) have made the most and third most kicks in play per game respectively of any teams this Super Rugby Pacific season (Crusaders – 24 per game).
• Rhys Marshall (Highlanders) has crossed the gainline on 10 carries per 80 minutes in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, the most of any player in the competition (min. 80 minutes played).
• Harry Wilson (Queensland Reds) has crossed the gainline on 89 carries this Super Rugby Pacific season, 19 more than any other player in the competition and 42 more than Highlanders’ best Fetuli Paea (47).

Moana Pasifika – NSW Waratahs

7 May 2022

• This will be the first Super Rugby match between Moana Pasifika and the NSW Waratahs; the Waratahs have won eight of their last nine games in the competition when facing a team for the first time (L1).
• The NSW Waratahs have lost their last 12 Super Rugby matches in New Zealand, conceding 41 points per game in that span; their last win in the country was a 29-24 victory against the Hurricanes (Rd 10, 2015).
• Moana Pasifika have won only one of their nine Super Rugby matches (L8) and have lost their last six games in succession by an average margin of 24 points per game.
• The NSW Waratahs have won three of their last four Super Rugby matches against teams from outside Australia (L1), after winning only one of their 16 such fixtures prior (L15).
• Moana Pasifika have made 22% of their total metres gained from kick returns in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season (763/3413); it’s the highest rate of any team in the campaign.
• The NSW Waratahs have scored six tries from mauls in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, the most of any team in the competition and four more than Moana Pasifika (3).
• The NSW Waratahs (13) and Moana Pasifika (13) have conceded more penalties per game than any other teams in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season.
• The NSW Waratahs (12) and Moana Pasifika (13) have conceded fewer turnovers per game than any other teams this Super Rugby Pacific season.
• Jamie Roberts (NSW Waratahs) has made dominant contact on five carries per 80 minutes in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, the most of any player in the competition (min. 90 minutes played).
• Timoci Tavatavanawai (Moana Pasifika) has beaten nine defenders per 80 minutes in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, the most of any player in the competition (min. 10 minutes played).

Chiefs – Brumbies

7 May 2022

• The Chiefs have won seven of their last eight Super Rugby home matches against the Brumbies (L1), including a 21-point win in their most recent game in that span (40-19 – Round 2, 2021 Super Rugby Trans-Tasman); it’s the Chiefs’ biggest winning margin in such fixtures in the history of the competition.
• The Brumbies have won three of their last four Super Rugby matches against New Zealand teams (L1), including their last two in succession; the last time they enjoyed a longer winning run against such opposition was a three-match span from March to April in 2014.
• The Chiefs have won their last three Super Rugby matches in succession; the last time they won more than three consecutive games was a five-match span from March to April in 2021.
• The Brumbies have won four of their last five Super Rugby matches away from GIO Stadium (L1), including each of their last two; the last time they enjoyed a longer winning run away from their home venue was a four-match span from February to July in 2020.
• The Brumbies (139) and Chiefs (139) have won more lineouts (inc. steals) than any other teams in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season; although, the Chiefs (10) have stolen more lineouts than the Brumbies (9).
• The Chiefs have made six offloads resulting in a try scored in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, the joint-most by any team (also NSW Waratahs – 6) and double the tally of the Brumbies (3) in this category.
• The Brumbies have scored 27 tries starting possession from a lineout in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, six more than any other team in the competition and 10 more than the Chiefs (17).
• The Chiefs have a 96% scrum success rate in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, the best of any team in the competition and eight percentage points higher than the Brumbies (88%).
• Samisoni Taukei’aho (Chiefs) has scored one try in each of his last two games in Super Rugby Pacific after scoring just one try across his 32 previous games in Super Rugby competitions.
• Luke Reimer (Brumbies) has won three turnovers per 80 minutes in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, the most by any player in the competition (min. 80 minutes played).

Western Force – Crusaders

7 May 2022

• The Crusaders have won six of their last seven Super Rugby matches against the Western Force (L1), including their last four in succession – their longest winning run against them in the history of the competition.
• The Crusaders won their recent Super Rugby away match against the Western Force (20-19, Rd 7 2016); they will be aiming for back-to-back away wins against the Force for the first time in the history of the competition.
• The Western Force have lost their last seven Super Rugby matches at HBF Park; the last time they went on a longer losing run at their home venue was a 10-match span from May 2015 to July 2016.
• The Crusaders will be looking to avoid back-to-back defeats in Super Rugby for the first time since March 2018, following their 24-21 loss to the NSW Waratahs last time out (30 April 2022).
• The Western Force have lost their last 22 Super Rugby matches in succession against New Zealand opposition, their longest losing run in such fixtures; their last victory against a New Zealand team came in Round 6, 2014 (18-15 v Chiefs).
• The Crusaders have retained possession on 33 kicks in play in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, the most of any team in the competition and 10 more than the Western Force (23).
• The Western Force have stolen 19 lineouts in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, four more than any other team in the competition and seven more than the Crusaders (12).
• The Crusaders have gained 102 metres per game from kick returns in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, the most of any team in the competition and 50 per game more than the Western Force (52).
• Manasa Mataele (Western Force) has been directly involved in six tries in his last four appearances in Super Rugby Pacific (4 tries, 2 try assists); this will be his first Super Rugby game against the Crusaders, for whom he played 32games in the competition from 2017 to 2021.
• Will Jordan (Crusaders) has gained 102 metres per 80 minutes in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season, the most of any player in the competition (min. 15 minutes played).

Hurricanes – Fijian Drua

8 May 2022

• This will be the first Super Rugby match between the Hurricanes and Fijian Drua; the Hurricanes have won six of their last eight games in the competition when facing a team for the first time on the day (L2) – one of those two defeats did come in their most recent such fixture (24-19 v Moana Pasifika – 25 March 2022).
• The Fijian Drua have won only one of their 10 Super Rugby matches (L9), a 31-26 victory against the Melbourne Rebels (4 March 2022); they have lost seven consecutive games since then.
• The Hurricanes lost their most recent Super Rugby match against opposition from outside New Zealand (42-25 v Brumbies – 1 May 2022); they will be looking to avoid back-to-back defeats in such fixtures for the first time since February 2018.
• The Hurricanes have won five of their last seven Super Rugby matches at Sky Stadium (L2), after winning only three of their previous eight games at their home venue prior (L5).
• The Fijian Drua (77%) and Hurricanes (77%) have the lowest maul success rates of any teams in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific campaign.
• Only the Blues (12) have made more offloads resulting in a break than the Hurricanes (11) and Fijian Drua (11) in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season.
• The Hurricanes (5) and Fijian Drua (4) are the only teams to have scored more than one try starting possession from a tap penalty this Super Rugby Pacific season.
• The Hurricanes have made dominant contact on 31 carries per game this Super Rugby Pacific season, the most of any team in the competition and nine per game more than the Fijian Drua (22).
• Salesi Rayasi (Hurricanes) has scored five tries in his five Super Rugby Pacific starting appearances, including one in each of his last two.
• Vinaya Habosi (Fijian Drua) has made 43 tackle breaks this Super Rugby Pacific season, the most of any player in the competition and 11 more than Hurricanes’ best Jordie Barrett (32).