Statistic of the Day

[cashead]

Super Rugby final stats

Both the Hurricanes and the Lions have an opportunity to become the 9th franchise to win their first title in the 21st season of Super Rugby since the inaugural competition in 1996.

If one were to accept the Lions as being a continuation of the Cats franchise, this will mark their first ever finals appearance, and their best result since 2001, where they last featured in a play-off game.

It is also an opportunity for the South African region to gain their 4th title, and their second champion franchise.

The Hurricanes have a chance to not only win the title, but also join the other 4 NZ franchises in holding at least 1 title. This will also be a clean-sweep for the NZ franchise region. Australia's foundation franchises (Brumbies, Reds, Waratahs) have all won at least 1 championship, but that was something done with 3 teams rather than 5.
This will be the Hurricanes' third opportunity at winning the competition, having fallen short in 2006 and in 2015.

This is the 6th final in which there is a guaranteed first-time champion since 1996.
The other guaranteed first-time winner finals were:
1996 - Blues v Sharks
2001 - Brumbies v Sharks
2007 - Sharks v Bulls
2012 - Chiefs v Sharks
2015 - Hurricanes v Highlanders

Interestingly, all of the Sharks' finals appearances have coincided with finals where they played and lost to a first-time champion.

It is also the first time that there has been a guaranteed first time winner in consecutive finals. Coincidentally, should the Hurricanes win, they will join the Brumbies in being one of only two teams to need two attempts at home in consecutive seasons to win their firs title. In a further parallel, the Brumbies played a South African team in a home final, and didn't concede a try in the semifinal. This period was a bit of a golden age for the Brumbies, as they won their 2 titles during this time, in 5 consecutive seasons of play-offs appearances.

This is also the 4th NZ v. SA final. The first was in 1996, where the Blues beat the Sharks. The second was in 2009, where the Bulls smashed the Chiefs, and the third was in 2012, where the Chiefs outlasted the Sharks. The winner in all three finals has been the home team, and in the case of the NZ teams, they were playing for their first title - the Bulls won their second title in 2009 when they beat the Chiefs.

Edit: 4th NZ v. SA final. Me am do number good.

[Len]

A quick one to kick this off again:

The New Zealand U17 Cricket Team featured more future All Blacks than future test cricketers.

Why would you look that up? Why?

Go in then, who were they?

I came across the team list when Googling to check that Kieran Read played cricket for ND (see All Blacks squad thread). The list appeared to be devoid of Black Caps so I double-checked a couple (Devcich turned out to have played an ODI so I had to restrict the stat to tests).

I probably should have included the year (2002) in my initial post. It's now edited in.

I see. I was hoping the team would he packed with people like Israel Dagg or somebody funny like SBW.

Dagg used to be quite the bowler I heard. If you've read DC's book he talks about Brendon McCullum outplaying him at rugby! Funny old world.

[zer0]

IIRC Dagg was bowling in the 140's, and skittling entire teams by himself. F*ck going up against that on some hard and fast Hawkes Bay deck.

[rowan]

Super Rugby final stats

Both the Hurricanes and the Lions have an opportunity to become the 9th franchise to win their first title in the 21st season of Super Rugby since the inaugural competition in 1996.

If one were to accept the Lions as being a continuation of the Cats franchise, this will mark their first ever finals appearance, and their best result since 2001, where they last featured in a play-off game.

It is also an opportunity for the South African region to gain their 4th title, and their second champion franchise.

The Hurricanes have a chance to not only win the title, but also join the other 4 NZ franchises in holding at least 1 title. This will also be a clean-sweep for the NZ franchise region. Australia's foundation franchises (Brumbies, Reds, Waratahs) have all won at least 1 championship, but that was something done with 3 teams rather than 5.
This will be the Hurricanes' third opportunity at winning the competition, having fallen short in 2006 and in 2015.

This is the 6th final in which there is a guaranteed first-time champion since 1996.
The other guaranteed first-time winner finals were:
1996 - Blues v Sharks
2001 - Brumbies v Sharks
2007 - Sharks v Bulls
2012 - Chiefs v Sharks
2015 - Hurricanes v Highlanders

Interestingly, all of the Sharks' finals appearances have coincided with finals where they played and lost to a first-time champion.

It is also the first time that there has been a guaranteed first time winner in consecutive finals. Coincidentally, should the Hurricanes win, they will join the Brumbies in being one of only two teams to need two attempts at home in consecutive seasons to win their firs title. In a further parallel, the Brumbies played a South African team in a home final, and didn't concede a try in the semifinal. This period was a bit of a golden age for the Brumbies, as they won their 2 titles during this time, in 5 consecutive seasons of play-offs appearances.

This is also the 3rd NZ v. SA final. The first was in 1996, where the Blues beat the Sharks. The second was in 2009, where the Bulls smashed the Chiefs, and the third was in 2012, where the Chiefs outlasted the Sharks. The winner in all three finals has been the home team, and in the case of the NZ teams, they were playing for their first title - the Bulls won their second title in 2009 when they beat the Chiefs.

Good post. I'm really going to throw up if the Canes blow it again, which so much history apparently on their side...

[rowan]

Saturday's loser will also join the Stormers & Sharks as the only founder member not to have won it...

[cashead]

Three things I forgot:

1. If the Hurricanes nail this one, there'll be another coincidental similarity to the Brumbies' golden age - they won their title on their third go overall as well, having previously appeared in the 1997 final.

2. Should the Lions win this season in their first ever grand final appearance, they'll join the following "got it in one" teams
Blues (1996)
Crusaders (1998)
Bulls (2007)
Reds (2011)

3. Should the Hurricanes finally win the title, it will be the 14th time the team that topped the overall standings at the end of the regular season has gone on to win the championship. The teams to do this are:
Blues (1997, 2003)
Crusaders (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008)
Brumbies (2001, 2004)
Bulls (2009, 2010)
Reds (2011)
Chiefs (2013)
Waratahs (2014)

The Blues won from 2nd place overall in 1996, with the table-topping Reds being knocked out in the semis by the Sharks in Brisbane.
The Crusaders won their first 3 titles away from home, finishing 2nd in 1998 and 2000, and 4th in 1999.
The Bulls won their first title away from home in 2007, beating the 1st placed Sharks in Duban after finishing the regular season at 2nd.
The Chiefs also won their first title from 2nd place in 2012.
The Highlanders, like the Crusaders in 1999, won their title from 4th as well.

No team has won the championship from 3rd place overall at the end of the regular season, and despite the play-offs being expanded to include 6, then 8 teams, no team finishing lower than 4th has gone on to win the final.

[Lizard]

The Wallabies last held the Bledisloe Cup in 2002 (in a 1-all, drawn series). They last took it off New Zealand in 1998.

Since 2002, 91 Wallabies have played in Bledisloe fixtures who have never tasted series victory.

Nathan Sharpe is the most recently capped Wallaby who has lifted the trophy. He had his Bledisloe Cup debut in 2002, followed by a decade of failure (24 matches, 4 wins) with his last series coming in 2012.

Conversely, 84 All Blacks have played in Bledisloe matches since 2002 who have never lost the series. The most recently capped All Black to have failed to win the trophy was, of course, Richie McCaw who debuted in 2002 and played until 2015. (Remarkably, no other player from that 2002 side played Bledisloe rugby later than 2008.)

[rowan]

I believe the reigning Tri Nations/Rugby Championship holder has never won the World Cup.

[Lizard]

True.

[rowan]

Most successful teams by finals: Saders 7-4, Blues 3-1, Bulls 3-0, ACT 2-4, Chiefs 2-1, NSW 1-2, Otago 1-1, Reds 1-0, Sharks 0-4, Canes 0-2, Stormers 0-1.

Should the Canes win this weekend they'll move up to 6th-equal place with NSW on 1-2. Should they lose they'll remain where they are with 3 straight losses, behind the Sharks on 4 straight losses.

Lions (formerly Cats) are the last of the founding 12 to reach the final. Should they win they'll join the Reds at 1-0. Should they lose they'll join the Stormers at 0-1.

None of the expansion teams - OFS, Rebels, Force, Kings, Jaguars or Sunwolves has reached the semis.

[cashead]

Uh, the Cheetahs?

[Lizard]

Didn't the Cheetahs first take part when SA just entered its top 4 Currie Cup teams? So they weren't strictly an expansion team as such.

[cashead]

Didn't the Cheetahs first take part when SA just entered its top 4 Currie Cup teams? So they weren't strictly an expansion team as such.

1997. The first 4 SA teams involved were Western Province, Northern Transvaal, Transvaal and the Natal Sharks, because the SA sides were the top 4 teams in the previous year's edition of the Currie Cup. In 1997, Western Province were swapped with Free State, leading to the formation of 3 of the SA franchises that we know today. The Cats were a mash-up of Transvaal and Free State, before the Cheetahs split off from the Cats for the 2006 season which also saw the introduction of the Western Force.

[rowan]

Yes, the Cheetahs are not strictly an expansion team, but the Cats were primarily based in Joburg with Bloemfontein secondary. So I think we can view the Lions as a continuation of the Cats, and the independent Free State franchise as more or less a 'new' team - at least, for statistical reasons. Interestingly, of the 11 teams which have been involved in all 21 championships since the competition's inception, all have already played in at least one final, while only the Canes, Sharks & Stormers have yet to win it. But I'd still regard the Joburg-based Lions as one of the 'original' 12 - even though they weren't involved in 2013.

[rowan]

All signs certainly portend a long overdue Hurricanes championship. It will require a monumental upset for the Lions to turn that on its head. Maybe that's why I'm so nervous . . .

The 2016 Super Rugby final will be in Wellington New Zealand where the Hurricanes will host the Lions from Johannesburg.
Whatever happens on Saturday in the Super Rugby we will have a new Super Rugby champion as neither side has won a title in the professional era.

The Lions have won a Super (10) Rugby title but that was in 1993 when they beat Auckland and this is not considered to be Super Rugby title as Super Rugby in the professional era began in 1996 with the Super 12.
This will be the Lions first appearance in a Super Rugby final and the Hurricanes third appearance as they also contested the 2006 (in the Christchurch fog ) Super Rugby final and last year’s Super Rugby final.
Should the Hurricanes win and take the Super Rugby title New Zealand Rugby will become the first nation to have all of their teams win a Super Rugby title.
The Hurricanes and the Lions have already played the Lions once this season and they beat them 17-50 in Johannesburg. Since then the Lions have improved and are playing with a lot more confidence.
Overall the Hurricanes have played the Lions 17 times since 1996 and the Hurricanes have won 14 matches or 82% of their matches. There have been no draws.
The Super Rugby final will be played in Wellington where the teams have met 6 times and the Hurricanes have won all of these matches. The Hurricanes also beat the Lions in Palmerston North (2000) and in New Plymouth (1998).
The Lions have never beaten the Hurricanes on New Zealand soil and the average score when the Hurricanes play the Lions at home is : Hurricanes 34 Lions 20.
Hurricanes have won the last seven matches between the teams regardless of the venue. This means that the last time the Lions beat the Hurricanes was in 2007.
The Hurricanes have included team captain Dane Coles for this match. He is however bracketed with Ricky Riccitelli and will face a late fitness test and if fit he would be the only potential change to the team that started the semifinal win over the Chiefs
The Hurricanes will also have to make two late calls in the reserves. Openside Callum Gibbins, who missed the semifinal with an Achilles injury, has once again been bracketed with Tony Lamborn, while prop Reggie Goodes has also been bracketed with Mike Kainga as he continues to work through concussion protocols.
The Lions have included captain Warren Whiteley in their starting line up after he missed the Semi-final against the Highlanders. Whiteley comes into the side replacing Ruan Ackerman which is the only change to the starting side.
Wet weather conditions in Wellington which are forecast to be cold, wet and windy. This could play into the Hurricanes hands as they beat the Sharks 41-0 in the quarter final and they showed no signs whatsoever of battling with the weather despite some awful conditions.
No team has crossed the Indian Ocean for the final and won. The Crusaders came the closest by crossing the Tasman and beating the Brumbies. Should the Lions win the title they will be the second South African team to win a Super Rugby title and the first since the Bulls claimed the last of their three titles in 2010.
The match will come down to the Hurricanes defence and the Lions attack. The Lions have scored the most tries this year but the Hurricanes have kept their opponents tryless through the play offs and no one has scored a try against them in 221 minutes. The Chiefs are second in the try scoring stats behind the Lions and they were kept tryless in the Semi-final.
The Hurricanes are a very settled side and haven’t traveled for a month. They will be playing in front of a sold out home crowd and have more experience in playing under the pressure of a Super Rugby final and have learned from last year. It should also not be forgotten that they finished the season on top of the standings despite being in the toughest of New Zealand Conferences.
The Bookies have given the Lions an 8 point start for this Match – with an offer of up to $200 in Bonus bets. The Hurricanes have only lost once at home this season and that was by a point. Home advantage is crucial in Super Rugby and that is what teams play for all year – to be in the final at home. The Hurricanes will have home advantage and a local New Zealand Referee. Everything points to the Hurricanes winning so they should win this by 9.
This Match will be shown on TV in NZ (Sky), Aus (Fox Sports), SA (SuperSport) and in the UK on Sky Sports 3/HD.
Average score: Hurricanes 31 Lions 23
Last five results
30 Apr 2016 Hurricanes v Lions 50-17 Johannesburg
13 Feb 2015 Hurricanes v Lions 22-8 Johannesburg
02 Mar 2012 Hurricanes v Lions 30-28 Johannesburg
04 Jun 2011 Hurricanes v Lions 38-27 Wellington
27 Feb 2010 Hurricanes v Lions 33-18 Wellington
Hurricanes overall record against the Lions
Played 17, Wins 14, Losses 3 , Draws 0
Match No.142 :Hurricanes v Lions
Date : Saturday 6 August 2016
Venue : Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Kick Off local: 19:35 local
Referee: Glen Jackson
Assistant Ref 1:Angus Gardner
Assistant Ref 2:Ben O’Keeffe
TMO : Ben Skeen
Teams
Hurricanes
15 James Marshall , 14 Cory Jane , 13 Matt Proctor , 12 Willis Halaholo , 11 Jason Woodward , 10 Beauden Barrett , 9 TJ Perenara (c) , 8 Victor Vito , 7 Ardie Savea , 6 Brad Shields , 5 Michael Fatialofa , 4 Vaea Fifita , 3 Ben May , 2 Dane Coles (c)/Ricky Riccitelli , 1 Loni Uhila
Replacements: Ricky Riccitelli/Leni Apisai, Chris Eves, Reggie Goodes/ Michael Kainga, Mark Abbott, Callum Gibbins/Tony Lamborn, Jamison Gibson-Park, Vince Aso, Julian Savea. ,
Lions
1 Dylan Smith , 2 Malcolm Marx , 3 Julian Redelinghuys , 4 Andries Ferreira , 5 Franco Mostert , 6 Jaco Kriel , 7 Warwick Tecklenburg , 8 Warren Whiteley (c), 9 Faf De Klerk , 10 Elton Jantjies , 11 Courtnal Skosan , 12 Rohan Janse Van Rensburg , 13 Lionel Mapoe , 14 Ruan Combrinck , 15 Andries Coetzee
Replacements: 16. Armand Van Der Merwe , 17. Corne Fourie , 18. Jacques Van Rooyen , 19. Lourens Erasmus,20. Ruan Ackermann ,21.Ross Cronje,22. Howard Mnisi ,23. Jaco Van Der Walt


Read more: http://www.superxv.com/hurricanes-v-lio ... z4GSHFrE5w

[zer0]

The Hurricanes have gone through the entire playoffs without conceding a try. Quite an achievement. I'll leave it to Lizard to figure out if that's been done before. If it has, my money is on an early Crusaders team.

[cashead]

The Hurricanes have gone through the entire playoffs without conceding a try. Quite an achievement. I'll leave it to Lizard to figure out if that's been done before. If it has, my money is on an early Crusaders team.

Brumbies did it back in '01. And just like the Hurricanes going their last 3 games of the season without conceding a try, the Brumbies didn't concede a try in their final 3 games (last round of the regular season, semifinal and final).

Other than that, the Crusaders kept the Hurricanes tryless in the 2006 final, as did the Chiefs against the Sharks in the 2012 final.

[zer0]

Totally forgot about the Brumbies.

[cashead]

The last try scored against the Hurricanes this season was by Ryan Crotty, about 30 minutes into the Crusaders v. Hurricanes game in Christchurch, which is a pretty impressive feat considering the calibre of players in the teams they kept from scoring tries.

[zer0]

75% of the original Super 12 teams have now won a SR title. No expansion team has yet won a title.

[cashead]

It was the Stormers, Sharks and Lions that we're waiting on isn't it?

[zer0]

Yep. All three have made the final at least once, but obviously haven't managed to get over the line. The Sharks have lost four finals -- and four further semifinals -- so will, presumably, now take over the Hurricanes tag as competition chokers.

[cashead]

Yep, just checked because I had a feeling that they have the record for most finals appearances without a win and yeah, turns out it was the case. They share the record for the number of times they've finished runners-up with the Crusaders and Brumbies at 4 ('96 if one were to accept that the Natal Sharks from the Currie Cup is basically the same as the Super Rugby Sharks, '01, '07 and '12). The most remarkable bit about that stat, as I'd mentioned in an earlier post further up this page, is that they've lost all 4 finals to first-time winners (even if the '96 one is a bit of a cheat on that front). It probably doesn't mean anything, but it's one of those weird coincidences like the parallels between the Hurricanes winning tonight and the Brumbies back in '01.


Edit: and to add to your earlier point about the expansion teams not winning, none of the expansion teams have even made it past the quarters once that was introduced to the play-offs. In fact, the Cheetahs are the only team added to the competition that has made it to that stage, having earned a quarterfinals appearance in 2013. And even then, as rowan points out a few posts up, there is room to argue about whether or not the Cheetahs are an "expansion" team*, as they're the result of what is now the Lions and the Cheetahs being unable to continue coexisting as a clearly dysfunctional Cats outfit, not to mention the fact that the Cheetahs had already also sort of played in Super Rugby back in '97.

*I'm of the opinion that they're a "re-introduced' team, like the Kings this season.

[cashead]

Good post. I'm really going to throw up if the Canes blow it again, which so much history apparently on their side...

I guess whatever you ate for dinner will be staying in your stomach safely tonight.

Unless, of course, you drank too much or had a spot of indigestion or food poisoning or something. I hope I didn't just jinx you.

[rowan]

Updated:

Most successful teams by finals:

1 Saders 7-4,
2 Blues 3-1,
3 Bulls 3-0,
4 ACT 2-4,
5 Chiefs 2-1,
6 NSW 1-2, Canes 1-2,
8 Otago 1-1,
9 Reds 1-0,
10 Sharks 0-4,
11 Stormers 0-1, Lions 0-1

None of the expansion teams - OFS, Rebels, Force, Kings, Jaguars or Sunwolves has reached the semis.