The Crusaders remain unbeaten at home in 35 straight games, and are two wins from two in Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa after their 18-12 defeat of Chiefs at Orangetheory Stadium on Sunday morning.

Here are the highlights from both games.

Blues v Highlanders

Crusaders v Chiefs

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Saturday, 27^th June 2020: Blues v Highlanders at Eden Park, Auckland (8.35am Irish time).

Referee: Paul Williams, AR1 Brendon Pickerill, AR 2 Ben O’Keeffe, TMO Mike Fraser.

Match Stats

The Highlanders have won 11 of their last 15 Super Rugby matches against the Blues (L4); although just four of those 11 wins have been by a double-digit margin.

The last eight Super Rugby matches between the Blues and Highlanders at Eden Park have seen each team pick up four wins apiece, despite the Highlanders leading at half-time in six of the games in that span.

The Blues have scored 30+ points in each of their last two Super Rugby home games (W2), the last time they scored 30+ points in more consecutive home games was a three-match span in 2014 (W3) which included a 30-12 win over the Highlanders.

The Highlanders defeated the Chiefs (28-27) in their opening game of Super Rugby Aotearoa and will out to secure back-to-back wins against fellow New Zealand opposition for the first time since June 2018.

The Blues have won their last three Super Rugby matches against fellow New Zealand teams, with each of those games seeing the teams separated by just a single point at half-time on the day.

Nine of the Highlanders’ last 11 completed Super Rugby away matches have been won by the team leading at half-time on the day, the Dunedin-based side picking up just two wins in that stretch (L9).

The Blues (21 in first quarter) are the only team to have scored 20+ points in any quarter of matches in this Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign so far.

The Highlanders won 11 turnovers last time out against the Chiefs, the last time they won 10+ in back-to-back games was Rounds 13 & 14 of the 2017 Super Rugby season.

The Blues’ Caleb Clarke (10) is the only player in Super Rugby Aotearoa (min. 2 appearances) with an average metres gained per carry in the double figures.

The Highlanders’ Shannon Frizell (3) is the only player to have made more than two offloads in this Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign so far.

Sunday, 28^th June 2020: Crusaders v Chiefs at Orangetheory Stadium, Christchurch (4.35am Irish time).

Referee: James Doleman, AR1 Ben O’Keeffe, AR2 Mike Fraser, TMO Brendon Pickerill.

Match Stats

The Chiefs have won each of their last two Super Rugby matches against the Crusaders, despite trailing at half-time in each of those games.

The Crusaders have won their last three Super Rugby home matches in succession against the Chiefs, as many as they had won the previous eight times they had hosted them (L5).

The Chiefs have lost each of their last three Super Rugby matches, as many as they lost in their 12 games prior (W8, D1).

The Crusaders have won 17 of their last 19 completed Super Rugby matches against other New Zealand teams (L2); although, the Chiefs handed them each of their two defeats in that time.

The Chiefs have averaged 43 points scored per game in their last five regular season away matches in Super Rugby, winning four of the games in that span (L1).

The Crusaders have lost only two of their last 45 Super Rugby home matches (W42, D1); however, the Chiefs (Rd 1, 2016) were responsible for one of those two defeats.

The Chiefs have made fewer than 10 clean breaks in three of their last four Super Rugby matches against New Zealand opposition, as many times as they did in their previous 22 games prior.

The Crusaders had a tackle success rate of 91% in their last Super Rugby meeting with the Chiefs, the only time in their last 18 matches the Christchurch-based squad has had a tackle success rate above 90%.

Chiefs’ pair Lachlan Boshier (57) and Aidan Ross (47) have hit the most and second most effective rucks respectively of all players in the 2020 Super Rugby Aotearoa campaign.

Sevu Reece (Crusaders) has scored five tries in his last five Super Rugby games against New Zealand opposition, including two braces in that time.

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Saturday, 20^th June 2020: Chiefs v Blues at FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton, kick-off 8.05am Irish time.

Officials: Ben O’Keeffe (referee), Mike Fraser (AR1), Paul Williams (AR2), James Doleman (TMO).

Match Stats

The Chiefs have lost only one of their last 17 Super Rugby games against the Blues (W15, D1) and earned a 37-29 win when they met in the opening round of the 2020 Super Rugby season.

The Chiefs have won their last eight home games on the bounce against the Blues; however, five of those eight wins have been by a margin of seven points or fewer.

The Chiefs have lost their last two home games in Super Rugby; the last time they lost more home games in succession was a four-game stretch across the 2001 and 2002 campaigns.

The Chiefs have trailed at half-time in each of their last eight Super Rugby games against New Zealand opposition; although, they have picked up three wins and a draw in that time (L4).

The Blues have won their last four away games in Super Rugby; a fifth consecutive win on the road would set a new record for the Auckland club.

The Blues have won their last five Super Rugby games on the bounce; the last time they won more was a seven-game streak in 2011.

The Chiefs have conceded the opening try of the game in two of their last three Super Rugby games hosting fellow New Zealand opponents; however, they have managed to bounce back and win twice in that span (L1).

The Blues won 10 turnovers in their opening round clash of Super Rugby Aotearoa, their most in a game since Round 16, 2018 (11 v Rebels); the Auckland side haven’t won more than 10 turnovers in a game against the Chiefs since Round 8, 2015 (11).

Damian McKenzie (Chiefs) has been directly involved in nine tries in his last nine Super Rugby appearances (3 tries, 6 try assists) and has scored 104 points in that span.

Rieko Ioane (Blues) has scored three tries in his last three Super Rugby appearances against the Chiefs, including a brace in his most recent game against them.

Sunday, 21^st June 2020: Hurricanes v Crusaders at Sky Stadium in Wellington, kick-off 4.35am Irish time.

Officials: Brendon Pickerill (referee), James Doleman (AR1), Ben O’Keeffe (AR2), Mike Fraser (TMO)

Match Stats

The Crusaders have won their last five Super Rugby games on the bounce against the Hurricanes; the last time they won more in succession against them was a seven-game stretch from 2005 to 2008.

The Hurricanes have won five of their last six Super Rugby games at home to the Crusaders; however, their sole loss in that span came in their most recent home meeting against them.

The Hurricanes will be aiming to avoid back-to-back Super Rugby defeats at home for the first time since Round 4, 2014 after losing 24-15 to the Blues in their most recent game on home turf.

The Hurricanes have lost two of their last three Super Rugby games (W1) and will be out to avoid back-to-back regular season defeats for the first time since June 2018.

The Crusaders have won nine of their last 10 Super Rugby games (L1), including their last four on the bounce; those nine wins have come by an average margin of 23 points per game.

The Crusaders have lost two of their last three games in Super Rugby away to fellow New Zealand opponents (W1), scoring an average of just 22 points per game in that stretch.

The Hurricanes players beat a combined 42 defenders in their last Super Rugby encounter with the Crusaders; only once in the last decade has any Hurricanes squad beaten more in a single game (43 v Sunwolves in Round 1, 2017).

The Crusaders conceded just six first-half tries during the 2020 Super Rugby season, the joint-fewest of any team in the competition.

Ben Lam (Hurricanes) has crossed for a try in each of his last five Super Rugby games – the longest streak of his career in the competition; he has also bagged four tries in his last four games against the Crusaders.

David Havili (Crusaders) made a competition-high 14 offloads throughout the 2020 Super Rugby season; it is as many as he had made throughout the previous 29 games of his career in the competition.

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The new Super Rugby competition, named Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa, is a 10-week competition involving New Zealand’s five Investec Super Rugby clubs – the Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Crusaders and Highlanders – playing each other home and away.

The competition kicked off on Saturday as the Highlanders hosted the Chiefs at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, while the following day, the Blues hosted the Hurricanes at Eden Park in Auckland.

Here are the highlights from both games.

Highlanders v Chiefs

Blues v Hurricanes

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Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa will be the first professional rugby competition in the world to have fans return en-masse in the Covid-19 era when the competition kicks off in Dunedin on Saturday, 13^th June.

Aotearoa is the Māori name for New Zealand. It was originally used by the Māori people in reference to only the North Island but, since the late 19th century, the word has come to refer to the country as a whole.

Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa is a 10-week competition involving New Zealand’s five Investec Super Rugby clubs – the Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Crusaders and Highlanders – playing each other home and away. There will be two matches every weekend one on Saturdays and another on Sundays.

It will kick off in New Zealand on Saturday, 13^th June when the Highlanders host the Chiefs at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, while the following day the Blues host the Hurricanes at Eden Park in Auckland.

Sat 13 June: Highlanders v Chiefs at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
Date Saturday 13 June, kick-off 8.05 am Irish time.
Referee Paul Williams, AR1 Brendon Pickerill, AR2 Ben O’Keeffe, TMO James Doleman.

Match Stats

The Chiefs have lost only one of their last five Super Rugby games against the Highlanders (W3, D1), however, the last encounter between the teams in the competition ended in a 31-31 draw.

The Highlanders have lost five of their last six completed Super Rugby games (W1), including their last three on the bounce.

Each of the Chiefs’ last four Super Rugby games have been won by the away team on the day, with the Hamilton-based squad picking up two wins and two defeats in that stretch.

The Chiefs have conceded 10+ penalties in six of their last seven Super Rugby fixtures, as many times as they had done so in their 24 games prior.

Shannon Frizell (Highlanders) has scored two tries in just 90 minutes of Super Rugby action against the Chiefs, as well as making three offloads in that time.

Sun 14 June: Blues v Hurricanes at Eden Park, Auckland
Date Sunday 14 June, kick-off 4.35am Irish time.
Referee Mike Fraser, AR1 Ben O’Keeffe, AR2 James Doleman, TMO Brendon Pickerill.

Match Stats

The Blues picked up a 24-15 win in their last Super Rugby meeting with the Hurricanes, breaking a nine-game losing streak against them in the process.

The Hurricanes have won on each of their last five visits to face the Blues in Super Rugby, more times than they had won in all 12 such meetings prior (W4).

The Blues have won their last four Super Rugby games on the bounce; the last time they won more in succession was a seven-game stretch in the 2011 campaign which was bookended with wins against the Hurricanes.

The Hurricanes have finished each of their last 10 Super Rugby games without losing a single scrum on their own feed, winning a total of 84 scrums in that stretch.

Beauden Barrett has scored three tries and made three try assists across his last four Super Rugby games between the Blues and Hurricanes; however, this will be the first time he’s represented the Auckland side against his former club.

Sky Sports will have live coverage of both games this weekend.

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The new-look competition begins on Saturday, 13 June when the Highlanders play the Chiefs at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, with the Blues playing the Hurricanes at Eden Park on Sunday, 14 June.

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) Head of Professional Rugby Chris Lendrum said Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa provided an opportunity to trial innovations designed to make the game more exciting for fans and players alike.

“We want this competition to look and feel different. We’ve had great support from our coaches, players and referees to make Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa faster, safer and more exciting than ever before.”

Golden point

If a match is tied after 80 minutes of regular time, the result will be decided by golden point. The first team to score – by drop goal, penalty kick, or try – during a 10-minute period of extra time will take the win and earn four competition points.

“Draws can often leave everyone feeling a little empty and after feedback from our coaches and players we have added the golden point rule,” Lendrum said. “We’ve seen the excitement it can generate in other codes and we think adds a real edge.”

If a team loses via golden point, they can still earn bonus points for scoring three or more tries than the opposition in either regular time or extra time.

Points allocation:

4 competition points to the winning team

1 competition point to the losing team

2 competition points to each team if neither team scores during extra time

1 competition point to any team scoring three tries or more than the opposition

Red card change

Players who receive a red card can be replaced with another player 20 minutes after they are sent from the field. The sent-off player cannot return to the field and will face Sanzaar’s existing judicial process. There is no change to the yellow card sanction.

“While players should, and still will be, punished for foul play, red cards can sometimes have too much of an effect on a match,” Lendrum said. “There are no winners when a player is red carded, but paying rugby fans, players and coaches want to see a fair contest. Replacing a player after 20 minutes strikes the right balance.”

The breakdown

NZR National Referee Manager Bryce Lawrence said the existing laws at the breakdown would be applied more strictly to create faster attacking ball and a fairer contest.

“Fans enjoy Investec Super Rugby because it’s a fantastic spectacle and our referees like to allow the game to flow. We’re confident we’ll see a contest that is faster, fairer, safer and easier to understand. We’re not changing the laws of the game, we’re being stricter about how we referee them.”

The key focal points for the referees at the breakdown are summarised as follows:

Ball carriers will be allowed only one dynamic movement after being tackled.

Crawling, or any secondary movement other than placing or passing, will be penalised.

Tacklers will be expected to roll away immediately in the direction of the side-line. This will be a referee’s “number one priority” at the tackle.

There will be “extra focus” on the offside line with defenders expected to be “clearly” onside to provide attacking teams more space.

Investec Super Rugby Aotearoa games will be live on Sky Sports.

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