RECAP: Hurricanes v Bulls
READERS’ FORUM: Welcome to our coverage of the Super Rugby quarter-final between the Hurricanes and the Bulls in Wellington.
The Hurricanes will rely heavily on the experience gained from their appearances in the play-offs for the last four years.
MATCH REPORT: Hurricanes v Bulls
Champions in 2016, the Hurricanes were also runners-up in 2015 and beaten semifinalists in 2017 and 2018.
Coach John Plumtree said there was growing excitement within the squad as they looked towards potentially their last home match of the season.
“I thought the whole squad got a real lift from the way our young side performed last week [a 29-24 win over the Blues] and that energy has started to really show through,” Plumtree said.
Recent results:
2018: Bulls won 21-19, Pretoria
2017: Hurricanes won 34-20, Pretoria
2015: Hurricanes won 17-13, Pretoria
2014: Hurricanes won 25-20, Wellington
2013: Bulls won 48-14, Pretoria
2011: Bulls won 26-14, Napier
2010: Bulls won 19-18, Pretoria
2009: Bulls won 19-14, Wellington
2008: Hurricanes won 50-22, Pretoria
2007: Hurricanes won 17-9, Wellington
Prediction: The Hurricanes have won three of their last four Super Rugby matches against the Bulls, three of the four matches in that span have been decided by five points or fewer. The Bulls come into this match on the back of a three-game undefeated run, the Pretoria-based side hasn’t had a longer undefeated stretch in Super Rugby since a seven-game span from March-April 2016. The Hurricanes have won the most turnovers per-game in Super Rugby 2019 (9), two more than the Bulls (7). The Bulls have recorded the best line-out success rate of any team in Super Rugby 2019 (93 percent), no team has a lower percentage than the Hurricanes (80 percent). Handre Pollard’s (Bulls) 188 points in Super Rugby 2019 is the most in the competition and 63 more than the next best player involved in the finals series (125 points -Richie Mo’unga, Crusaders
Prediction: Hurricanes
Margin: 15 points
As it happened: Hurricanes v Bulls
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Kick off time: 19.35 (09.35 SA time; 07.35 GMT)