Lions v Crusaders - The Hard Numbers

The Lions host the Crusaders in this weekend’s Super Rugby Final at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. Both sides will enter the fray having only dropped a single match all season and the numbers all point to this one being really tight.

Much has been made of the fact that the Lions didn’t face any New Zealand sides during the regular season, but having seen off the defending champs last weekend no one will be under any illusions about their capabilities.

Read on for all the key stats…

• The Lions ran out to a 42-25 win when they last met the Crusaders (2016 QF), snapping a seven-game losing streak against the Christchurch club.
• The last time a team won a Super Rugby final played outside their own home country was the Crusaders in 2000, who did so after traveling to Australia to face the Brumbies in the big dance.
• The Crusaders have been crowned Super Rugby champions on seven occasions previously and featured in 11 finals in total, both records in the competition.
• However, the Christchurch based side have lost each of their last two finals, only the Sharks (L4) have lost more than two in a row when reaching the Grand Final.
• Three of the previous four Grand Finals to be contested by a side from New Zealand and a side from South Africa have been won by the New Zealand outfit (L1), however the one defeat in that run was the heaviest ever in a final (Bulls 61-17 Chiefs).
• Eight of the last 11 Super Rugby Grand Finals have been decided by margins of eight points or fewer, however the three exceptions in that run were all games between a South African side and a team from New Zealand.
• The Lions head into this fixture on the back of a 14-game winning streak; the Crusaders are the only team in Super Rugby history to have won more games in succession, which they’ve done twice (15 straight in 2002-03; 16 straight in 2005-06).
• The Crusaders won each of their five games outside New Zealand this season, scoring an average of 43 points per game across those fixtures.
• South African teams have won nine of their last 12 Finals fixtures at home against New Zealand opposition; in fact, the Stormers are the only team in Super Rugby history to have lost such a fixture (4 instances).
• Only once in Super Rugby history has a team contested consecutive finals without winning at least one of them (Crusaders in 2003 & 2004).
• The Lions (572m) and Crusaders (513m) are two of only three teams (Hurricanes, 520m) to have gained an average of 500+ metres per game this season.
• The Lions have scored 30 tries in the final quarter of games so far this season, more than any other team, while they also conceded just five in the same time frame, fewer than any other team.
• Wyatt Crockett and Kieran Read are the only current Crusaders players to feature the last time the Canterbury side won the Grand Final, in 2008 against the Waratahs.
• Andries Coetzee gained 169m last week, the most of any player across either of the semi-finals, and has made a season total of 1,323m which is the third most of any player across the entire competition.
• Ryan Crotty has crossed for five tries in his last four games against the Lions, all five of those tries coming at Emirates Airlines Park.