The Crusaders put their perfect 11-0 record on the line tonight when they face the Chiefs in Suva, Fiji.
The Crusaders have clearly been the inform team in Super Rugby and were again impressive in last week's NZ Conference top of the table clash with the Hurricanes in Christchurch.
Tonight they face another top of the table encounter against the nine-win, one-loss Chiefs.
The Chiefs sit eight points behind the Crusaders and have conceded home advantage by playing the game in Fiji but they certainly know how to beat the men from the south.
The last time the Crusaders secured a win over the Chiefs was in 2014 when now England training squad member Willi Heinz was the starting halfback with Colin Slade playing in the 10 jersey.
Gareth Anscombe attempted a 55m penalty attempt in the final seconds which just fell short as the Crusaders won 18-17.
Here's the key stats according to Opta:
- The Chiefs have won their last four games against the Crusaders by an average margin of 14 points and have not lost the first meeting between these teams in a season since 2011.
- The Chiefs have restricted the Crusaders to fewer than 20 points in each of their last six games when hosting them, winning all but one of those six with only a one-point loss in Round 10, 2014 blemishing that record.
- The Chiefs are undefeated against fellow New Zealand opposition this season, netting three wins so far and restricting their opponents to single digits in the opening half of each game.
- The Chiefs have conceded a league-low 19 tries this campaign, not conceding more than six in any single quarter; though the Crusaders are one of only two teams in the competition (Hurricanes) to have scored 10 or more tries in every quarter.