It’s our first Australian conference clash of the 2020 Vodafone Super Rugby season, as we head south to AAMI Park to face the Rebels.
Ahead of Friday night’s fixture, we’ve crunched the numbers courtesy of our resident stat man, Steve Johnson.
It’s been a fierce rivalry since the Rebels entered Super Rugby in 2011, but the Tahs have had the best of things winning a resounding 15 of the 17 matches contested, with the two losses coming in 2013 (24-22) and 2016 (21-17).
With that, their current run of victories now extends to six, but they haven’t had it all their own way during that time with the last three results being decided by less than a try.
Both games last year threw up cracking contests for fans and neutrals alike, and we can expect more of the same come Friday night.
The boys from NSW have also dined out on some big wins in the last decade though, kicking things off with a 43-0 demolition over the Rebels in their inaugural meeting in 2011.
Of the current Waratahs squad, Michael Hooper and Kurtley Beale hold the top two spots for tries and caps against the Rebels, with both having scored 4 tries and Hooper playing 12 games to Beale’s 10.
After only missing one game in this contest’s history, recently departed Waratahs legend, Sekope Kepu holds the record for most caps against the Rebels (16).
Bernard Foley has scored the most points in the fixture with 153, whilst also notching the most individual points (21) in 2018.
The last time these teams met, the Tahs won 20-15 in a hard-fought win in Melbourne, with strong performances from Foley and Kurtley Beale edging the opposition and extending their winning streak.
