As the Queensland Reds fell to a gallant, and at times controversial, 38-34 loss to the Hurricanes in Wellington on Friday night they increased the most unwanted record in modern rugby.
Australian Super Rugby teams have now lost 40 games in a row to their New Zealand counterparts.
The last time an Australian team beat a NZ team was May 27, 2016 when the NSW Waratahs accounted for the Chiefs 45-25 in Sydney.
No one who watched that game would have believed that almost two years later – 722 days to be precise – Aussie fans would still be waiting for their next chance to crow over the Kiwis.
Biggest loss: Beauden Barrett goes over to score in the Rebels 71-6 loss to the Canes in March 2017 – Game No9 in the streak
The losing streak officially began on July 8, 2016 – the next time Australian and Kiwi opponents met after that year’s June international break – as the Blues thumped the Brumbies 40-15 in Auckland.
That first weekend was also the worst, so far(!), in the streak with four Australian teams going down to NZ teams by a combined total of 203 points to 63 and an average match score of 51 to 16.
The horror roll that weekend was: Blues 40 Brumbies 15, Reds 5 Chiefs 50, Crusaders 85 Rebels 26 and Waratahs 17 Hurricanes 28.
The Rebels 59 point loss is only the second worst in the streak with the Melbourne side also being trounced 71-6 by the Hurricanes in Wellington in March last year.
Melbourne are the biggest losers points wise in the streak with a combined losing margin of 312 points (39 points on average) in their eight matches.
Narrowest margin: Richie Mo’unga leaps over a felled Kurtley Beale in a controversial moment from the Tahs 2-point loss to the Crusaders – Game No39 in the streak
They also hold the first, second and fourth biggest losing margins. Just to show they are not improving that fourth margin of 45 points was recorded just a fortnight ago – a 55-10 home loss to the Crusaders.
The third biggest loss was the Force’s 49 point hammering by the Highlanders (55-6) in Perth in May last year.
At least the Force can’t officially add to the losing streak as they are no longer in Super Rugby although they might continue it in World Series Rugby as they meet the Crusaders in Perth on June 22 in that breakaway series.
The fifth biggest loss was the Reds first in the streak – a 50-5 smash-up at the hands of the Chiefs in Brisbane in July two years ago.
Of course there have also been narrow failures, or escapes from an NZ perspective, with Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd just this week commenting on the pressure on Kiwi teams to keep the streak going.
The Waratahs have been very unlucky to lose in the last two weeks – by three points to the Blues in Sydney and two points to the Crusaders in Christchurch (after leading by 29 points and the home side helped by some poor refereeing).
Out of their misery: Dane Haylett-Petty is smashed during the Force’s final loss in the streak, to the Hurricanes in Perth – Game No28 in the streak.
The Reds have also lost by just two points, 22-20 in Brisbane to the Crusaders, in just the 10th match of the streak.
The losing-est most team in terms of matches are NSW and the Brumbies, both with 10, then the Rebels and Reds (8) and the Force, culled for 2018, with five.
NSW have been the most competitive however with a losing match average of 10.9 points, followed by the Brumbies (15.7), Reds (19), Force (23.4) and Rebels (39).
So when will this nightmare end for Australian Super Rugby fans – possibly Saturday when the Tahs try for third time lucky at home against the Highlanders.
If not then, when? Including the NSW v Highlanders clash there are eight more NZ-Australia match ups this season: the Chiefs host the Tahs and Brumbies, Blues host the Rebels and Reds, the Highlanders welcome the Rebels and travel to Queensland while the Brumbies host the Hurricanes.
Where it all began: the Blues halted the Brumbies 40-15 on July 8, 2016 – Game No1 of the streak.
All those matches look very winnable for the NZ teams with the Blues v Reds and Reds v Highlanders perhaps the best (only) chances for an Australian win.
There may also be a possible quarter-final, so there’s every chance New Zealand will start 2019 looking to take the streak to 50.
On current form you wouldn’t bet against it.
