The Highlanders have won the last three matches between them and the Hurricanes but the Hurricanes won the five matches prior to this.

While the Highlanders have been much improved this season the Hurricanes have been a vastly improved team in 2012 compared to 2011 and the Canes only trail the Highlanders by four points on the Super Rugby standings.

The Highlanders have however won seven matches so far this season while the Hurricanes have won five matches.

The Highlanders have played the Hurricanes 18 times and they have won 8 times and the Hurricanes have won 10 times.

That translates to the Highlanders winning 44 % of their matches against the men from Wellington.

One average when the Highlanders play the Hurricanes the Highlanders score 21 points and the Hurricanes score 23 points.

In Dunedin (and one match at Invercargill) the teams have played each other nine times and the Highlanders have won 5 times or 56% of their matches against the Hurricanes.

The average score when the Highlanders are playing at home against the Hurricanes is Highlanders 21 Hurricanes 19.

This season the Highlanders have played five matches at their new home in the Forsyth Barr Stadium and their only loss was against the former tournament leaders the Stormers so they have an 80% win record at home this year.

The Hurricanes have made minimal changes to the team that beat the Blues 35-19 last weekend.

The Highlanders lost 28-16 to the Sharks in Durban last weekend with arguably their worst performance of the season to date.

The Highlanders have had to travel back from South Africa this week so they can be expected to fade a little at the death.

As usual the Highlanders have delayed naming their team until Friday so we won't know what their selections are until later.

The Bookies have given the Hurricanes a 4 point start for this match - with an offer of Bet 5 and Get 50 in Bets . We think the Highlanders will hang on and sneak this one. Highlanders to win by two.

This match will be shown on TV in NZ, Aus, SA and in the UK it will be shown on Sky Sports HD 2.

Average score: 21-23

Last five results
17 Mar 2012 Highlanders v Hurricanes 19-17 Wellington
13 May 2011 Highlanders v Hurricanes 13-6 Invercargill
18 Feb 2011 Highlanders v Hurricanes 14-9 Wellington
24 Apr 2010 Highlanders v Hurricanes 31-33 Dunedin
20 Feb 2009 Highlanders v Hurricanes 17-22 Wellington

Highlanders overall record against the Hurricanes
Played 18 , Wins 8, Losses 10 , Draws 0

Match No.76:Highlanders v Hurricanes
Date Saturday 12 May
Venue : Dunedin
Kick Off local: 19:35
Referee: Glen Jackson
Assistant Ref 1:Keith Brown
Assistant Ref 2:Matthew Muir
TMO : Vinny Munro

Teams

Hurricanes

1. Reggie Goodes,2. Dane Coles,3. Ben May,4. Jeremy Thrush,5. Jason Eaton,6. Faifili Levave,7. Karl Lowe,8. Victor Vito,9. TJ Perenara,10. Beauden Barrett,11. Julian Savea,12. Charlie Ngatai / Tim Bateman,13. Conrad Smith (c) ,14. Cory Jane,15. Andre Taylor

Replacements : 16. Motu Matu’u,17. Jeffery Toomaga-Allen,18. Brad Shields,19. Jack Lam,20. Chris Eaton,21. Tusi Pisi / Daniel Kirkpatrick,22. Tim Bateman / Alapati Leiua

Highlanders

1 Chris King 2 Andrew Hore (c) 3 Ma'afu Fia 4 Josh Bekhuis 5 Jarrad Hoeata 6 Nick Crosswell 7 Adam Thomson 8 Nasi Manu 9 Aaron Smith 10 Mike Delany 11 Hosea Gear 12 Phil Burleigh 13 Tamati Ellison 14 Siale Piutau 15 Ben Smith

Replacements : 16 Jason Rutledge 17 Bronson Murray 18 Culum Retallick 19 Tim Boys 20 Jimmy Cowan 21 Chris Noakes 22 Kenny Lynn