The stats don't lie: Elimination preview

John Afoa will play his 100th Super rugby match tonight. Photo / Getty Images

This weekend sees the the first ever elimination play-offs in Super rugby with the Blues taking on the Waratahs, and the Crusaders hosting the Sharks. So how do the teams stack up?

BLUES v WARATAHS (4th place versus 6th place)

- The Blues last made the play-offs in 2007 (lost to Sharks 24-18 in semi). This is the first Super play-off game to be played in Auckland for eight years.

- Since the inception of Super rugby the Blues have appeared in a total of eight play-offs while the Waratahs have played in seven.

- The last time these two sides met was in Round Nine, when the Blues won 31-17 scoring five tries to three. In that game the Blues conceded ten penalties with all but one coming at the breakdown. By contrast the Waratahs only conceded three penalties in the entire match.

- In that Round Nine match the Blues made 156 tackles with an 84 percent success rate, while the Waratahs made 141 with an 83 percent success rate. The Waratahs also kept the Blues scoreless in the second half of that game.

- Luke Braid will continue his push for inclusion in the All Blacks' squad this weekend, keeping his spot at openside flanker ahead of his brother Daniel who has returned from injury and is named on the bench. In the Round Nine game against the Waratahs, Luke made nineteen tackles missing only one, and eight ball carries for a total of 53 metres gained.

- Ali Williams didn't play in the Round Nine game but his locking partner Anthony Boric did, and stole three lineouts off the Waratahs as well as making ten ball carries.

- The Waratahs' Kurtley Beale has scored 166 points this season, and has the most run metres of any player in the competition with a total of 1279. He has also made eleven linebreaks and twenty three offloads, but this weekend shifts from fullback to 1st 5. Will he still be as dangerous?

- Watch out for the in-form Tom Carter in the Waratahs' midfield who has scored five tries this season and pulled off a hat-trick in Round Seventeen against the Highlanders.

- This match will be prop John Afoa's 100th Super game.

CRUSADERS v SHARKS (3rd versus 6th)

- These two sides met in Round Six in the historic game at Twickenham, the first Super game played outside of the Southern Hemisphere. In contrast, this game is being played in Nelson at one of the smallest Super venues, with a top capacity of 18 000 spectators.

-The Round Six game was an epic that saw a total of nine tries scored as the Crusaders won 44-28. The Crusaders scored five tries in that game, with Sean Maitland bagging two. Maitland returns from injury this weekend and has the chance to regain his place as the competition's top try scorer. He currently sits on eight tries equal with Rene Ranger, and is just one try behind the Bulls' Bjorn Basson and the Cheetahs' Sarel Pretorius.

- The Crusaders had to make almost twice as many tackles as the Sharks in the Round Six encounter, making 201 tackles at a success rate of 88 percent. The Sharks made 113 tackles and also had a success rate of 88 percent.

- In that game Matt Todd made twenty nine tackles and no misses, seven ball carries for 55 metres gained, and won two breakdown turnovers. He tops the New Zealand stats for breakdown turnovers won, having made eighteen this season.

- Sonny Bill Williams probably had one of his best games for the Crusaders against the Sharks, making two linebreaks and seven offloads. Fans will be hoping he can regain some of that form this weekend.

- Zac Guildford made four linebreaks and two offloads agains the Sharks in Round Six, and has been in great form at the business end of the season. He has scored five tries to date and last week made the linebreak to set up the only try of the game to see the Crusaders through to win the New Zealand conference.

- Watch the Crusaders scrum, last time the two sides played it was dominant over the Sharks and won two tight heads. The Crusaders will be fielding the same starting pack this weekend, and the only difference to the entire starting lineup from Round Six is Tom Marshall at fullback.

- Dan Carter was in sublime form in Round Six,and hit 100 percent with boot landing three penalties and four conversions, along with a try for a personal haul of twenty two points. Currently he is sitting on 143 points for the season.

- Crusaders have appeared in twenty one Super playoff matches, while the Sharks have been in just six. They met in a semi-final in Christchurch back in 1998, the game was won by the Crusaders. In the sixteen games played between the two sides, the Crusaders have won all but three of them.

- HERALD ONLINE