The two Hurricanes crossed against the Chiefs last Sunday to move another try closer to former Wallabies and Waratahs fullback

The race to top Super Rugby’s all-time try-scoring charts is alive between TJ Perenara and Julian Savea. The two Hurricanes crossed against the Chiefs last Sunday to move another try closer to former Wallabies and Waratahs fullback Israel Folau, who leads the way on 60, with Perenara on 57 and Savea on 56. Perenara would match Folau's record if he scored an unlikely hat-trick against the Crusaders in Wellington on Saturday. In his 142nd appearance, Perenara also became the Hurricanes’ top try scorer of all time with his intercept try against the Chiefs, surpassing All Blacks great Christian Cullen on 56.So, why was the All Blacks halfback celebrated for that milestone when Savea was up to 57 last year (or thought to be) with a double against the Melbourne Rebels? Well, because New Zealand Rugby’s stats bible, the All Blacks Wallabies live streaming  treasured Rugby Almanack, has since been amended. Two of Savea’s tries were stripped from Hurricanes records because they were, in fact, penalty tries awarded to him in 2013 and 2015 respectively. Officially, the former All Blacks wing started the season on 55 Super Rugby tries – not 57 – and went to 56 in his 134th Super Rugby appearance in last weekend’s 30-29 loss to the Chiefs in Wellington. Ironically, that score could have been a penalty try because of Chiefs wing Alex Nankivell’s desperate challenge, when he appeared to use no arms in trying to stop Savea, whose younger brother, Hurricanes captain Ardie Savea, was asking for referee Brendon Pickerill to scrutinise the incident further. 

A New Zealand Rugby spokesperson this week confirmed Perenara was on 57 and Savea on 56, according to Opta Sports, the official statistics company for Super Rugby. In NZR’s Almanack, there was a common practice of awarding penalty tries to the players who were denied a certain score in the act of grounding the ball. This was before penalty tries became automatic seven-pointers, in 2017, and the conversion in front of the posts was not required to be taken. According to Wellington Rugby and Hurricanes statistician Peter Marriott, this stretched back to All Black Harry Frazer who was credited with a penalty try against the Wallabies in Brisbane in 1947. Tana Umaga (against South Africa in 2002) and Richie McCaw (against Ireland in 2008) also had penalty tries credited to their respective test tallies in the Almanack, as did Bryan Williams, Terry Wright and Leon MacDonald. In Super Rugby, there were eight instances of this between 2013 and 2015, Marriott found, including two to Savea. The first, in a 34-20 defeat to the Blues in Wellington in 2013, was controversial as Savea was chasing a kick down the left touchline, All Blacks Wallabies on sky tv  the bouncing ball was in-goal, and adjudged to have been knocked dead by Blues wing Frank Halai, who was sinbinned and a penalty try was given. The second, in a 21-13 win over the Chiefs in New Plymouth in 2015, was given when Chiefs fullback Tom Marshall was shown a yellow card for not using his arms in an attempted try-saving tackle on Savea in the left corner. It’s likely Savea would have scored on both occasions, as ‘The Bus’ was at the peak of his powers, and he was awarded the tries in the record books. However, neither count today in Savea's updated Opta tally of 56. It seems unlikely these amendments would have been considered had Savea not been in contention to break try-scoring records, as there would have been less focus on his figures. But he was one of the world's most prolific wings in his prime. His strike rate matters because tries are part of his legacy. In 54 tests, Savea scored 46 tries and would have probably broken the record, held by Doug Howlett (49), as the All Blacks’ top try scorer of all time, but he fell out of favour after the drawn series with the British and Irish Lions in 2017.