Two Cents Rugby has used its Super Rugby Pacific round 15 preview to flag a statistic that, in the host's words, sits "on another level from everybody else" — Highlanders midfielder Timoci Tavatavanawai's 79 busted tackles for the season.
The channel, which records out of New Zealand and has become one of the most reliable stat-driven previews in the southern hemisphere, posted the 14-minute episode on 21 May 2026 with the headline tag "Will Jordan is BACK." The bulk of the preview centred on the Crusaders-Chiefs top-of-the-table clash, but it was the Highlanders' trip to Wellington to face the Hurricanes that produced the line of the week.
"Timoci Tavatavanawai definitely deserves a shout-out because he's sitting at 79 busted tackles this Super Rugby season," the host said, before driving the point home. "How many do you reckon the next best guy has? It's not in the 70s. It's not even in the 60s. It's barely in the 50s. Ethan de Groot for the Crusaders has 51. Tavatavanawai's 79 is on another level from everybody else. That is just a unique selling point."
The Highlanders, the host conceded, almost certainly cannot make the finals from where they sit, but their final game of the season carries weight precisely because of how heavily they lean on Tavatavanawai. The Highlanders are also without Caleb Timu, whose Achilles injury was described as "devastating, also for his potential All Blacks chances."
The headline return, though, was Will Jordan's reappearance at fullback for the Crusaders. Two Cents argued the timing of his comeback alongside Chay Fihaki at right wing transforms the Crusaders' chances of pinching back-to-back wins from the Chiefs and Blues in the closing rounds. "Crusaders win this one, they can get right in behind the Blues. The Blues have got the Chiefs in the final week away. So there's still hope for the Crusaders to qualify as a top qualifying side," the host said.
Damian McKenzie's absence with concussion was framed as the swing factor on the Chiefs side, with Josh Lord returning to start and Isaac Huchinson stepping up at fullback. Two Cents flagged Quintin Paea, who came back from injury after a week away, as the Chiefs' most important on-field correction. The rugby forecast algorithm and the bookmakers split on the result — Crusaders by two at home according to the forecast, Chiefs by one in the betting market — leaving the game on what the host called "a real knife edge."
The preview did not stop at the marquee New Zealand fixtures. Two Cents flagged the Waratahs-Brumbies derby as a "must-win" for NSW and noted that Dan McCallum had named an unchanged side bar Joey Walton on the bench. Forwards Angus Bell, who has been tackling "the house down," Billy Pollard at hooker, and the unsuccessful absence of Charlie Cale were all canvassed.
For the Western Force, Two Cents pointed to Carlo Tizzano — "two tries last week, tackling the house down, the guy is a machine" — and Dylan Peach as the players keeping a slim finals hope alive against the Drua. The Force have the most carries of any team in Super Rugby and host two of their final three games on home soil. "It'd be a hell of a story to see the Force somehow make it," the host said.
The episode closed with a personal note. "Today would have been my dad's 76th birthday," the host said. "Hopefully he's watching the game from somewhere upstairs. We miss him dearly."
