As a general sporting rule, it is true that most teams have a better record at their home ground. The support of their home fans, the use of their own changing rooms, being able to sleep in their own beds the night before... all these little things, and more, add up to give an intangible advantage to the home side.

When writing some predictions for the upcoming weekend of Super Rugby, I found myself stumbling over the Bulls vs Sharks game. The Sharks are in fine form, but the Bulls are a fearsome proposition at Loftus. The Sharks, in fact, haven't won there since 2011.

So I turned to The General, a Durbanite and committed Sharks fan, and asked: "Why don't the Sharks like playing at Loftus?".

"I can't imagine anybody likes playing at Loftus, except the Bulls," came the reply. A fair point, but it got us to thinking - what is the Bulls' winning percentage at home in recent times? Everyone thinks they have an aura there, but is it actually backed up by fact? Are they the best team at home in the competition?

So we trawled back through the last four years' worth of Super Rugby data (the expansion to Super 15 in 2012 seemed like a natural cut-off point) and crunched the numbers.

Home Wins

Team	Wins	Games	Win%
Stormers	36	45	80%
Chiefs	37	47	79%
Bulls	33	42	79%
Sharks	32	42	76%
Crusaders	35	47	74%
Brumbies	33	47	70%
Highlanders	27	43	63%
Hurricanes	26	42	62%
Lions	26	43	60%
Waratahs	27	45	60%
Reds	25	44	57%
Blues	19	42	45%
Rebels	18	42	43%
Cheetahs	17	42	40%
Force	14	43	33%
Kings	2	11	18%

As you can see in the table above, the Bulls are indeed a formidable force at home, winning 79% of their home games in the last four years. But perhaps surprisingly, Newlands is even more of a fortress than Loftus, with the Stormers registering a hugely impressive 80% win rate there.

As you would expect, it's the perennial Super Rugby strugglers that are found at the other end of the spectrum - the Kings, Force, Cheetahs, Rebels and Blues all losing more games at home than they have won.

Away Wins

Team	Wins	Games	Win%
Chiefs	25	44	57%
Hurricanes	24	43	56%
Crusaders	23	44	52%
Brumbies	24	46	52%
Stormers	20	42	48%
Sharks	22	51	43%
Highlanders	18	44	41%
Reds	16	43	37%
Waratahs	15	41	37%
Bulls	15	45	33%
Cheetahs	13	43	30%
Lions	8	36	22%
Force	9	41	22%
Kings	2	10	20%
Rebels	8	42	19%
Blues	6	41	15%

Unsurprisingly, win percentages away from home are much lower. Just four teams in the last four years have managed an away win percentage of over 50%: the Chiefs, Hurricanes, Crusaders and Brumbies. Perhaps surprisingly, the Blues have the lowest win percentage away from home (15%), after just 6 wins on the road in 41 attempts.

Home vs Away

Team	Home win %	Away win %	Disparity
Bulls	79%	33%	46%
Lions	60%	22%	38%
Sharks	76%	43%	33%
Stormers	80	48%	32%
Blues	45%	15%	30%
Rebels	43%	19%	24%
Waratahs	60%	37%	23%
Crusaders	74%	52%	22%
Chiefs	79%	57%	22%
Highlanders	63%	41%	22%
Reds	57%	37%	20%
Brumbies	70%	52%	18%
Force	33%	22%	11%
Cheetahs	40%	30%	10%
Hurricanes	62%	56%	6%
Kings	18%	20%	-2%

This is the real quiz. By looking at which teams have the greatest disparity in home and away win percentages, we can gauge which sides rely on being at home more than others. And indeed, top (or rather, bottom) of the pile we find the Bulls - away from Loftus Versfeld, they are a full 45% less likely to win than at home.

To be honest, it will surprise few that four South African sides have the biggest disparity between home and away wins - they are all pretty difficult to beat on their home patch, while none of them are famous for travelling well.

The Hurricanes, however, are the picture of consistency, with just a 6% difference between their number of wins home and away. That number blows every other top side out of the water, with the Brumbies coming in next at 18%.

So there you have it - the South African sides aren't very good on the road, the Hurricanes are immensely consistent and the Kings are just a bit rubbish everywhere. But then you probably knew all that already, didn't you?