2014 Super Rugby Final

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2014 Super Rugby Final
Event2014 Super Rugby season
Waratahs Crusaders
Australia New Zealand
33 32
Date2 August 2014
VenueStadium Australia, Sydney
RefereeCraig Joubert (South Africa)
Attendance61,823
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The 2014 Super Rugby Final, was played between the New South Wales Waratahs from Australia and the Crusaders from New Zealand on 2 August 2014. It was the 19th final in the Super Rugby competition's history and the fourth under the expanded 15-team format. The Waratahs had qualified in first place during the regular season, while the Crusaders had qualified in second place. Both teams hosted semi-final matches, with the Waratahs defeating fellow Australian team the Brumbies in Sydney and the Crusaders defeating South African team the Sharks in Christchurch. As the Waratahs had qualified higher, the final was held in Sydney.

The final attracted the Super Rugby record attendance of 61,823 to the ANZ Stadium.

Road to the final[]

Final Standings
Pos Team W D L PD TB LB Pts
1 Australia Waratahs 12 0 4 +209 9 1 58
2 New Zealand Crusaders 11 0 5 +123 4 3 51
3 South Africa Sharks 11 0 5 +113 2 4 50
4 Australia Brumbies 10 0 6 +34 4 1 45
5 New Zealand Chiefs 8 2 6 +6 5 3 44
6 New Zealand Highlanders 8 0 8 −41 5 5 42
7 New Zealand Hurricanes 8 0 8 +65 6 3 41
8 Australia Force 9 0 7 −50 3 1 40
9 South Africa Bulls 7 1 8 +30 3 5 38
10 New Zealand Blues 7 0 9 +24 6 3 37
11 South Africa Stormers 7 0 9 −36 2 2 32
12 South Africa Lions 7 0 9 −46 2 1 31
13 Australia Reds 5 0 11 −119 4 4 28
14 South Africa Cheetahs 4 1 11 −155 3 3 24
15 Australia Rebels 4 0 12 −157 1 4 21
Main article: 2014 Super Rugby season

The 2014 Super Rugby competition involved fifteen teams, five each from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.[1] The 2014 season was the 19th year of the competition, and the fourth in the expanded 15 team format (12 teams competed between 1996 and 2005, before increasing to 14 between 2006 and 2010).[1] The 2014 competition began on 15 February with the regular season consisting of 120 matches over twenty-two weeks. Each team played the others from their own conference (both home and away), plus four out of five teams from the other two countries (two at home and two away in each case). The top six teams after the regular season advanced to the finals.[1]

The Waratahs finished top of the Australian conference and topped the overall standings, with twelve wins and just four losses during the season (to the Brumbies, Western Force, Blues, and Sharks).[2] The Crusaders finished top of the New Zealand conference with eleven wins and five losses—to the Hurricanes (twice), Chiefs, Blues, and Sharks.[3] The Sharks won the South African conference, and the Brumbies, Chiefs and Highlanders filled the remaining three places as the next top finishers during the regular season.[4]

The Brumbies hosted the Chiefs in Canberra in the first qualifying final, while the Highlanders traveled to Durban to play the Sharks.[5][6] The Brumbies and Chiefs scored four tries apiece in the first qualifier, but the Brumbies prevailed with Christian Lealiifano successful with five kicks from eight off the tee in their 32–30 victory.[7] The second qualifier was also a close match with the Sharks and Highlanders scoring three tries each, but the Sharks came from behind with two penalty kicks by François Steyn in the final 6 minutes to win by 31–27.[8]

For the semi-finals, the Sharks flew to Christchurch to play the Crusaders and the Brumbies travelled to Sydney to play the Waratahs.[9][10] Both games were won by a clear margin in the end but the run of play in each match was substantially different. The Crusaders scored five tries to nil to defeat the Sharks by 38–6.[11] The Brumbies, by contrast, were not shut out of the game until Waratahs' fly-half Bernard Foley scored ten points in last seven minutes to secure victory for his side by 26–8.[12][13][14]

Qualifying finals Semifinals Grand final
                             
  19 July 2014  
4  Australia Brumbies 32  
5  New Zealand Chiefs 30           26 July 2014      
        1  Australia Waratahs 26    
        4  Australia Brumbies 8     2 August 2014
                Australia Waratahs   33
            26 July 2014       New Zealand Crusaders   32
          2  New Zealand Crusaders 38    
  19 July 2014         3  South Africa Sharks 6    
  3  South Africa Sharks 31          
  6  New Zealand Highlanders 27          

Final match[]

Match details[]

2 August 2014
19:35
Waratahs 33–32 Crusaders
Try: Ashley-Cooper (2) 4' m, 62' c
Con: Foley (1/2) 64'
Pen: Foley (7/8) 2', 10', 15', 22', 37', 53', 79'
 Report Try: Todd 18' c
Nadolo 42' c
Con: Carter (1/1) 19'
Slade (1/1) 43'
Pen: Slade (6/6) 26', 35', 49', 56', 67', 76'
ANZ Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 61,823
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Waratahs
Crusaders
FB 15 Australia Israel Folau
RW 14 Samoa Alofa Alofa downward-facing red arrow 74'
OC 13 Australia Adam Ashley-Cooper
IC 12 Australia Kurtley Beale
LW 11 Australia Rob Horne
FH 10 Australia Bernard Foley
SH 9 Australia Nick Phipps downward-facing red arrow 75'
N8 8 Australia Wycliff Palu red cross icon 19' to 26'
OF 7 Australia Michael Hooper (c)
BF 6 Australia Stephen Hoiles downward-facing red arrow 64'
LL 5 South Africa Jacques Potgieter downward-facing red arrow 49'
RL 4 Australia Kane Douglas
TP 3 Australia Sekope Kepu downward-facing red arrow 65'
HK 2 Australia Tatafu Polota-Nau downward-facing red arrow 42'
LP 1 Australia Benn Robinson
Substitutes:
HK 16 Australia Tolu Latu upward-facing green arrow 42'
PR 17 Australia Jeremy Tilse
PR 18 Australia Paddy Ryan upward-facing green arrow 65'
LK 19 Australia Will Skelton upward-facing green arrow 19' downward-facing red arrow 26' upward-facing green arrow 49'
FL 20 Australia Mitchell Chapman upward-facing green arrow 64'
FL 21 Australia Pat McCutcheon
SH 22 Australia Brendan McKibbin upward-facing green arrow 75'
WG 23 Australia Peter Betham upward-facing green arrow 74'
Coach:
Australia Michael Cheika
FB 15 New Zealand Israel Dagg
RW 14 Samoa Kieron Fonotia downward-facing red arrow 63'
CE 13 New Zealand Ryan Crotty red cross icon 67' to 71'
SF 12 New Zealand Dan Carter downward-facing red arrow 30'
LW 11 Fiji Nemani Nadolo
FH 10 New Zealand Colin Slade
SH 9 New Zealand Andy Ellis downward-facing red arrow 71'
N8 8 New Zealand Kieran Read (c)
OF 7 New Zealand Matt Todd
BF 6 New Zealand Richie McCaw
LL 5 New Zealand Sam Whitelock
RL 4 New Zealand Dominic Bird downward-facing red arrow 63'
TP 3 New Zealand Owen Franks
HK 2 New Zealand Corey Flynn downward-facing red arrow 63'
LP 1 New Zealand Wyatt Crockett downward-facing red arrow 56'
Substitutes:
HK 16 New Zealand Ben Funnell upward-facing green arrow 63'
PR 17 New Zealand Joe Moody upward-facing green arrow 56' downward-facing red arrow 63'
PR 18 New Zealand Nepo Laulala upward-facing green arrow 63'
LK 19 New Zealand Jimmy Tupou upward-facing green arrow 63'
FL 20 New Zealand Jordan Taufua
SH 21 New Zealand Willi Heinz upward-facing green arrow 67'
FH 22 New Zealand Tom Taylor upward-facing green arrow 30'
WG 23 New Zealand Johnny McNicholl upward-facing green arrow 63'
Coach:
New Zealand Todd Blackadder

Man of the Match:
Adam Ashley-Cooper (Waratahs)

Assistant Referees:
Steve Walsh (Australia)
James Leckie (Australia)
Television match official:
George Ayoub (Australia)

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "About Super Rugby". SANZAR. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 30 May 2014.
  2. ^ "The Waratahs -vs- ALL (to round 19, 2014)". Pick and Go. 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  3. ^ "The Crusaders -vs- ALL (to round 19, 2014)". Pick and Go. 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  4. ^ "Super Rugby Standings". SANZAR. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Brumbies hold on to book Semi and end Chiefs run". Rugby Week. 19 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Sharks edge Highlanders and book Semi-final". Rugby Week. 19 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  7. ^ "Brumbies beat Chiefs in Canberra". Rugby Week. 18 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  8. ^ "Sharks beat Highlanders in Durban". Rugby Week. 18 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Crusaders outclass Sharks and book final spot". Rugby Week. 25 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  10. ^ "Waratahs beat Brumbies to book home final". Rugby Week. 25 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  11. ^ "Crusaders beat Sharks in Christchurch". Rugby Week. 25 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  12. ^ "Waratahs beat Brumbies in Sydney". Rugby Week. 25 July 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  13. ^ "Waratahs beat Crusaders to win Super Rugby title". Rugby Week. 2 August 2014. Archived from the original on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  14. ^ "Waratahs v Crusaders at Sydney". ESPN Scrum. 2 August 2014. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
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2014 		Succeeded by
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