2014 Super Rugby final

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, it was the third time that the Waratahs, and the Crusaders had met in a Grand Final, the Crusaders had defeated the Waratahs in the 2008, and 2005 Grand Finals.

2014 Super Rugby Final
Event2014 Super Rugby season
Date2 August 2014
VenueStadium Australia, Sydney
RefereeCraig Joubert (South Africa)
Attendance61,823
2013
2015

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

Road to the final

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

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]

First roundSemifinalsFinal
26 July 2014
19 July 20141  Waratahs26
4  Brumbies324  Brumbies82 August 2014
5  Chiefs30  Waratahs33
26 July 2014  Crusaders32
19 July 20142  Crusaders38
3  Sharks313  Sharks6
6  Highlanders27

Final match

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Match details

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2 August 2014
19:35
Waratahs33–32Crusaders
Try: Ashley-Cooper (2) 4' m, 62' c
Con: Foley (1/2) 64'
Pen: Foley (7/8) 2', 10', 15', 22', 37', 53', 79'
ReportTry: 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   Israel Folau
RW 14   Alofa Alofa   74'
OC 13   Adam Ashley-Cooper
IC 12   Kurtley Beale
LW 11   Rob Horne
FH 10   Bernard Foley
SH 9   Nick Phipps   75'
N8 8   Wycliff Palu   19' to 26'
OF 7   Michael Hooper (c)
BF 6   Stephen Hoiles   64'
LL 5   Jacques Potgieter   49'
RL 4   Kane Douglas
TP 3   Sekope Kepu   65'
HK 2   Tatafu Polota-Nau   42'
LP 1   Benn Robinson
Substitutes:
HK 16   Tolu Latu   42'
PR 17   Jeremy Tilse
PR 18   Paddy Ryan   65'
LK 19   Will Skelton   19'   26'   49'
FL 20   Mitchell Chapman   64'
FL 21   Pat McCutcheon
SH 22   Brendan McKibbin   75'
WG 23   Peter Betham   74'
Coach:
  Michael Cheika
FB 15   Israel Dagg
RW 14   Kieron Fonotia   63'
CE 13   Ryan Crotty   67' to 71'
SF 12   Dan Carter   30'
LW 11   Nemani Nadolo
FH 10   Colin Slade
SH 9   Andy Ellis   71'
N8 8   Kieran Read (c)
OF 7   Matt Todd
BF 6   Richie McCaw
LL 5   Sam Whitelock
RL 4   Dominic Bird   63'
TP 3   Owen Franks
HK 2   Corey Flynn   63'
LP 1   Wyatt Crockett   56'
Substitutes:
HK 16   Ben Funnell   63'
PR 17   Joe Moody   56'   63'
PR 18   Nepo Laulala   63'
LK 19   Jimmy Tupou   63'
FL 20   Jordan Taufua
SH 21   Willi Heinz   67'
FH 22   Tom Taylor   30'
WG 23   Johnny McNicholl   63'
Coach:
  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

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  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.
Preceded by Super Rugby Final
2014
Succeeded by