Five Super Rugby Semifinals That Set The Benchmark For This Weekend
Jamie Wall takes a look back at some classic Super Rugby semifinals ahead of this weekend’s showdowns between the Hurricanes and Chiefs, and the Lions and Highlanders.
You’d be hard-pressed to wipe the smirk off the faces of SANZAAR bosses after last weekend’s set of results. Despite the convoluted conference system, we are now left with the four best teams in the competition.
The consensus is that both games this weekend will be great to watch, which hasn’t always been the case for previous Super Rugby semifinals.
Here are a few of the most entertaining semifinal matches of the past few years – the benchmark for this weekend’s games.
2009: Bulls 36 Crusaders 23
The Bulls were the dominant force in the competition back at the turn of the last decade, and this was pretty much summed up by the last play before halftime: after turning around a 13-point deficit to draw level at 20-all, Pierre Spies carved off an insane 70-metre run to rip the heart out of the Crusaders. Morne Steyn then trampled it into oblivion with four drop goals.
What happened the weekend after: This was the warm up for the biggest ever finals beat down in Super Rugby history, with the Bulls destroying the Chiefs 61-17.
2011: Reds 30 Blues 13
Half an hour into this one Quade Cooper pulled out a flat-out filthy move that more or less started Lachie Munro thinking about a French rugby contract before he’d even hit the ground. The eventual Ben Tapuai try, plus a hat trick to ‘Rocket’ Rod Davies, propelled the Reds to a commanding win in their high water mark season of Super Rugby.
What happened the weekend after: Despite conceding an early Dan Carter try, the Reds held their nerve to mount a comeback in a tense match. Will Genia’s 67th minute miracle try meant the they prevailed 18-13.
2012: Chiefs 20 Crusaders 17
Someone must’ve slipped the angry pills into both sets of water bottles, because a number of scuffles broke out in the first half. More notable was the performance of Sonny Bill Williams in this one, playing a leading hand in the Chiefs’ crucial second try. Dan Carter fell victim to the dastardly cow bells of Waikato Stadium – his late penalty attempt to tie the game up falling just short.
What happened the weekend after: The Sharks have made a habit of not showing up to important finals matches over the years, and this one was no exception. It was all Chiefs from start to finish as they cruised home 37-6.
2013: Brumbies 26 Bulls 23
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmGLVQuD9BU
The heavily fancied Bulls had to go punch-for-punch with the plucky Brumbies, who got the first try through an outrageous Henry Speight offload. A Bulls bench player got himself involved in the game for all the wrong reasons by interfering with a kick to touch – maybe it was the karma from his bad sportsmanship that saw Tevita Kuridrani score the winning try three minutes from full time.
What happened the weekend after: The Brumbies kept up their good form and were leading the Chiefs 22-12 an hour into the final. However, their defence cracked allowing Robbie Robinson (of all people) to score the go ahead try and eventually lose 27-22.
2015: Highlanders 35 Waratahs 17
Easily the most controversial game on our list, it seemed that the Highlanders had every call go their way en route to a famous upset. First a very offside Aaron Smith scored to draw level with the Tahs, than an incredibly debatable penalty try put them into a lead they never gave up. To say it took the wind out of the Tahs’ sails is an understatement – they were never in it after the biggest call in Super Rugby semi final history.
What happened the weekend after: If the semi final was a bit of an upset, the final was very much the complete version. Much to the dismay of Hurricanes fans, the Highlanders got another questionable try allowed to help them go on and win 21-14.
Comments on RugbyPass
Beautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to comments