1996 Super 12 season

1996 Super 12
Countries  Australia
 South Africa
 New Zealand
Tournament format(s) Round-robin and knockout
Champions Auckland Blues (1st title)
Matches played 69
Top point scorer(s) Matthew Burke (157)
(NSW Waratahs)
Top try scorer(s) James Small (13)
(Natal Sharks)
(Next) 1997

The 1996 Super 12 season was the inaugural season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 1996, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams entered the playoff semi finals, with the first placed team playing the fourth and the second placed team playing the third. The winner of each semi final qualified for the final, which was contested between the Auckland Blues and Natal Sharks, with the Blues winning 45 – 21 to win the first Super 12 title.

This was the first season of professional rugby union in the Southern Hemisphere (the Northern Hemisphere had their first season a few months earlier due to the seasonal differences). The season was also the first of 10 under the deal between SANZAR and News Corporation which gave all broadcasting rights to News Limited for the Super 12, Tri-Nations, all in-bound tours and test matches and in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa as well as provincial competition matches. The deal was collectively worth $550,000,000 USD.[1]

The teams from Australia and New Zealand were regionally-based franchises, a system that has continued to this day. South Africa used a different system for determining its Super 12 teams. The top four sides from the previous season of the country's domestic competition, the Currie Cup, were granted berths in the Super 12. This system would continue through the 1998 competition; only in 1999 did South Africa adopt the same franchise system used by the other two participating countries.

Contents

Table

     Top four teams advance to finals
Pos. Team Pld W D L PF PA PD BP Pts
1 Queensland Reds 11 9 0 2 320 247 73 5 41
2 Auckland Blues 11 8 0 3 408 354 54 9 41
3 Northern Transvaal 11 8 0 3 329 208 121 6 38
4 Natal Sharks 11 6 0 5 389 277 112 9 33
5 ACT Brumbies 11 7 0 4 306 273 33 4 32
6 Waikato Chiefs 11 6 0 5 291 269 22 4 28
7 NSW Waratahs 11 5 0 6 312 290 22 8 28
8 Otago Highlanders 11 5 0 6 329 391 −62 6 26
9 Wellington Hurricanes 11 3 0 8 290 353 −63 5 17
10 Transvaal 11 3 0 8 228 299 −71 4 16
11 Western Province 11 3 1 7 251 353 −101 1 15
12 Canterbury Crusaders 11 2 1 8 234 373 −139 2 13


Regular season

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 11

Week 12

Finals

Semifinals

18 May 1996
Queensland Reds 25 – 43 Natal Sharks Ballymore, Brisbane
Referee: Paddy O'Brien
Try: Michael Foley,
Tim Horan, Penalty try
Con: John Eales (2)
Pen: John Eales (2)
Report Try: Cabous van der Westhuisen (3),
André Joubert (2), Jeremy Thomson,
Wickus van Heerden
Con: André Joubert (2),
Henry Honiball (2)

19 May 1996
Auckland Blues 48 – 11 Northern Transvaal Eden Park, Auckland
Referee: Wayne Erickson
Try: Jonah Lomu (2),
Adrian Cashmore, Joeli Vidiri,
Johnny Ngauamo, Ofisa Tonu'u,
Robin Brooke, Sean Fitzpatrick
Con: Adrian Cashmore (4)
Report Try: Conrad Breytenbach
Pen: Jannie Kruger (2)

Final

25 May 1996
Auckland Blues 45 – 21 Natal Sharks Eden Park, Auckland
Referee: Wayne Erickson
Try: Andrew Blowers,
Carlos Spencer, Charles Riechelmann,
Eroni Clarke, Johnny Ngauamo,
Jonah Lomu
Con: Adrian Cashmore (3)
Pen: Adrian Cashmore (3)
Report Try: André Joubert,
James Small
Con: Henry Honiball
Pen: Henry Honiball (3)
Auckland Blues
Natal Sharks
Auckland Blues
FB 15 Adrian Cashmore
RW 14 Joeli Vidiri
OC 13 Eroni Clarke
IC 12 Johnny Ngauamo
LW 11 Jonah Lomu
FH 10 Carlos Spencer
SH 9 Ofisa Tonu`u
N8 8 Zinzan Brooke (c)
OF 7 Andrew Blowers
BF 6 Michael Jones
RL 5 Charles Riechelmann
LL 4 Robin Brooke
TP 3 Olo Brown
HK 2 Sean Fitzpatrick
LP 1 Craig Dowd
Substitutes:
Bn 16 Lee Stensness
Bn 17 Cameron Rackham
Bn 18 Michael Scott
Bn 19 Jason Chandler
Bn 20 Kevin Nepia
Bn 21 Andrew Roose
Coach:
Graham Henry
Natal Sharks
FB 15 André Joubert
RW 14 James Small
OC 13 Jeremy Thomson
IC 12 Dick Muir
LW 11 Cabous van der Westhuisen
FH 10 Henry Honiball
SH 9 Kevin Putt
N8 8 Gary Teichmann (c)
OF 7 Wickus van Heerden
BF 6 Wayne Fyvie
RL 5 Mark Andrews
LL 4 Steve Atherton
TP 3 Adrian Garvey
HK 2 John Allan
LP 1 Ollie le Roux
Substitutions:
Bn 16 Jozuzi Joubert
Bn 17 Roland de Marigny
Bn 18 Robert du Preez
Bn 19 Dieter Kriese
Bn 20 John Slade
Bn 21 Federico Mendez
Coach:
Ian McIntosh

Statistics

Top ten points scorers

Player Team Total Points per game Details
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Semis Final
Matthew Burke NSW Waratahs 157 22 20 19 19 11 6 8 9 7 14 22 DNQ DNQ 5 try; 27 con; 26 pen
John Eales Queensland Reds 155 2 16 22 7 20 16 15 10 16 11 10 10 DNQ 25 con; 33 pen
Jannie Kruger Northern Transvaal 139 15 2 39 8 0 0 6 20 15 18 10 6 DNQ 1 try; 16 con; 32 pen; 2 dg
Henry Honiball Natal Sharks 136 0 0 3 21 9 13 2 16 29 15 13 4 11 3 try; 23 con; 25 pen
Joel Stransky Western Province 120 DNP 17 10 9 15 7 11 21 20 10 0 DNQ DNQ 12 con; 34 pen
Gavin Lawless Transvaal 111 0 3 DNP 11 16 18 5 25 13 14 6 DNQ DNQ 4 try; 14 con; 21 pen
André Joubert Natal Sharks 101 18 2 30 0 0 15 5 2 5 5 0 14 5 11 try; 11 con; 8 pen
Jamie Cameron Wellington Hurricanes 91 23 13 12 9 19 7 8 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNQ DNQ 14 con; 21 pen
Ian Foster Waikato Chiefs 89 17 7 10 0 13 0 0 7 16 14 5 DNQ DNQ 1 try; 18 con; 14 pen; 2 dg
Matthew Cooper Otago Highlanders 86 22 0 0 15 0 5 15 5 10 14 DNP DNQ DNQ 4 try; 12 con; 14 pen

Top ten try scorers

Player Team Total Tries per game
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Semis Final
James Small Natal Sharks 13 0 1 3 1 1 3 0 1 1 0 1 0 1
André Joubert Natal Sharks 11 1 0 1 0 0 3 1 0 1 1 0 2 1
Joeli Vidiri Auckland Blues 10 0 0 2 DNP DNP DNP 1 1 3 2 0 1 0
Alistair Murdoch NSW Waratahs 8 1 1 0 0 DNP DNP 0 1 1 1 3 DNQ DNQ
Andrew Blowers Auckland Blues 8 1 2 0 1 2 1 0 0 DNP 0 0 0 1
Ben Tune Queensland Reds 8 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 DNQ
Jonah Lomu Auckland Blues 8 0 1 1 DNP 0 2 1 0 DNP 0 0 2 1
Justin Swart Western Province 8 1 1 2 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 DNQ DNQ
Joe Roff ACT Brumbies 7 0 0 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 DNQ DNQ
Jeremy Thomson Natal Sharks 7 1 0 0 1 2 0 1 1 DNP DNP 0 1 0
Christian Cullen Wellington Hurricanes 7 0 1 1 DNP DNP 2 1 1 0 0 1 DNQ DNQ
Eroni Clarke Auckland Blues 7 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1

References

  1. ^ "Showpiece event kicks off today, "New Straits Times", 1 March 1996. Retrieved on 18 September 2010.