2008 Super 14 season

2008 Super 14

Official logo
Countries  Australia
 South Africa
 New Zealand
Tournament format(s) Round-robin and knockout
Champions Crusaders (7th title)
Matches played 91
Attendance 2,000,000 (21,978 per match)
Tries scored 519 (5.7 per match)
Top point scorer(s) Stephen Donald (150)
(Chiefs)
Top try scorer(s) Lelia Masaga (8)
(Chiefs)
2007 (Previous) (Next) 2009

The 2008 Super 14 season started in February 2008 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 31 May, when the Crusaders won their seventh Super Rugby title with a 20–12 victory over the Waratahs in front of the Crusaders' home fans. The 2008 season was the third of the expansion, which led to the name change to the Super 14. The schedule, which covered 3½ months, featured a total of 94 matches, with each team playing one full round robin against the 13 other teams, two semi-finals and a final. Every team received one bye over the 14 rounds.

Contents

Introduction of Experimental law variations

The 2008 competition is currently the highest level competition to trial any of the International Rugby Board's (IRB) Experimental law variations (ELVs). The laws had been trialled in various competitions in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. The highest level competition the laws had previsouly been introduced to was the 2007 Australian Rugby Championship. The introduction of the laws for the 2008 season was approved by the competition's governing body, SANZAR, at a meeting on 4 December 2007.[1]

SANZAR decided not to adopt all the ELVs, and decided to adopt the following:

Table

Key to colours
     Top four teams advance to playoffs.
Team Pld W D L PF PA PD BP Pts
1 Crusaders 13 11 0 2 369 176 +193 8 52
2 Waratahs 13 9 1 3 255 186 +69 5 43
3 Sharks 13 9 1 3 271 209 +62 4 42
4 Hurricanes 13 8 1 4 310 204 +106 7 41
5 Stormers 13 8 1 4 269 211 +58 7 41
6 Blues 13 8 0 5 354 267 +87 8 40
7 Chiefs 13 7 0 6 348 349 −1 6 34
8 Force 13 7 0 6 247 278 −31 4 32
9 Brumbies 13 6 0 7 277 317 −40 6 30
10 Bulls 13 6 0 7 324 347 −23 4 28
11 Highlanders 13 3 0 10 257 338 −81 7 19
12 Reds 13 3 1 9 258 323 −65 4 18
13 Cheetahs 13 1 0 12 255 428 −173 9 13
14 Lions 13 2 1 10 206 367 −161 2 12


Results

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Finals

Semi finals

Grand final

The final of the 2008 Super 14 season took place on 31 May 2008 at AMI Stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand. The match was hosted by the Canterbury Crusaders who defeated the New South Wales Waratahs by 20 points to 12.

The match

First half

The Crusaders scored the first points of the game when fly-half Dan Carter kicked a penalty in the fourth minute, giving the Crusaders a 3–0 lead.[4] The Waratahs scored their first points of the match when Kurtley Beale kicked the ball across field, and Waratah's winger Lachlan Turner caught the ball to score a try.[5] The attempted conversion by Beale was unsuccessful, leaving the Waratahs with a 5-3 lead.

The next score occurred in the 25th minute when Waratahs flanker Phil Waugh intercepted a pass from Dan Carter. Waugh passed to Turner who chipped the ball and then collected to score his second try. Beale's conversion was successful and the Waratahs extended their lead to 12–3.[5] Carter kicked a penalty in the 32nd minute to reduce the Waratahs lead to 12–6.[6] The final score before half time came in the 38th minute when Crusaders number eight Mose Tuiali'i scored in the right hand corner.[5] Carter's conversion was unsuccessful, and the half ended with the Waratahs leading by 12 points to 11.[6]

Second half

In the 46th minute the Crusaders took the lead again by 14 points to 12 via a Dan Carter penalty.[4] The Crusaders looked to have scored their second try in the 56th minute when prop Wyatt Crockett landed on a loose ball in the Waratahs in-goal area, but play was taken back 60 metres after touch judge Cobus Wessels reported that Crusaders lock Brad Thorn had thrown a punch. The try was disallowed and the Crusaders penalised. Thorn was given a yellow card and sent to the sin bin for ten minutes.[5]

Despite having an extra man for the next ten minutes, the Waratahs were unable to score,[4] and were further hampered by the loss of Kurtley Beale to injury. In the 70th minute Carter kicked a drop-goal to take the Crusaders lead to 17–12, and four minutes later kicked a penalty to further extend the lead to 20–12. With only minutes remaining Crusaders winger Scott Hamilton dropped the ball only metres from the Waratahs try-line. The score remained at 20-12, and the Crusaders won their seventh Super rugby title.[5]

Match details

Crusaders:
FB 15 Leon MacDonald
RW 14 Kade Poki
CT 13 Casey Laulala
SF 12 Tim Bateman
LW 11 Scott Hamilton
FF 10 Dan Carter
HB 9 Andrew Ellis
N8 8 Mose Tuiali'i
OF 7 Richie McCaw
BF 6 Kieran Read
RL 5 Ali Williams
LL 4 Brad Thorn
TP 3 Greg Somerville
HK 2 Ti’i Paulo
LP 1 Wyatt Crockett
Substitutes:
HK 16 Steve Fualau
LP 17 Ben Franks
RL 18 Reuben Thorne
N8 19 Nasi Manu
HB 20 Kahn Fotuali’i
FF 21 Stephen Brett
RW 22 Sean Maitland
Coach:
Robbie Deans
Waratahs:
FB 15 Sam Norton-Knight
RW 14 Lachlan Turner
CT 13 Rob Horne
SF 12 Tom Carter
LW 11 Lote Tuqiri
FF 10 Kurtley Beale
HB 9 Luke Burgess
N8 8 Wycliff Palu
OF 7 Phil Waugh
BF 6 Rocky Elsom
RL 5 Dean Mumm
LL 4 Dan Vickerman
TP 3 Al Baxter
HK 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau
LP 1 Benn Robinson
Substitutions:
HK 16 Adam Freier
LP 17 Matt Dunning
RL 18 Will Caldwell
N8 19 Beau Robinson
HB 20 Brett Sheehan
FF 21 Matthew Carraro
FB 22 Timana Tahu
Coach:
Ewen McKenzie

Touch judges:
Craig Joubert
Cobus Wessels
Television match official:
Shaun Veldsman

Player statistics

Leading try scorers

Top 3 try scorers (Stats)
Pos Name Tries Pld Team
1 Lelia Masaga 8 11 Chiefs
2 Ma'a Nonu 7 11 Hurricanes
3 Fetu'u Vainikolo 6 10 Highlanders
Stephen Donald 6 11 Chiefs
5 Jacques Botes 6 14 Sharks
Odwa Ndungane 6 13 Sharks
7 Ryan Kankowski 5 14 Sharks
John Roe 5 9 Reds
Peter Hynes 5 13 Reds
Andrew Ellis 5 8 Crusaders
Akona Ndungane 5 8 Bulls
Jongi Nokwe 5 10 Cheetahs
Wycliff Palu 5 10 Waratahs
Andrew Hore 5 11 Hurricanes
Dan Carter 5 11 Crusaders

Leading point scorers

Top 3 overall point scorers (Stats)
Pos Name Points Pld Team
1 Stephen Donald 143 (6T, 28C, 19P) 12 Chiefs
2 Nick Evans 136 (4T, 22C, 23P) 11 Blues
3 Dan Carter 112 (5T, 24C, 13P) 8 Crusaders

See also

References

External links