2016 Super Rugby final

2016 Super Rugby Final

Event	2016 Super Rugby season
Hurricanes Lions 20 3
Date	6 August 2016
Venue	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Referee	Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Attendance	39,000

The 2016 Super Rugby Final was played between the Hurricanes and the Lions. It was the 21st final in the Super Rugby competition's history and the first under the expanded 18-team format. The Hurricanes had qualified in first place of the log standings during the regular season, while the Lions had qualified in second place. Both teams hosted quarter-final and semi-final matches. In the quarter-finals the Hurricanes beat the Sharks while the Lions beat the record Super rugby winners Crusaders. For the semi-finals it was the Hurricanes defeating fellow New Zealand team Chiefs in Wellington and the Lions defeating New Zealand team Highlanders in Johannesburg. Because of being the higher placed team in the regular season log standings, the final was held in Wellington.

The Final attracted a crowd attendance of 39,000.

Road to the Final

Finals Series qualifying teams

Pos	Team	W	D	L	PD	BP	Pts
1	Hurricanes	11	0	4	+144	9	53
2	Lions	11	0	4	+186	8	52
3	Stormers	10	1	4	+166	9	51
4	Brumbies	10	0	5	+99	3	43
Wildcard teams
5	Highlanders	11	0	4	+149	8	52
6	Chiefs	11	0	4	+150	7	51
7	Crusaders	11	0	4	+170	6	50
8	Sharks	9	1	5	+91	5	43
Source: SANZAAR

Main article: 2016 Super Rugby season

The 2016 Super Rugby competition involved an expanded 18-team format. The 18 teams were grouped geographically in two regional groups, each consisting of two conferences: the Australasian Group, with five teams in the Australian Conference and five teams in the New Zealand Conference and the South African Group, with six South African teams, one Argentinean team and one Japanese team split into a four-team Africa 1 Conference and a four-team Africa 2 Conference. The four conference winners qualified for the Quarter Finals, where they had home ground advantage against the four wildcard teams, made up of the third to fifth placed teams in the Australasian Group and the third placed team in the South African Group.

In the quarter-finals, there were wins for Highlanders over the Brumbies, Hurricanes beat Sharks while keeping them with no points, Lions beat Crusaders and Chiefs triumphing over Stormers. In the semi-finals, the Hurricanes defeated Chiefs in Wellington and the Lions defeated Highlanders in Johannesburg. The Hurricanes won their first title by defeating Lions.

The play-off fixtures were as follows:

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	23 July – Wellington
	Hurricanes	41
					30 July – Wellington
	Sharks	0
					Hurricanes	25
	23 July – Cape Town
					Chiefs	9
	Stormers	21
									6 August – Wellington
	Chiefs	60
									Hurricanes	20
	23 July – Johannesburg
									Lions	3
	Lions	42
					30 July – Johannesburg
	Crusaders	25
					Lions	42
	22 July – Canberra
					Highlanders	30
	Brumbies	9
	Highlanders	15

Quarter-finals

	22 July 2016	Brumbies	9–15	Highlanders	GIO Stadium, Canberra
	18:00	Pen: Christian Lealiifano  11', 18', 52' (3/5) Cards: Matt To'omua 37' to 47'	Report Scoreboard	Try: Waisake Naholo  37' Liam Squire  57' Con: Lima Sopoaga  38' (1/2) Pen: Lima Sopoaga  5' (1/3)	Attendance: 8,559 Referee: Angus Gardner

	23 July 2016	Hurricanes	41–0	Sharks	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	19:35	Try: Loni Uhila  17' James Marshall  21' Jason Woodward  47' Vaea Fifita  50' TJ Perenara  59' Brad Shields  80' Con: Beauden Barrett  48', 51', 60' (3/5) Jason Woodward  81' (1/1) Pen: Beauden Barrett  14' (1/1)	Report Scoreboard	Pen: Garth April (0/3)	Referee: Glen Jackson

	23 July 2016	Lions	42–25	Crusaders	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
	16:30	Try: Courtnall Skosan  2' Rohan Janse van Rensburg  7' Malcolm Marx  40' Ruan Combrinck  69' Ross Cronjé  74' Con: Elton Jantjies  8', 40', 70', 75' (4/5) Pen: Elton Jantjies  15', 62' (2/3) Drop: Elton Jantjies  54' (1/1)	Report Scoreboard	Try: Ryan Crotty  33' Mitchell Drummond  63' Ben Volavola  80' Con: Richie Mo'unga  34', 63' (2/3) Pen: Richie Mo'unga  20', 47' (2/2) Cards: Luke Romano 6' to 16'	Referee: Craig Joubert

	23 July 2016	Stormers	21–60	Chiefs	Newlands Stadium, Cape Town
	19:00	Try: Vincent Koch  11', 39' Nizaam Carr  72' Con: Robert du Preez  12', 40' (2/2) Brandon Thomson  73' (1/1)	Report Scoreboard	Try: Sam McNicol  14' Brad Weber  17' Tom Sanders  24' James Lowe  34' Damian McKenzie  46' Hika Elliot  75' Tevita Koloamatangi  79' Tawera Kerr-Barlow  81' Con: Damian McKenzie  15', 18', 25', 35', 76', 80', 82' (7/8) Pen: Damian McKenzie  4', 29' (2/2)	Referee: Jaco Peyper

Semi-finals

	30 July 2016	Hurricanes	25–9	Chiefs	Westpac Stadium, Wellington
	19:35	Try: Willis Halaholo  7' Beauden Barrett  35' Victor Vito  48' Con: Beauden Barrett  36', 49' (2/3) Pen: Beauden Barrett  33', 56' (2/2) Cards: Cory Jane 63' to 73'	Report Scoreboard	Pen: Damian McKenzie  11', 40', 52' (3/4)	Referee: Angus Gardner

	30 July 2016	Lions	42–30	Highlanders	Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
	15:00	Try: Elton Jantjies  12' Rohan Janse van Rensburg  24' Courtnall Skosan  46' Jaco Kriel  55' Lourens Erasmus  73' Con: Elton Jantjies  13', 25', 56', 74' (4/5) Pen: Ruan Combrinck (0/1) Elton Jantjies  21', 45', 52' (3/3) Drop: Elton Jantjies (0/1)	Report Scoreboard	Try: Matt Faddes  48' Lima Sopoaga  66' Waisake Naholo  75' Joe Wheeler  82' Con: Lima Sopoaga  76', 82' (2/4) Pen: Lima Sopoaga  19', 40' (2/3)	Referee: Jaco Peyper

Final

Summary

The Hurricanes won their first Super Rugby title with a dominant 20–3 win over the Lions in Wellington with tries from Cory Jane and man-of-the-match Beauden Barrett. Victor Vito celebrated his 100th and final match for the Wellington-based side in style. Tries were difficult to get with the wet, cold and windy weather conditions with both tries scored off Lions mistakes and Barrett chipped in with 10 points from the boot with two conversions and two penalties to spark tumultuous scenes in the packed stadium. The Lions were unable to find a way to unlock the Hurricanes defence, while Elton Jantjies had a forgettable night in front of goal, scoring only one of his three kicks. The match began with Jantjies missing an early penalty and Jane had a try disallowed in the 6th minute after the TMO ruled correctly that Brad Shields had knocked-on in the build-up. The veteran winger was not to be denied for long, in the 22nd minute when the Hurricanes defence again proved its worth causing Jantjies to throw a wild pass under pressure in his own 22, forcing Lionel Mapoe to make a clearing kick, but the ball went straight to Jane, who raced in to score at the corner. Barrett slotted the conversion to add to the earlier 11th-minute penalty to give the Hurricanes a 10–0 lead. Jantjies reduced the deficit with a penalty three minutes later.

Barrett extended his side's lead to 13–3 with another penalty midway through the second half. The match was effectively ended as a contest 11 minutes from full-time when the Lions botched a lineout clearance close to their own line. Replacement hooker Ricky Riccitelli hacked the ball on and the fly-half pounced on it inside the Lions in-goal area for his side's second try making Hurricanes to become the fifth New Zealand side to be crowned Super champions having previously lost both the 2006 and 2015 finals as well as being five times beaten semi-finalists.

Details

6 August 2016 19:35

Hurricanes	20–3	Lions
Try: Cory Jane  22' Beauden Barrett  69' Con: Beauden Barrett  23', 70' (2/2) Pen: Beauden Barrett  12', 52' (2/2) Drop: Beauden Barrett (0/1) James Marshall (0/1)	Report Scoreboard	Pen: Elton Jantjies  26' (1/3)

Westpac Stadium, Wellington Referee: Glen Jackson

Hurricanes

Lions

Hurricanes: FB 15 James Marshall RW 14 Cory Jane OC 13 Matt Proctor IC 12 Willis Halaholo  50' LW 11 Jason Woodward  70' FH 10 Beauden Barrett SH 9 TJ Perenara  77' N8 8 Victor Vito OF 7 Ardie Savea BF 6 Brad Shields  74' LL 5 Michael Fatialofa  74' RL 4 Vaea Fifita TP 3 Ben May  52' HK 2 Dane Coles (c)  43'  57'  60' LP 1 Loni Uhila  76' Substitutes: HK 16 Ricky Riccitelli  43'  57'  60' PR 17 Chris Eves  52' PR 18 Mike Kainga  76' LK 19 Mark Abbott  74' FL 20 Callum Gibbins  74' FL 21 Jamison Gibson-Park  77' SH 22 Vince Aso  50' WG 23 Julian Savea  70' Coach: Chris Boyd

Lions: FB 15 Andries Coetzee  70' RW 14 Ruan Combrinck OC 13 Lionel Mapoe IC 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg  57'  65'  74' LW 11 Courtnall Skosan FH 10 Elton Jantjies SH 9 Faf de Klerk  68' N8 8 Warren Whiteley (c)  70' BF 7 Warwick Tecklenburg OF 6 Jaco Kriel LL 5 Franco Mostert RL 4 Andries Ferreira  74' TP 3 Julian Redelinghuys  74' HK 2 Malcolm Marx  70' LP 1 Dylan Smith  70' Substitutes: HK 16 Akker van der Merwe  70' PR 17 Corné Fourie  70' PR 18 Jacques van Rooyen  74' LK 19 Lourens Erasmus  74' FL 20 Ruan Ackermann  70' SH 21 Ross Cronjé  68' FH 22 Howard Mnisi  57'  65'  74' WG 23 Jaco van der Walt  |  70' Coach: Johan Ackermann

Man of the Match: Beauden Barrett (Hurricanes) Assistant Referees: Angus Gardner (Australia) Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand) Television match official: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)