And while we’re at it… No team has played playoffs in New Zealand and South Africa (or vice versa) on successive weekends and gone on to win the competition. In 1999, the Highlanders played a semifinal in Cape Town and then were beaten in the party at Tony Brown’s place; in 2009 the Chiefs were beaten by the Bulls in Pretoria after withstanding the Hurricanes the week before; in 2011 the Crusaders went from Timaru to Cape Town and on to face the Reds in Brisbane (having spent the whole season on the road due to the Canterbury earthquakes); in 2012 the Sharks went from Brisbane to Cape Town to Hamilton before being beaten by the Chiefs, and last year the Brumbies beat the Cheetahs in Canberra and the Bulls in Pretoria before losing to the Chiefs in Hamilton. Super Rugby has been won by the team finishing in first place on 12 occasions. When the Crusaders won their first three titles (1998-2000) they did so without topping the table, while the Blues (1996), Bulls (2007) and Chiefs (2012) also went on to be crowned champions having finished below pole position.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 07:28:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015