2017 Super Rugby Final
The 2017 Super Rugby Final was played between the Lions and the Crusaders. The match, held at Ellis Park in Johannesburg was the 22nd final in the Super Rugby competition's history, and attracted a record crowd attendance of 62,000.[1]
| Event | 2017 Super Rugby season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 5 August 2017 | ||||||
| Venue | Ellis Park, Johannesburg | ||||||
| Referee | Jaco Peyper (South Africa) | ||||||
| Attendance | 62,000 | ||||||
The Crusaders won the final, defeating the Lions by eight points, and stretched their record number of Super Rugby title wins to eight. A strong Crusaders defence, several errors committed by the Lions and a red card were the losers' downfall in the highly anticipated Super Rugby final held on South African soil for the first time since 2010.
Both finalists had won their respective conferences in the regular season. The Lions, as the top-placed team in 2017 season standings, played all their matches in the finals series at home in Johannesburg. They beat fellow South African side the Sharks in a closely matched quarterfinal, before defeating the previous year's champion the Hurricanes in their semifinal match.
The Crusaders had comfortably beat local New Zealand rivals the Highlanders and Chiefs in their respective quarterfinal and semifinal playoffs at home in Christchurch before travelling to Johannesburg for the final.
Road to the final
| Conference leaders | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Team | W | D | L | PD | BP | Pts | |||
| 1 |  |
14 | 0 | 1 | +322 | 9 | 65 | |||
| 2 |  |
14 | 0 | 1 | +241 | 7 | 63 | |||
| 3 | |
10 | 0 | 5 | +54 | 3 | 43 | |||
| 4 | .svg.png){kind=small} |
6 | 0 | 9 | +36 | 10 | 34 | |||
| Wildcard teams | ||||||||||
| 5 | |
12 | 0 | 3 | +324 | 10 | 58 | |||
| 6 | |
12 | 1 | 2 | +141 | 7 | 57 | |||
| 7 | |
11 | 0 | 4 | +180 | 7 | 51 | |||
| 8 | |
9 | 1 | 5 | +69 | 4 | 42 | |||
| Source: SANZAAR [2] | ||||||||||
The 18 teams were split geographically into two groups with two conferences in each group. The Australasian Group inclued five teams in the Australian Conference and five teams in the New Zealand Conference. The South African Group, with six South African teams, one Argentinean team and one Japanese team was split into a four-team Africa 1 Conference and a four-team Africa 2 Conference.[3]
The four conference winners qualified for the quarterfinals with a home ground advantage against 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.
The quarterfinals featured away wins for the Hurricanes over the Brumbies, and Chiefs over the Stormers. The Crusaders beat Highlanders, keeping them scoreless, and the Lions beat the Sharks. For the semifinals, the Crusaders defeated the Chiefs in Christchurch and the Lions defeated the Hurricanes in Johannesburg.
The play-off fixtures were as follows:
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 22 July – Cape Town | ||||||||||
| 11 | |||||||||
| 29 July – Christchurch | ||||||||||
| 17 | |||||||||
| 27 | |||||||||
| 22 July – Christchurch | ||||||||||
| 13 | |||||||||
| 17 | |||||||||
| 5 August – Johannesburg | ||||||||||
| 0 | |||||||||
| 17 | |||||||||
| 22 July – Johannesburg | ||||||||||
| 25 | |||||||||
| 23 | |||||||||
| 29 July – Johannesburg | ||||||||||
| 21 | |||||||||
| 44 | |||||||||
| 21 July – Canberra | ||||||||||
| 29 | |||||||||
| 16 | |||||||||
| 35 | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
| 21 July 2017 | Brumbies | 16–35 | Hurricanes | GIO Stadium, Canberra | ||
| 19:35 | Try: James Dargaville  Josh Mann-Rea Con: Wharenui Hawera  Pen: Wharenui Hawera |
Try: Wes Goosen Jordie Barrett TJ Perenara Con: Jordie Barrett Pen: Jordie Barrett Cards: Jeff Toomaga-Allen  |
| 22 July 2017 | Crusaders | 17–0 | Highlanders | AMI Stadium, Christchurch | ||
| 19:35 | Try: Joe Moody Codie Taylor Con: Richie Mo'unga Pen: Richie Mo'unga |
Cards: Liam Squire |
| 22 July 2017 | Lions | 23–21 | Sharks | Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg | ||
| 2:30 | Try: Franco Mostert Jaco Kriel Lionel Mapoe Con: Elton Jantjies Pen: Elton Jantjies Cards: Franco Mostert |
Try: Kobus van Wyk Dan du Preez Con: Curwin Bosch Pen: Curwin Bosch Drop: Curwin Bosch Cards: Stephan Lewies |
| 22 July 2017 | Stormers | 11–17 | Chiefs | Newlands Stadium, Cape Town | ||
| 17:00 | Try: Siya Kolisi Con: SP Marais Pen: SP Marais |
Try: Shaun Stevenson Con: Damian McKenzie Pen: Damian McKenzie Cards: Sam Cane |
Semi-finals
| 29 July 2017 | Crusaders | 27–13 | Chiefs | AMI Stadium, Christchurch | ||
| 19:35 | Try: Bryn Hall Israel Dagg Seta Tamanivalu Con: Richie Mo'unga Pen: Richie Mo'unga |
Try: Brodie Retallick Con: Damian McKenzie Pen: Damian McKenzie |
| 29 July 2017 | Lions | 44–29 | Hurricanes | Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg | ||
| 2:10 | Try: Jacques van Rooyen Ross Cronjé Malcolm Marx Harold Vorster Elton Jantjies Kwagga Smith Con: Elton Jantjies Pen: Elton Jantjies |
Try: TJ Perenara Wes Goosen Ardie Savea Ngani Laumape Con: Jordie Barrett Beauden Barrett Pen: Jordie Barrett Cards: Beauden Barrett |
Final
Summary
Details
5 August 2017 |
| Lions | 17–25 | Crusaders |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Malcolm Marx Con: Elton Jantjies Pen: Elton Jantjies |
Try: Seta Tamanivalu Jack Goodhue Kieran Read Con: Richie Mo'unga Pen: Richie Mo'unga |
          Lions
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     Crusaders
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Man of the Match: Ryan Crotty Assistant Referees: |
References
- "Mistakes cost the Lions their first Super Rugby trophy". Randburg Sun. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
- "SA Rugby Log – 2017 Vodacom Super Rugby". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
- "Outline of the Super Rugby competition structure" (PDF). All Blacks. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
| Preceded by 2016 Super Rugby Final |
Super Rugby Final 2017 |
Succeeded by 2018 Super Rugby Final |