2017 Super Rugby season

The 2017 Super Rugby season was the 22nd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. It was the second season featuring an expanded 18-team format, following the competition's expansion from 15 teams prior to the 2016 season.

2017 Super Rugby season
CountriesArgentina (1 team)
Australia (5 teams)
Japan (1 team)
New Zealand (5 teams)
South Africa (6 teams)
Tournament format(s)Conference and knockout
ChampionsCrusaders (8th title)
Matches played142
Tries scored978 (6.89 per match)
Top point scorer(s)Elton Jantjies, Lions (197)
Top try scorer(s)Ngani Laumape, Hurricanes (15)
Official websiteOfficial site
← 2016 (Previous) (Next) 2018 →

After 17 rounds of matches between 23 February and 15 July – with Rounds 15 and 16 split due to the 2017 mid-year rugby union internationals and British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand – four conference winners and four wildcard teams progressed to the finals series, which will consist of quarterfinals, semifinals and a final on 5 August.

Competition format

The 18 participating teams were divided into two geographical 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 Argentine team and one Japanese team split into two four-team conferences – an Africa 1 Conference and an Africa 2 Conference.[1]

In the group stages, there were 17 rounds of matches, where each team played 15 matches and had two rounds of byes for a total of 135 matches. Due to the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand in June and July, Rounds 15 and 16 were split; Round 15 of the Australian and New Zealand Conferences were played on the weekend of 3 June, with Round 16 of the New Zealand Conference scheduled for the following week. The South African Conference Round 15 matches were played on the weekend of 1 July, with the Round 16 matches for the Australian and South African conferences scheduled for a week later.

Teams played six intra-conference matches; in the four-team African Conferences, each team played the other three teams in their conference at home and away, while in the five-team Australasian Conferences, each team played two teams home and away and once against the other two teams (one at home and one away). The other nine matches were a single round of matches against each team in the other conference in their group, as well as against each team from one of the conferences in the other group. For 2017, the teams in Africa 1 played the teams in the New Zealand Conference, while the teams in Africa 2 played the teams in the Australian Conference.

The top team in each of the four conferences qualified for the quarterfinals. The next three highest-ranked teams in the Australasian Group and the next highest-ranked team in the South African group also qualified to the quarterfinals as wildcards. The conference winners were seeded #1 to #4 for the quarterfinals, in order of log points gained during the group stages, while the wildcards were seeded as #5 to #8 in order of log points gained during the group stages.

In the quarterfinals, the conference winners hosted the first round of the finals, with the highest-seeded conference winner hosting the fourth-seeded wildcard entry, the second-seeded conference winner hosting the third-seeded wildcard entry, the third-seeded conference winner hosting the second-seeded wildcard entry and the fourth-seeded conference winner hosting the top-seed wildcard entry.

The quarterfinal winners progressed to the semifinals. Instead of the following the Shaughnessy playoff format used from 1996 to 2016, the semi-finals were drawn according to a predetermined bracket.[2] Under the new format, the winner of Quarter-final 1 (which featured the highest-seeded conference winner and the lowest-seeded wildcard) will play the winner of Quarter-final 4 (which featured the fourth-seeded conference winner and the highest-seeded wildcard) and likewise with the winners of Quarter-finals 2 and 3. The two semi-final hosts were the highest-seeded winners of their respective quarter-finals.

The winners of the semifinals advanced to the final, at the venue of the highest-seeded team.

Changes for 2018

On 9 April 2017, SANZAAR announced that the competition would return to a 15-team format for 2018, with two teams from South Africa and one team from Australia being dropped. To ensure five-team conferences, Japanese side the Sunwolves would move from the South African Conference to the Australian Conference.[3]

On 7 July 2017, the South African Rugby Union confirmed that the Cheetahs and Southern Kings were the South African teams that would not participate in the competition going forward,[4] and both those teams joined the Pro14 competition from the 2017–18 season onwards.[5]

Standings

The final standings for the 2017 Super Rugby season were:[6]

2017 Super Rugby standings
Australasian Group
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1 Crusaders151401544303+24177377063
2 Brumbies15609315279+3641323734
3 Hurricanes151203596272+32489319158
4 Chiefs151212433292+14155306157
5 Highlanders151104488308+18062405251
6 Blues15717425391+3455504337
7 Western Force15609313404−9136551126
8 Reds154011321479−15846611421
9 Waratahs154011396522−12652681219
10 Rebels151113236569−3332379039
South African Group
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1 Lions151401590268+32281279065
2 Stormers151005490436+5464613043
3 Sharks15915392323+6938371342
4 Jaguares15708404386+1849451433
5 Southern Kings15609391470−7949601328
6 Cheetahs154011395551−15646751421
7 Bulls154011339459−12039590420
8 Sunwolves152013315671−35641961312

Round-by-round

The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, their cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets:

Team Progression – Australasian Group
Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 QF SF Final
Crusaders 4
(5th)		 8
(4th)		 12
(3rd)		 16
(3rd)		 21
(1st)		 26
(1st)		 26
(1st)		 31
(1st)		 36
(1st)		 41
(1st)		 46
(1st)		 50
(1st)		 54
(1st)		 59
(1st)		 63
(1st)		 63
(1st)		 63
(1st)		 Won Won Won
Brumbies 1
(7th)		 2
(8th)		 6
(2nd)		 10
(2nd)		 11
(2nd)		 11
(2nd)		 16
(2nd)		 17
(2nd)		 17
(2nd)		 18
(2nd)		 18
(2nd)		 19
(2nd)		 23
(2nd)		 28
(2nd)		 33
(2nd)		 34
(2nd)		 34
(2nd)		 Lost N/A N/A
Hurricanes 5
(1st)		 10
(1st)		 10
(4th)		 15
(4th)		 15
(4th)		 20
(4th)		 24
(3rd)		 28
(4th)		 33
(3rd)		 33
(4th)		 38
(4th)		 38
(4th)		 43
(3rd)		 48
(3rd)		 53
(3rd)		 54
(3rd)		 58
(3rd)		 Won Lost N/A
Chiefs 5
(4th)		 10
(3rd)		 14
(1st)		 19
(1st)		 19
(3rd)		 24
(3rd)		 24
(4th)		 29
(3rd)		 33
(4th)		 37
(3rd)		 42
(3rd)		 42
(3rd)		 43
(4th)		 45
(5th)		 49
(4th)		 53
(4th)		 57
(4th)		 Won Lost N/A
Highlanders 0
(9th)		 1
(9th)		 5
(8th)		 5
(8th)		 9
(6th)		 14
(6th)		 18
(5th)		 18
(5th)		 23
(5th)		 28
(5th)		 32
(5th)		 36
(5th)		 41
(5th)		 45
(4th)		 46
(5th)		 46
(5th)		 51
(5th)		 Lost N/A N/A
Blues 5
(3rd)		 5
(5th)		 6
(5th)		 6
(5th)		 11
(5th)		 15
(5th)		 16
(6th)		 17
(6th)		 17
(6th)		 22
(6th)		 26
(6th)		 31
(6th)		 31
(6th)		 33
(6th)		 37
(6th)		 37
(6th)		 37
(6th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Force 1
(8th)		 5
(2nd)		 5
(7th)		 5
(7th)		 5
(9th)		 5
(9th)		 9
(7th)		 9
(8th)		 9
(8th)		 9
(9th)		 9
(9th)		 13
(9th)		 13
(9th)		 17
(8th)		 17
(8th)		 21
(7th)		 26
(7th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Reds 4
(6th)		 5
(6th)		 6
(6th)		 6
(6th)		 6
(8th)		 6
(8th)		 6
(9th)		 10
(7th)		 10
(7th)		 11
(8th)		 11
(8th)		 16
(7th)		 16
(8th)		 16
(9th)		 17
(9th)		 21
(8th)		 21
(8th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Waratahs 4
(2nd)		 4
(7th)		 4
(9th)		 4
(9th)		 8
(7th)		 8
(7th)		 8
(8th)		 8
(9th)		 9
(9th)		 13
(7th)		 14
(7th)		 14
(8th)		 19
(7th)		 19
(7th)		 19
(7th)		 19
(9th)		 19
(9th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Rebels 0
(10th)		 0
(10th)		 0
(10th)		 0
(10th)		 1
(10th)		 1
(10th)		 1
(10th)		 5
(10th)		 7
(10th)		 7
(10th)		 7
(10th)		 8
(10th)		 8
(10th)		 8
(10th)		 8
(10th)		 8
(10th)		 9
(10th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Team Progression – South African Group
Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 QF SF Final
Lions 4
(3rd)		 9
(1st)		 9
(4th)		 14
(3rd)		 19
(1st)		 23
(1st)		 23
(2nd)		 28
(1st)		 32
(1st)		 37
(1st)		 42
(1st)		 46
(1st)		 51
(1st)		 56
(1st)		 61
(1st)		 61
(1st)		 65
(1st)		 Won Won Lost
Stormers 4
(1st)		 8
(2nd)		 13
(1st)		 13
(2nd)		 17
(2nd)		 22
(2nd)		 26
(1st)		 26
(2nd)		 26
(2nd)		 26
(2nd)		 26
(2nd)		 26
(2nd)		 30
(2nd)		 30
(2nd)		 34
(2nd)		 39
(2nd)		 43
(2nd)		 Lost N/A N/A
Sharks 1
(4th)		 5
(5th)		 9
(2nd)		 13
(4th)		 17
(4th)		 18
(4th)		 22
(3rd)		 22
(3rd)		 24
(3rd)		 28
(3rd)		 32
(3rd)		 33
(3rd)		 38
(3rd)		 42
(3rd)		 42
(3rd)		 42
(3rd)		 42
(3rd)		 Lost N/A N/A
Jaguares 4
(2nd)		 5
(3rd)		 9
(3rd)		 14
(1st)		 18
(3rd)		 18
(3rd)		 19
(4th)		 19
(4th)		 20
(4th)		 20
(4th)		 24
(4th)		 24
(4th)		 24
(4th)		 24
(4th)		 25
(4th)		 29
(4th)		 33
(4th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Kings 0
(7th)		 4
(6th)		 4
(6th)		 5
(7th)		 5
(7th)		 5
(7th)		 6
(7th)		 6
(7th)		 10
(6th)		 15
(5th)		 15
(5th)		 19
(5th)		 19
(5th)		 19
(5th)		 23
(5th)		 27
(5th)		 28
(5th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Cheetahs 1
(5th)		 5
(4th)		 9
(5th)		 9
(5th)		 9
(5th)		 9
(5th)		 9
(5th)		 9
(6th)		 10
(7th)		 10
(7th)		 11
(7th)		 11
(7th)		 11
(7th)		 16
(6th)		 17
(7th)		 17
(7th)		 21
(6th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Bulls 0
(6th)		 1
(7th)		 1
(7th)		 5
(6th)		 5
(6th)		 5
(6th)		 6
(6th)		 10
(5th)		 14
(5th)		 14
(6th)		 14
(6th)		 15
(6th)		 15
(6th)		 15
(7th)		 19
(6th)		 20
(6th)		 20
(7th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Sunwolves 0
(8th)		 0
(8th)		 1
(8th)		 1
(8th)		 1
(8th)		 1
(8th)		 5
(8th)		 5
(8th)		 5
(8th)		 6
(8th)		 7
(8th)		 7
(8th)		 7
(8th)		 7
(8th)		 7
(8th)		 7
(8th)		 12
(8th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Key: win draw loss bye

Matches
Main article: List of 2017 Super Rugby matches

The fixtures for the 2017 Super Rugby competition were released on 20 September 2016.[8] The following matches were played during the regular season:

Home \ Away BLU BRU BUL CHE CHI CRU FOR HIG HUR JAG LIO REB RED SHA KIN STO SUN WAR
Blues — — 38–14 50–32 16–16 — 24–15 12–16 24–28 — — — 34–29 — — — — —
Brumbies 12–18 — — — — — 25–17 13–18 — — 6–13 32–3 43–10 22–27 — — — —
Bulls — — — 20–14 — 24–62 — 10–17 20–34 26–13 — — — — 30–31 33–41 34–21 —
Cheetahs — — 34–28 — 27–41 21–48 — 41–45 — — 25–28 — — 30–38 — 34–40 38–31 —
Chiefs 41–26 28–10 28–12 — — 24–31 — — 26–18 — — — 46–17 — — — 27–20 46–31
Crusaders 33–24 17–13 — — — — 45–17 25–22 20–12 — — — — — — 57–24 50–3 —
Western Force — — — — 7–16 — — 6–55 12–34 — 15–24 31–22 26–19 — 46–41 — — 40–11
Highlanders 26–20 — — — 15–24 27–30 — — — — — 51–12 40–17 — — 57–14 40–15 44–28
Hurricanes — 56–21 — 61–7 14–17 31–22 — 41–15 — — — 71–6 — — — 41–22 — 38–28
Jaguares — 15–39 — 41–14 — — 6–16 — — — 36–24 — 22–8 25–33 30–31 — 46–39 —
Lions — — 51–14 — — — — — — 24–21 — — 44–14 34–29 54–10 — 94–7 55–36
Rebels 18–56 19–17 — — 14–27 19–41 — — — 29–32 10–47 — 24–29 — — — — 25–32
Reds — 16–15 — — — 20–22 26–40 — 15–34 — — — — 28–26 47–34 — — 26–29
Sharks — — 17–30 — — — 37–12 — — 18–13 10–27 9–9 — — 19–17 22–10 — 37–14
Southern Kings — 10–19 — 20–21 — — — — — 26–39 19–42 44–3 — 35–32 — 10–41 — —
Stormers 30–22 — 37–24 53–10 34–26 — — — — 32–25 16–29 — — — — — 52–15 —
Sunwolves 48–21 — 21–20 7–47 — — — — 17–83 — — — — 17–38 23–37 31–44 — —
Waratahs 33–40 12–28 — — — 22–41 19–13 — — 27–40 — 50–23 — — 24–26 — — —
Source: http://www.sanzarrugby.com/superrugby/fixtures/2017-super-rugby#fixtures
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Finals

The four conference winners advanced to the Quarter Finals, where they had home advantage against four wildcard teams, which consisted of the third to fifth-ranked teams in the Australasian Group and the third-ranked team in the South African Group.

The final seedings of these teams were:[9]

Conference leaders
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1 Lions151401590268+32281279065
2 Crusaders151401544303+24177377063
3 Stormers151005490436+5464613043
4 Brumbies15609315279+3641323734
Wildcard teams
5 Hurricanes151203596272+32489319158
6 Chiefs151212433292+14155306157
7 Highlanders151104488308+18062405251
8 Sharks15915392323+6938371342

The play-off fixtures were as follows:

 
QuarterfinalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 22 July – Johannesburg
 
 
 Lions 23
 
 29 July – Johannesburg
 
 Sharks 21
 
 Lions 44
 
 21 July – Canberra
 
 Hurricanes 29
 
 Brumbies 16
 
 5 August – Johannesburg
 
 Hurricanes 35
 
 Lions 17
 
 22 July – Christchurch
 
 Crusaders 25
 
 Crusaders 17
 
 29 July – Christchurch
 
 Highlanders 0
 
 Crusaders 27
 
 22 July – Cape Town
 
 Chiefs 13
 
 Stormers 11
 
 
 Chiefs 17
 

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final
Main article: 2017 Super Rugby Final

Players

Squads

The following squads were named for the 2017 Super Rugby season:

Referees

The following refereeing panel was appointed by SANZAAR for the 2017 Super Rugby season:[30]

Attendances
TeamMain StadiumCapacityTotal AttendanceAverage Attendance% Capacity
BluesEden Park50,000
ChiefsWaikato Stadium25,800
HurricanesWestpac Stadium34,500132,66716,58350%
CrusadersRugby League Park18,000
HighlandersForsyth Barr Stadium30,728
RedsSuncorp Stadium52,500105,80615,11528%
BrumbiesCanberra Stadium25,01179,0939,88639%
WaratahsSydney Football Stadium44,000101,49914,49932%
Melbourne RebelsAAMI Park29,500
Forcenib Stadium20,500
SharksABSA Stadium52,000
BullsLoftus Versfeld51,792
LionsEllis Park62,567
Southern KingsNelson Mandela Bay Stadium48,00068,9659,85220%
CheetahsFree State Stadium46,000
StormersNewlands Stadium51,900
JaguaresEstadio Jose Amalfitani49,64071,9168,98918%
SunwolvesPrince Chichibu Memorial Stadium27,188

References
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  2. "SANZAAR Confirms Super Rugby Fixtures & Finals Format". SANZAAR. Archived from the original on 24 February 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  3. "New Zealand Rugby welcomes Investec Super Rugby revamp" (Press release). New Zealand Rugby Union. 9 April 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  4. "Future SA Vodacom Super Rugby franchises confirmed". South African Rugby Union. 7 July 2017. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  5. "Statement: Expansion to Guinness PRO14 Championship" (Press release). Celtic Rugby Limited. 1 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  6. "SA Rugby Log – 2017 Vodacom Super Rugby". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  7. "Team with "Most Wins" will finish higher in Super Rugby". SANZAAR. 12 June 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  8. "2017 Super Rugby Schedule Announced" (Press release). SANZAAR. 20 September 2016. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  9. "Super Rugby – Official SANZAAR Site". SANZAAR. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  10. "Hurricanes book semi-final spot". SANZAAR. 21 July 2017. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  11. "Match Centre: Brumbies 16-35 Hurricanes". SANZAAR. 21 July 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  12. https://www.pressreader.com/
  13. "Crusaders blank Highlanders". SANZAAR. 22 July 2017. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  14. "Match Centre: Crusaders 17-0 Highlanders". SANZAAR. 22 July 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  15. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11894939
  16. "Combrinck the hero for Lions". SANZAAR. 23 July 2017. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  17. "Match Centre: Lions 23-21 Sharks". SANZAAR. 22 July 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  18. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11894939
  19. "Chiefs squeeze past Stormers in Cape Town". SANZAAR. 23 July 2017. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  20. "Match Centre: Stormers 11-17 Chiefs". SANZAAR. 22 July 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  21. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11894939
  22. "Ruthless Crusaders book final spot". SANZAAR. 29 July 2017. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  23. "Match Centre: Crusaders 27-13 Chiefs". SANZAAR. 29 July 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  24. https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/95291953/tony-smith-stadium-state-not-only-reason-for-crusaders-crowd-figures-dip
  25. "Lions fightback floors Hurricanes". SANZAAR. 30 July 2017. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  26. "Match Centre: Lions 44-29 Hurricanes". SANZAAR. 29 July 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  27. https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/super-rugby/95271232/super-rugby-final-biggest-game-in-johannesburg-since-1995-world-cup-final--but-will-ellis-park-be-halfempty-again
  28. "Crusaders reclaim Super Rugby crown". SANZAAR. 6 August 2017. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  29. "Match Centre: Lions 17-25 Crusaders". SANZAAR. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  30. "2017 Super Rugby Referee Team" (Press release). SANZAAR. 6 February 2017. Archived from the original on 6 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
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