2008 Super 14 Final

2008 Super 14 Final
Home Team Crusaders
Away Team Waratahs
Result Crusaders 20 Waratahs 12
Date 31 May 2008
Stadium AMI Stadium, Christchurch

The final of the 2008 Super 14 season, a provincial rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere, 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.

Road to the Final

Main article: 2008 Super 14 season

The Crusaders and Waratahs finished the round-robin first and second on the Super 14 table respectively. The Crusaders finished nine points clear of second place, and had secured a top of the table position prior to the last week of the round-robin. The Waratahs only secured second place, and a place in the finals in the last round of the competition. The Hurricanes lost to the Blues in their final-match of the round robin, and the Waratah's defeat of the Queensland Reds allowed them to leap the Hurricanes into second place. The Sharks bonus point defeat of the Chiefs in Durban secured them third place on the table.

The Crusaders then hosted the Hurricanes in Christchurch, and the Waratahs hosted the Sharks in Sydney. The Crusaders defeated the Hurricanes 3322 with three tries each, and the Waratahs defeated the Sharks 28-13. The Crusaders eventually prevailed in a toughly fought final, 20-12.

2008 Super 14 Table

Pos Name Pld W D L F A +/- BP Pts
1 New Zealand Crusaders 131102369176+193852
2 Australia Waratahs 13913255186+69543
3 South Africa Sharks 13913271209+62442
4 New Zealand Hurricanes 13814310204+106741
5 South Africa Stormers 13814269211+58741
6 New Zealand Blues 13805354267+87840
7 New Zealand Chiefs 13706348349-1634
8 Australia Force 13706247278-31432
9 Australia Brumbies 13607277317-40630
10 South Africa Bulls 13607324347-23428
11 New Zealand Highlanders 133010257338-81719
12 Australia Reds 13319258323-65418
13 South Africa Cheetahs 131012255428-173913
14 South Africa Lions 132110206367-161212
Updated 2008-05-17
Semi-finals Final
2008-05-24 - AMI Stadium, Christchurch
 Crusaders 33  
 Hurricanes 22  
 
2008-05-31 - AMI Stadium, Christchurch
     Crusaders 20
   Waratahs 12
2008-05-24 - Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
 Waratahs 28
 Sharks 13  

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 30 lead.[1] 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.[2] 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 123.[2] Carter kicked a penalty in the 32nd minute to reduce the Waratah's lead to 126.[3] The final score before half time came in the 38th minute when Crusaders No. 8 Mose Tuiali'i scored in the right hand corner.[2] Carter's conversion was unsuccessful, and the half ended with the Waratahs leading by 12 points to 11.[3]

Second half

In the 46th minute the Crusaders took the lead again by 14 points to 12 via a Dan Carter penalty.[1] The Crusaders looked to have scored their second try in the 56th minute when prop Wyatt Crockett landed on a loose ball in the Waratah's 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.[2]

Despite having an extra man for the next ten minutes, the Waratahs were unable to score,[1] 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 1712, and four minutes later kicked a penalty to further extend the lead to 2012. 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.[2]

Match details

2008-05-31
19:35
Crusaders 20 12 Waratahs
Tries: Tuiali'i
Pen: Carter (4)
Drop: Carter
(Report) Tries: Turner (2)
Con: Beale
AMI Stadium, Christchurch
Attendance: 26,000
Referee: Mark Lawrence South Africa
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:
New Zealand 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:
Australia Ewen McKenzie

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

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 "Crusaders win Super 14". sarugby.com. 2008-05-31. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Crusaders send Robbie off in style". nzherald.co.nz. 2008-05-31. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  3. 1 2 "Crusaders (20) vs Waratahs (12) 74 mins". sarugby.com. 2008-05-31. Retrieved 2008-06-01.

References

Preceded by
2007 Super 14 Final
Super 14 Final
2008
Succeeded by
2009 Super 14 Final
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