2008 Super 14 Final

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.

2008 Super 14 Final
Home TeamCrusaders
Away TeamWaratahs
ResultCrusaders 20 Waratahs 12
Date31 May 2008
StadiumAMI Stadium, Christchurch

Road to the Final

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 Crusaders 131102369176+193852
2 Waratahs 13913255186+69543
3 Sharks 13913271209+62442
4 Hurricanes 13814310204+106741
5 Stormers 13814269211+58741
6 Blues 13805354267+87840
7 Chiefs 13706348349-1634
8 Force 13706247278-31432
9 Brumbies 13607277317-40630
10 Bulls 13607324347-23428
11 Highlanders 133010257338-81719
12 Reds 13319258323-65418
13 Cheetahs 131012255428-173913
14 Lions 132110206367-161212
Updated 2008-05-17
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
2008-05-24 - AMI Stadium, Christchurch
 
 
Crusaders 33
 
2008-05-31 - AMI Stadium, Christchurch
 
Hurricanes 22
 
Crusaders20
 
2008-05-24 - Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
 
Waratahs 12
 
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
CRUSADERS:
FB15Leon MacDonald
RW14Kade Poki
CT13Casey Laulala
SF12Tim Bateman
LW11Scott Hamilton
FF10Dan Carter
HB9Andrew Ellis
N88Mose Tuiali'i
OF7Richie McCaw
BF6Kieran Read
RL5Ali Williams
LL4Brad Thorn
TP3Greg Somerville
HK2Ti’i Paulo
LP1Wyatt Crockett
Substitutes:
HK16Steve Fualau
LP17Ben Franks
RL18Reuben Thorne
N819Nasi Manu
HB20Kahn Fotuali'i
FF21Stephen Brett
RW22Sean Maitland
Coach:
Robbie Deans
WARATAHS:
FB15Sam Norton-Knight
RW14Lachlan Turner
CT13Rob Horne
SF12Tom Carter
LW11Lote Tuqiri
FF10Kurtley Beale
HB9Luke Burgess
N88Wycliff Palu
OF7Phil Waugh
BF6Rocky Elsom
RL5Dean Mumm
LL4Dan Vickerman
TP3Al Baxter
HK2Tatafu Polota-Nau
LP1Benn Robinson
Substitutions:
HK16Adam Freier
LP17Matt Dunning
RL18Will Caldwell
N819Beau Robinson
HB20Brett Sheehan
FF21Matthew Carraro
FB22Timana Tahu
Coach:
Ewen McKenzie

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

Notes

  1. "Crusaders win Super 14". sarugby.com. 31 May 2008. Archived from the original on 2 June 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
  2. "Crusaders send Robbie off in style". The New Zealand Herald. 31 May 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2008.
  3. "Crusaders (20) vs Waratahs (12) 74 mins". sarugby.com. 31 May 2008. Archived from the original on 4 June 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2008.

References

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