2015 Super Rugby Final
The 2015 Super Rugby Final, was played between the Hurricanes and the Highlanders. It was the 20th final in the Super Rugby competition's history and the fifth under the expanded 15-team format. This was the first Super Rugby final between two New Zealand teams since 2006 when the Hurricanes were beaten by the Crusaders.
| Event | 2015 Super Rugby season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 4 July 2015 | ||||||
| Venue | Westpac Stadium, Wellington | ||||||
| Referee | Jaco Peyper (South Africa) | ||||||
| Attendance | 36,000 | ||||||
The match was won by the Highlanders who beat the Hurricanes by seven points. The Highlanders, became the first team to win the competition having failed to win a conference. They also became the first team to win the competition having played in the qualifiers round.
In New Zealand 583,620 people tuned in to watch
Road to the Final
| Conference leaders | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Team | W | D | L | PD | BP | Pts | |
| 1 |  Hurricanes |
14 | 0 | 2 | +170 | 10 | 66 | |
| 2 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Waratahs |
11 | 0 | 5 | +96 | 8 | 52 | |
| 3 |  Stormers |
10 | 1 | 5 | +50 | 3 | 45 | |
| Wildcard teams | ||||||||
| 4 | Highlanders |
11 | 0 | 5 | +117 | 9 | 53 | |
| 5 | Chiefs |
10 | 0 | 6 | +73 | 8 | 48 | |
| 6 | Brumbies |
9 | 0 | 7 | +108 | 11 | 47 | |
| Source: SANZAR [1] | ||||||||
The 2015 Super Rugby competition involved fifteen teams, five each from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.[2] The 2015 season was the fifth year of an expanded 15 team format (12 teams competed between 1996 and 2005, before increasing to 14 between 2006 and 2010).[2]
The competition began on 13 February with the regular season consisting of 120 matches over eighteen weeks. Each team played the others from their own conference (both home and away), plus four out of five teams from the other two countries (two at home and two away in each case). The top six teams after the regular season advanced to the finals.[2]
The Hurricanes finished top of the New Zealand conference and topped the overall standings, with fourteen wins and just two losses during the season (one being to the Australian conference winner, the Waratahs). The South African conference winner was the Stormers, and the three wildcard teams making the playoffs were the Highlanders, Chiefs, and Brumbies.
The play-off fixtures were as follows:
| Qualifying finals | Semifinals | Grand final | |||||||||||||||
| 20 June 2015 | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Stormers |
19 | |||||||||||||||
| 6 | Brumbies |
39 | 27 June 2015 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Hurricanes |
29 | |||||||||||||||
| 6 | Brumbies |
9 | 4 July 2015 | ||||||||||||||
| Hurricanes |
14 | ||||||||||||||||
| 27 June 2014 | Highlanders |
21 | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | Waratahs |
17 | |||||||||||||||
| 20 June 2015 | 4 | Highlanders |
35 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | Highlanders |
24 | |||||||||||||||
| 5 | Chiefs |
14 | |||||||||||||||
Qualifiers
| 20 June 2015 | Highlanders | 24–14 | Chiefs | Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin | ||
| 19:35 | Try: Waisake Naholo  24', 43'Con: Lima Sopoaga  44' (1/2)Pen: Lima Sopoaga 6', 57', 66', 80' (4/4)Drop: Waisake Naholo (0/1) |
Report[3] Scoreboard[4] |
Try: Brodie Retallick 60' Con: Andrew Horrell (0/1) Pen: Andrew Horrell 8', 28', 40' (3/5) |
Attendance: 22,500 Referee: Chris Pollock |
| 20 June 2015 | Stormers | 19–39 | Brumbies | Newlands Stadium, Cape Town | ||
| 17:05 | Try: Cheslin Kolbe 45' Con: Demetri Catrakilis 46' (1/1)Pen: Demetri Catrakilis 13', 34', 49', 60' (4/4) |
Report[5] Scoreboard[6] |
Try: Joe Tomane 4', 15', 25' Scott Sio 40' Ita Vaea 63' Jesse Mogg 79'Con: Christian Lealiifano 26', 40', 64' (3/6)Pen: Christian Lealiifano 51' (1/1)Cards: Henry Speight  74' Scott Fardy  75' |
Referee: Jaco Peyper |
Semi-Finals
| 27 June 2015 | Hurricanes | 29–9 | Brumbies | Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington | ||
| 19:35 | Try: Julian Savea 21' TJ Perenara 28' Ardie Savea 43' Matt Proctor 74'Con: Beauden Barrett 29' (1/2) James Marshall 44', 75' (2/2)Pen: Beauden Barrett (0/1) James Marshall 66' (1/2) |
Report[7] Scoreboard[8] |
Pen: Jesse Mogg 40' (1/1) Christian Lealiifano 50', 57' (2/2) |
Attendance: 34,500 Referee: Glen Jackson |
| 27 June 2015 | Waratahs | 17–35 | Highlanders | Allianz Stadium, Sydney | ||
| 19:55 | Try: Rob Horne 11' Con: Bernard Foley (0/1) Pen: Bernard Foley 23', 31', 37', 51' (4/4)Cards: Jacques Potgieter 58' to 68' |
Report Scoreboard[9] |
Try: Aaron Smith 19' Richard Buckman 33' Waisake Naholo 53' penalty try 58' Patrick Osborne 78'Con: Ben Smith (0/1) Lima Sopoaga 34', 59' (2/4)Pen: Lima Sopoaga 5' (1/3)Drop: Lima Sopoaga 75' (1/2) |
Attendance: 32,632 Referee: Craig Joubert |
References
- "Super Rugby - Official SANZAAR Site". SANZAR. Archived from the original on 15 June 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
- "About Super Rugby". SANZAR. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
- "Highlanders move on to semi-finals". SANZAR. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- "SA Rugby Match Centre – Highlanders 24-14 Chiefs". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- "Six-try Brumbies stun the Stormers". SANZAR. 21 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- "SA Rugby Match Centre – DHL Stormers 19-39 Brumbies". South African Rugby Union. 20 June 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- "Hurricanes surge into Super Rugby Final". SANZAR. 27 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- "SA Rugby Match Centre – Hurricanes 29-9 Brumbies". South African Rugby Union. 27 June 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- "SA Rugby Match Centre – Waratahs 17-35 Highlanders". South African Rugby Union. 27 June 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
| Preceded by 2014 Super Rugby Final |
Super Rugby Final 2015 |
Succeeded by 2016 Super Rugby Final |