2018 Super Rugby season

The 2018 Super Rugby season was the 23rd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. After two seasons in which 18 teams participated, the 2018 season reverted to a 15-team competition, consisting of three geographical conferences.

2018 Super Rugby season
CountriesArgentina (1 team)
Australia (4 teams)
Japan (1 team)
New Zealand (5 teams)
South Africa (4 teams)
Tournament format(s)Conference and knockout
ChampionsCrusaders (9th title)
Matches played127
Tries scored925 (7.28 per match)
Top point scorer(s)Bernard Foley, Waratahs (223)
Top try scorer(s)Ben Lam, Hurricanes (16)
Official websiteOfficial site
← 2017 (Previous) (Next) 2019 →

The South African Rugby Union announced that the Cheetahs and Southern Kings would be dropped for the 2018 season,[1] while the Australian Rugby Union, now known as Rugby Australia, announced the exclusion of the Force. The South African franchises thereafter entered the newly renamed Pro14 competition, while the Western Force took part in the National Rugby Championship, the domestic Australia competition, while preparing to enter the new Global Rapid Rugby competition in 2019.[2]

Competition format

The 15 participating teams are divided into three geographical conferences: the Australian Conference (consisting of four Australian teams and the Japanese Sunwolves), the New Zealand Conference (consisting of five New Zealand teams), and the South African Conference (consisting of four South African teams and the Jaguares from Argentina).[3]

In the group stages, there are 19 rounds of matches, with each team playing 16 matches and having two rounds of byes, resulting in a total of 120 matches. Teams play eight inter-conference matches and eight cross-conference matches; they play all the other teams in their conference twice - once at home and once away - and play once against four of the teams in each of the other two conferences.

The top team in each of the three conferences qualify for the quarterfinals, as do the next five teams with the best records across the three conferences, known as wildcards. The conference winners and best wildcard team hosted the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal winners progressed to the semifinal, and the winners of the semifinals advanced to the final.[3]

Standings

The final standings for the 2018 Super Rugby season were:

2018 Super Rugby standings
Overall standings
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1 Crusaders161402542295+24777397063
2 Lions16907519435+8477556446
3 Waratahs16916557445+11274594244
4 Hurricanes161105474343+13166435251
5 Chiefs161105463368+9560483249
6 Highlanders161006437445−859573144
7 Jaguares16907409418−951552038
8 Sharks16718437442−549572436
9 Rebels16709440461−2157605336
10 Brumbies16709393422−2956522434
11 Stormers166010390423−3346560529
12 Bulls166010441502−6159662329
13 Reds166010389501−11249661328
14 Blues164012378509−13150662422
15 Sunwolves163013404664−26048990214
Australian Conference
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1 Waratahs16916557445+11274594244
2 Rebels16709440461−2157605336
3 Brumbies16709393422−2956522434
4 Reds166010389501−11249661328
5 Sunwolves163013404664−26048990214
New Zealand Conference
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1 Crusaders161402542295+24777397063
2 Hurricanes161105474343+13166435251
3 Chiefs161105463368+9560483249
4 Highlanders161006437445−859573144
5 Blues164012378509−13150662422
South African Conference
Pos Team P W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1 Lions16907519435+8477556446
2 Jaguares16907409418−951552038
3 Sharks16718437442−549572436
4 Stormers166010390423−3346560529
5 Bulls166010441502−6159662329

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 – Australian Conference
Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 R19 QF SF Final
Waratahs N/A 4
(7th)		 6
(5th)		 6
(8th)		 10
(7th)		 10
(9th)		 14
(6th)		 19
(6th)		 24
(3rd)		 24
(3rd)		 24
(3rd)		 25
(3rd)		 26
(3rd)		 31
(3rd)		 31
(3rd)		 35
(3rd)		 39
(3rd)		 44
(2nd)		 44
(3rd)		 Won Lost N/A
Rebels N/A 5
(2nd)		 10
(2nd)		 15
(1st)		 15
(2nd)		 20
(1st)		 20
(1st)		 20
(3rd)		 21
(6th)		 21
(7th)		 21
(7th)		 21
(10th)		 25
(7th)		 25
(9th)		 30
(8th)		 34
(8th)		 35
(8th)		 35
(8th)		 36
(9th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Brumbies N/A 4
(5th)		 4
(8th)		 4
(13th)		 8
(11th)		 8
(11th)		 9
(11th)		 14
(8th)		 14
(9th)		 15
(11th)		 15
(13th)		 15
(14th)		 16
(14th)		 16
(14th)		 20
(12th)		 25
(11th)		 29
(10th)		 30
(10th)		 34
(10th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Reds N/A 0
(14th)		 4
(11th)		 8
(6th)		 12
(4th)		 13
(7th)		 13
(8th)		 13
(10th)		 13
(12th)		 13
(13th)		 17
(12th)		 17
(12th)		 17
(12th)		 18
(12th)		 19
(13th)		 19
(13th)		 19
(14th)		 23
(13th)		 28
(13th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Sunwolves N/A 1
(12th)		 1
(14th)		 1
(15th)		 2
(15th)		 2
(15th)		 2
(15th)		 2
(15th)		 2
(15th)		 2
(15th)		 2
(15th)		 2
(15th)		 6
(15th)		 10
(15th)		 10
(15th)		 10
(15th)		 14
(15th)		 14
(15th)		 14
(15th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Team Progression – New Zealand Conference
Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 R19 QF SF Final
Crusaders N/A 5
(3rd)		 10
(3rd)		 10
(4th)		 10
(6th)		 15
(3rd)		 19
(4th)		 24
(2nd)		 24
(4th)		 29
(2nd)		 33
(1st)		 38
(1st)		 42
(1st)		 46
(1st)		 50
(1st)		 54
(1st)		 54
(1st)		 58
(1st)		 63
(1st)		 Won Won Won
Hurricanes N/A 1
(9th)		 6
(4th)		 10
(3rd)		 10
(5th)		 14
(4th)		 19
(3rd)		 23
(4th)		 27
(1st)		 27
(4th)		 32
(4th)		 36
(4th)		 41
(4th)		 45
(4th)		 45
(4th)		 45
(4th)		 45
(4th)		 50
(4th)		 51
(4th)		 Won Lost N/A
Chiefs N/A 0
(13th)		 4
(10th)		 4
(12th)		 8
(10th)		 13
(5th)		 17
(5th)		 21
(5th)		 21
(5th)		 26
(5th)		 26
(6th)		 27
(6th)		 31
(6th)		 32
(5th)		 37
(5th)		 37
(6th)		 41
(5th)		 45
(5th)		 49
(5th)		 Lost N/A N/A
Highlanders N/A 4
(6th)		 4
(7th)		 9
(5th)		 13
(3rd)		 13
(6th)		 14
(7th)		 14
(7th)		 19
(7th)		 24
(6th)		 28
(5th)		 28
(5th)		 32
(5th)		 32
(6th)		 36
(6th)		 40
(5th)		 40
(6th)		 40
(6th)		 44
(6th)		 Lost N/A N/A
Blues N/A 1
(10th)		 2
(13th)		 6
(9th)		 6
(12th)		 6
(13th)		 6
(14th)		 7
(14th)		 12
(14th)		 12
(14th)		 13
(14th)		 17
(13th)		 17
(13th)		 17
(13th)		 17
(14th)		 17
(14th)		 22
(13th)		 22
(14th)		 22
(14th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Team Progression – South African Conference
Team R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 R11 R12 R13 R14 R15 R16 R17 R18 R19 QF SF Final
Lions 4
(4th)		 9
(1st)		 14
(1st)		 15
(2nd)		 19
(1st)		 19
(2nd)		 20
(2nd)		 25
(1st)		 25
(2nd)		 30
(1st)		 31
(2nd)		 31
(2nd)		 31
(2nd)		 36
(2nd)		 40
(2nd)		 40
(2nd)		 41
(2nd)		 41
(3rd)		 46
(2nd)		 Won Won Lost
Jaguares 0
(15th)		 0
(15th)		 0
(15th)		 4
(14th)		 4
(14th)		 8
(12th)		 8
(13th)		 8
(13th)		 12
(13th)		 16
(10th)		 20
(8th)		 24
(7th)		 24
(8th)		 29
(7th)		 34
(7th)		 34
(7th)		 38
(7th)		 38
(7th)		 38
(7th)		 Lost N/A N/A
Sharks 1
(5th)		 1
(11th)		 3
(12th)		 8
(7th)		 9
(9th)		 9
(10th)		 13
(10th)		 14
(9th)		 14
(10th)		 18
(9th)		 18
(11th)		 23
(8th)		 24
(10th)		 28
(8th)		 28
(9th)		 28
(9th)		 32
(9th)		 32
(9th)		 36
(8th)		 Lost N/A N/A
Stormers 4
(1st)		 5
(4th)		 5
(6th)		 5
(11th)		 9
(8th)		 13
(8th)		 13
(9th)		 13
(11th)		 13
(11th)		 14
(12th)		 18
(10th)		 22
(9th)		 23
(11th)		 24
(11th)		 25
(10th)		 25
(10th)		 25
(12th)		 29
(11th)		 29
(11th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Bulls 0
(6th)		 4
(8th)		 4
(9th)		 5
(10th)		 5
(13th)		 5
(14th)		 9
(12th)		 9
(12th)		 14
(8th)		 19
(8th)		 20
(9th)		 20
(11th)		 24
(9th)		 24
(10th)		 24
(11th)		 24
(12th)		 25
(11th)		 29
(12th)		 29
(12th)		 N/A N/A N/A
Key: win draw loss bye

Matches
Main article: List of 2018 Super Rugby matches

The fixtures for the 2018 Super Rugby competition were released on 21 September 2017.[5] The following matches were played during the regular season:

Home \ Away BLU BRU BUL CHI CRU HIG HUR JAG LIO REB RED SHA STO SUN WAR
Blues — — — 21–27 24–32 16–34 15–36 13–20 — 10–20 39–16 40–63 — — —
Brumbies — — — — 8–21 — 24–12 20–25 — 24–27 45–21 24–17 — 41–31 17–24
Bulls — 28–38 — — — 28–29 21–19 43–34 35–49 28–10 — 39–33 33–23 — —
Chiefs 21–19 24–19 41–28 — 20–34 27–22 28–24 19–23 — — — — — — 39–27
Crusaders 54–17 — 33–14 45–23 — 45–22 24–13 — — — — — 45–28 33–11 31–29
Highlanders 41–34 43–17 — 22–45 25–17 — 30–14 — 39–27 43–37 — — 33–15 — —
Hurricanes 42–24 — — 25–13 29–19 29–12 — — 28–19 — 38–34 38–37 — 43–15 —
Jaguares — — 54–24 — 14–40 — 9–34 — 49–35 — 7–18 29–13 25–14 — 38–28
Lions 35–38 42–24 38–12 — 8–14 — — 47–27 — — — 26–19 52–31 40–38 —
Rebels — 33–10 — — 10–55 — 19–50 22–25 — — 45–19 46–14 — 40–13 26–31
Reds — 18–10 20–14 12–36 — 15–18 — — 27–22 37–23 — — — 48–27 41–52
Sharks — — 10–40 28–24 — 38–12 — 20–10 31–24 — — — 24–17 50–22 24–24
Stormers 37–20 — 29–17 9–15 — — — 28–20 23–26 34–18 25–19 27–16 — — —
Sunwolves 10–24 25–32 42–37 10–61 — — — — — 17–37 63–28 — 26–23 — 29–50
Waratahs 21–24 31–40 — — — 41–12 — — 0–29 51–27 37–16 — 34–27 77–25 —
Updated to match(es) played on 3 June 2018. Source: http://images.supersport.co.za/content/Vodacom%20Super%20Rugby%202018%20Draw.pdf
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Finals

The finals fixtures were as follows:

 
QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
 
          
 
 21 July – Christchurch
 
 
 Crusaders 40
 
 28 July – Christchurch
 
 Sharks 10
 
 Crusaders 30
 
 20 July – Wellington
 
 Hurricanes 12
 
 Hurricanes 32
 
 4 August – Christchurch
 
 Chiefs 31
 
 Crusaders 37
 
 21 July – Johannesburg
 
 Lions 18
 
 Lions 40
 
 28 July – Johannesburg
 
 Jaguares 23
 
 Lions 44
 
 21 July – Sydney
 
 Waratahs 26
 
 Waratahs 30
 
 
 Highlanders 23
 

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final
Main article: 2018 Super Rugby Final

Players

Squads

The following 2018 Super Rugby squads have been named:

Top scorers

The top ten try and point scorers during the 2018 Super Rugby season are:[22]

Referees

The following refereeing panel was appointed by SANZAAR for the 2018 Super Rugby season:[23]

Attendances
TeamMain StadiumCapacityTotal AttendanceAverage Attendance% Capacity
BluesEden Park50,00077,2009,65019%
ChiefsWaikato Stadium25,800
HurricanesWestpac Stadium34,500136,91115,21246%
CrusadersRugby League Park18,000
HighlandersForsyth Barr Stadium30,728
RedsSuncorp Stadium52,50096,81012,10123%
BrumbiesCanberra Stadium25,01167,1288,39133%
WaratahsSydney Football Stadium44,000121,60313,51132%
Melbourne RebelsAAMI Park29,50078,5669,82033%
SharksABSA Stadium52,000
BullsLoftus Versfeld51,792
LionsEllis Park62,567
StormersNewlands Stadium51,900
JaguaresJosé Amalfitani Stadium49,640
SunwolvesPrince Chichibu Memorial Stadium27,18880,60810,07635%

References
  1. "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.
  2. "Western Force culled from Super Rugby competition". Daily Telegraph. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  3. "Sanzaar confirm Super 15 tournament from 2018". SuperXV. 9 April 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
  4. "About Super Rugby". SANZAAR. Archived from the original on 20 February 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  5. "2018 Super Rugby Match Schedule Announced" (Press release). SANZAAR. 21 September 2017. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  6. "Hurricanes beat Chiefs to secure Semi Final spot". SANZAAR. 20 July 2018. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  7. "Hurricanes 32-31 Chiefs". SANZAAR. 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  8. https://www.westpacstadium.co.nz/fileadmin/Documents/Annual_Reports/WRST_AR19.pdf
  9. "Clinical Crusaders cruise past Sharks". SANZAAR. 21 July 2018. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  10. "Crusaders 40-10 Sharks". SANZAAR. 21 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  11. "Waratahs Storm Back to Stun Highlanders". SANZAAR. 21 July 2018. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  12. "Waratahs 30-23 Highlanders". SANZAAR. 21 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  13. https://www.rugby.com.au/news/2018/07/22/waratahs-highlanders-reax
  14. "Lions overcome Jaguares to reach semi-final". SANZAAR. 22 July 2018. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  15. "Lions 40-23 Jaguares". SANZAAR. 21 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  16. "Crusaders Beat 'Canes Book Home Final". SANZAAR. 28 July 2018. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  17. "Crusaders 30-12 Hurricanes". SANZAAR. 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  18. "Lions overcome Waratahs to reach Super Rugby final". SANZAAR. 29 July 2018. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  19. "Lions 44-26 Waratahs". SANZAAR. 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
  20. "Outstanding Crusaders claim ninth Super Rugby title". SANZAAR. 4 August 2018. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  21. "Crusaders 37-18 Lions". SANZAAR. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  22. "Super Rugby Stats". SANZAAR. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
  23. "Super Rugby Referee Team 2018" (Press release). SANZAAR. 29 January 2018. Archived from the original on 30 January 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018.
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