The 2017 Super Rugby Final was played between the Lions and the Crusaders. The match, held at Ellis Park in Johannesburg was the 22nd final in the Super Rugby competition's history, and attracted a record crowd attendance of 62,000.[1]
| Event | 2017 Super Rugby season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 5 August 2017 | ||||||
| Venue | Ellis Park, Johannesburg | ||||||
| Referee | Jaco Peyper (South Africa) | ||||||
| Attendance | 62,000 | ||||||
The Crusaders won the final, defeating the Lions by eight points, and stretched their record number of Super Rugby title wins to eight. A strong Crusaders defence, several errors committed by the Lions and a red card were the losers' downfall in the highly anticipated Super Rugby final held on South African soil for the first time since 2010.
Both finalists had won their respective conferences in the regular season. The Lions, as the top-placed team in 2017 season standings, played all their matches in the finals series at home in Johannesburg. They beat fellow South African side the Sharks in a closely matched quarterfinal, before defeating the previous year's champion the Hurricanes in their semifinal match.
The Crusaders had comfortably beat local New Zealand rivals the Highlanders and Chiefs in their respective quarterfinal and semifinal playoffs at home in Christchurch before travelling to Johannesburg for the final. It was their first Grand Final appearance since 2008.
Road to the final
edit| Conference leaders | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Team | W | D | L | PD | BP | Pts | |||
| 1 |  Lions
|
14 | 0 | 1 | +322 | 9 | 65 | |||
| 2 |  Crusaders
|
14 | 0 | 1 | +241 | 7 | 63 | |||
| 3 | Stormers
|
10 | 0 | 5 | +54 | 3 | 43 | |||
| 4 |  Brumbies
|
6 | 0 | 9 | +36 | 10 | 34 | |||
| Wildcard teams | ||||||||||
| 5 | Hurricanes
|
12 | 0 | 3 | +324 | 10 | 58 | |||
| 6 | Chiefs
|
12 | 1 | 2 | +141 | 7 | 57 | |||
| 7 | Highlanders
|
11 | 0 | 4 | +180 | 7 | 51 | |||
| 8 | Sharks
|
9 | 1 | 5 | +69 | 4 | 42 | |||
| Source: SANZAAR [2] | ||||||||||
The 18 teams were split geographically into two groups with two conferences in each group. The Australasian Group included five teams in the Australian Conference and five teams in the New Zealand Conference. The South African Group, with six South African teams, one Argentinean team and one Japanese team was split into a four-team Africa 1 Conference and a four-team Africa 2 Conference.[3]
The four conference winners qualified for the quarterfinals with a home ground advantage against four wildcard teams, made up of the third to fifth placed teams in the Australasian Group and the third placed team in the South African Group.
The quarterfinals featured away wins for the Hurricanes over the Brumbies, and Chiefs over the Stormers. The Crusaders beat Highlanders, keeping them scoreless, and the Lions beat the Sharks. For the semifinals, the Crusaders defeated the Chiefs in Christchurch and the Lions defeated the Hurricanes in Johannesburg.
The play-off fixtures were as follows:
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 22 July – Cape Town | ||||||||||
| Stormers | 11 | |||||||||
| 29 July – Christchurch | ||||||||||
| Chiefs | 17 | |||||||||
| Crusaders | 27 | |||||||||
| 22 July – Christchurch | ||||||||||
| Chiefs | 13 | |||||||||
| Crusaders | 17 | |||||||||
| 5 August – Johannesburg | ||||||||||
| Highlanders | 0 | |||||||||
| Lions | 17 | |||||||||
| 22 July – Johannesburg | ||||||||||
| Crusaders | 25 | |||||||||
| Lions | 23 | |||||||||
| 29 July – Johannesburg | ||||||||||
| Sharks | 21 | |||||||||
| Lions | 44 | |||||||||
| 21 July – Canberra | ||||||||||
| Hurricanes | 29 | |||||||||
| Brumbies | 16 | |||||||||
| Hurricanes | 35 | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
edit| 21 July 2017 | Brumbies | 16–35 | Hurricanes | GIO Stadium, Canberra | ||
| 19:35 | Try: James Dargaville  3' Josh Mann-Rea 16'Con: Wharenui Hawera  (0/2)Pen: Wharenui Hawera 11', 29' (2/3)
|
Try: Wes Goosen 7', 75' Jordie Barrett 25' TJ Perenara 69'Con: Jordie Barrett 26', 70', 77' (3/4)Pen: Jordie Barrett 39', 48', 65' (3/3)Cards: Jeff Toomaga-Allen  41'
|
| 22 July 2017 | Crusaders | 17–0 | Highlanders | AMI Stadium, Christchurch | ||
| 19:35 | Try: Joe Moody 32' Codie Taylor 40'Con: Richie Mo'unga 34', 41' (2/2)Pen: Richie Mo'unga 5' (1/4)
|
Cards: Liam Squire 5'
|
| 22 July 2017 | Lions | 23–21 | Sharks | Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg | ||
| 2:30 | Try: Franco Mostert 47' Jaco Kriel 51' Lionel Mapoe 61'Con: Elton Jantjies 61' (1/3)Pen: Elton Jantjies 10' (1/3)Cards: Franco Mostert 64'
|
Try: Kobus van Wyk 11' Dan du Preez 66'Con: Curwin Bosch 67' (1/2)Pen: Curwin Bosch 35', 39' (2/2)Drop: Curwin Bosch 17' (1/1)Cards: Stephan Lewies 45'
|
| 22 July 2017 | Stormers | 11–17 | Chiefs | Newlands Stadium, Cape Town | ||
| 17:00 | Try: Siya Kolisi 45' Con: SP Marais (0/1)Pen: SP Marais 23', 62' (2/3)
|
Try: Shaun Stevenson 75' Con: Damian McKenzie (0/1)Pen: Damian McKenzie 29', 32', 38', 51' (4/4)Cards: Sam Cane 60'
|
Semi-finals
edit| 29 July 2017 | Crusaders | 27–13 | Chiefs | AMI Stadium, Christchurch | ||
| 19:35 | Try: Bryn Hall 16' Israel Dagg 49' Seta Tamanivalu 58', 72'Con: Richie Mo'unga 18', 59' (2/4)Pen: Richie Mo'unga 13' (1/1)
|
Try: Brodie Retallick 77' Con: Damian McKenzie 78' (1/1)Pen: Damian McKenzie 26', 38' (2/2)
|
| 29 July 2017 | Lions | 44–29 | Hurricanes | Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg | ||
| 2:10 | Try: Jacques van Rooyen 39' Ross Cronjé 44' Malcolm Marx 52' Harold Vorster 61' Elton Jantjies 69' Kwagga Smith 74'Con: Elton Jantjies 40', 45', 63', 69' (4/6)Pen: Elton Jantjies 5', 58' (2/2)
|
Try: TJ Perenara 7' Wes Goosen 10' Ardie Savea 30' Ngani Laumape 55'Con: Jordie Barrett 11', 57' (2/3) Beauden Barrett 31' (1/1)Pen: Jordie Barrett 19' (1/2)Cards: Beauden Barrett 58'
|
Final
editSummary
editThis section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (August 2017) |
Details
edit| 5 August 2017 |
| Lions | 17–25 | Crusaders |
| Try: Malcolm Marx 64' Corné Fourie 72' Con: Elton Jantjies 65', 73' (2/2)Pen: Elton Jantjies 26' (1/1) | Try: Seta Tamanivalu 7' Jack Goodhue 11' Kieran Read 43'Con: Richie Mo'unga 8', 44' (2/3)Pen: Richie Mo'unga 41', 52' (2/2) |
| Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa) |
          Lions
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     Crusaders
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Man of the Match: Ryan Crotty Assistant Referees: |
References
edit- ^ "Mistakes cost the Lions their first Super Rugby trophy". Randburg Sun. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
- ^ "SA Rugby Log – 2017 Vodacom Super Rugby". South African Rugby Union. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
- ^ "Outline of the Super Rugby competition structure" (PDF). All Blacks. 1 May 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 October 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2014.