Final
Blue Bulls (19) 44 / 10 (3) Sharks (Final Score)
The Vodacom Blue Bulls and the Cell C Sharks did battle in the FINAL of the Carling Currie Cup 2021 at
Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, South Africa on 11 September 2021 at 17:00 SA Time (15:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport Rugby & CSN on TV in SA.
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Blue Bulls (9) 26 / 19 (13) Sharks (Final Score)
The Vodacom Blue Bulls and Cell C Sharks did battle in the FINAL of the Carling Currie Cup 2020 / 2021 at
Loftus Versfeld, South Africa on 30 January 2021 at 15:00 SA Time (13:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport Rugby, CSN & Grandstand on TV in SA.
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England (6) 12 / 32 (12) Springboks (Final Score)
England and the South African Springboks did battle in the Rugby World Cup 2019 Final at
International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan on 2 November 2019 at 11:00 SA Time (18:00 Japan Time, 09:00 UK Time & GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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Crusaders (10) 19 / 3 (3) Jaguares (Final Score)
The Crusaders and Los Jaguares did battle in the Final of Super Rugby 2019 at
Christchurch Stadium, Christchurch, New Zealand at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 04:35 Arg Time, 07:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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Maties (12) 34 / 12 (0) Tuks (Final Score)
Maties (University of Stellenbosch) and UP-Tuks (University of Pretoria) did battle in the Varsity Cup Final 2019 at
Danie Craven Stadium, Stellenbosch at 19:00 SA Time (17:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 on TV in SA.
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Crusaders (20) 37 / 18 (6) Lions (Final Score)
The Crusaders and Emirates Lions did battle in the Super Rugby 2018 Final at
AMI Stadium, Christchurch, New Zealand at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 07:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Leinster (21) 40 / 32 (11) Scarlets (Final Score)
Leinster Rugby and the Llanelli Scarlets did battle in the Guinness PRO14 2017 / 2018 FINAL at
the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland at 19:00 SA Time (18:00 UK Time, 17:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 5 on TV in SA.
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Sharks (21) 21 / 33 (15) WP (Final Score)
The Cell C Sharks and DHL Western Province did battle in the Currie Cup final of 2017 at
Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban, South Africa at 16:00 SA Time (14:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Lions (3) 17 / 25 (15) Crusaders (Final Score)
The Emirates Lions and Crusaders did battle in the Super Rugby 2017 final at
Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg, South Africa at 16:00 SA Time (14:00 GMT, Sunday 02:00 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Tuks (13) 28 / 21 (15) Maties (Final Score)
UP-Tuks (University of Pretoria) and Maties (University of Stellenbosch) did battle
in the Varsity Cup Final of 2017 at LC de Villiers Stadium, Pretoria at 19:00 SA Time (17:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
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FS Cheetahs (18) 36 / 16 (9) Blue Bulls (Final Score)
The Toyota Free State Cheetahs and Vodacom Blue Bulls did battle in the Currie Cup Premier Division 2016 Final at
Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein at 16:00 SA Time (14:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Hurricanes (10) 20 / 3 (3) Lions (Final Score)
The Hurricanes and Emirates Lions did battle in the Super Rugby 2016 Final at
Westpac Stadium, Wellington at 09:35 SA Time (07:35 GMT, 19:35 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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The Emirates Lions squad of 25 players to travel to New Zealand for the Super Rugby Final against the Hurricanes in Wellington at the weekend has been announced.
Maties (0) 6 / 7 (0) Pukke (Final Score)
FNB Maties (University of Stellenbosch) and NWU-Pukke (North West University) did battle
in the Varsity Cup Final of 2016 at Danie Craven Stadium, Stellebosch at 19:00 SA Time (17:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
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All Blacks (16) 34 / 17 (3) Wallabies (Final Score)
The New Zealand All Blacks and Australian Wallabies did battle in the 2015 Rugby World Cup FINAL at
Twickenham Stadium, London, England at 18:00 SA Time (16:00 UK Time, 16:00 GMT, Sunday 03:00 AEDT, Sunday 05:00 NZ Time).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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First-choice prop Scott Sio returns to the Australian Wallabies side for the Rugby World Cup final against the New Zealand All Blacks on Saturday.
It is the only change to the side announced by coach Michael Cheika.
Sio has recovered from an elbow injury and James Slipper, who played in the semifinal win over Argentina, returns to the bench.
Australia, who have had a tough route to Twickenham – having to play England, Wales, Scotland and Argentina – will be in a record-breaking 4th Rugby World Cup Final.
However, it will be the 1st between the Wallabies and the All Blacks.
Matt Giteau, who left the semifinal with a groin injury but has been cleared for Saturday, is the only player who took part in their last Final – when they lost to England in Sydney in 2003.
New Zealand All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has named an unchanged side to face Australia’s Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup Final at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
The line-up is the same as the one that defeated South Africa 20 / 18 in the semifinals last weekend.
The last time the All Blacks named an unchanged starting line-up between successive Rugby World Cup matches was in 2011, when they made no changes to the team that defeated Australia in the semifinals then beat France in the final.
13 Players in the current All Blacks 31-man squad were part of the triumphant 2011 Rugby World Cup squad and Tony Woodcock, would have made that 14 if he had not left injured.
The players hoping to win the Webb Ellis Cup for a 2nd time are Keven Mealamu, Owen Franks, Ben Franks, Sam Whitelock, Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Victor Vito, Dan Carter, Colin Slade, Ma’a Nonu, Conrad Smith and Sonny Bill Williams.
Conrad Smith, Nonu, Woodcock, Mealamu, Owen Franks, Whitelock, Kaino, McCaw and Read all started in the 2011 Final and Williams came on as a replacement in that match.
Nigel Owens
Nigel Owens has been appointed to referee the final of Rugby World Cup 2015. The 44-year-old from Wales is a veteran of 67 Tests but on Saturday at 17:00 SA Time (16:00 UK Time) he will take charge of the biggest match of his career to date.
Owens will become just the 7th referee to do the job, following in the footsteps of Kerry Fitzgerald (1987), Derek Bevan (1991), Ed Morrison (1995), Andre Watson (1999 and 2003), Alain Rolland (2007) and Craig Joubert (2011).
His experience and his consistency over many years, as well as his excellent form during the build-up to and during Rugby World Cup 2015, has won him selection to the pinnacle match in the sport at the end of a tournament in which the high quality of officiating has been a feature.
Golden Lions (22) 32 / 24 (10) WP (Final Score)
The Xerox Golden Lions and DHL Western Province did battle in the FINAL of the 2015 ABSA Currie Cup at
Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg at 13:45 SA Time (11:45 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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It once was the biggest game in South Africa, the highlight of the year – to determine the most supreme team in the country.
On Saturday the FINAL of the ABSA Currie Cup, still the premier domestic competition, will compete for a place in the spotlight with the BIGGEST game in Rugby Union – a World Cup showdown between South Africa and New Zealand.
However, the Xerox Golden Lions and DHL Western Province will play like, and the winners celebrate as if, they are involved in a Rugby World Cup Final.
The build-up may have been low-key – in comparison with other finals – but there is no doubt that the game will be every bit as intense and entertaining as any Final that has gone before.
Province coach John Dobson was keen to take on the underdog tag – pointing to the Lions’ 62 / 32 win 3 weeks ago and their unbeaten run as reasons why pundits are likely to bank on the home team.
However, he feels the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, in last week’s Semifinal Round, gave other teams a glimpse of how to bring the Emirates Airline Park-based team down to earth.
Golden Lions coach Johan Ackermann was not keen to take the ‘favourites’ tag offered to him by Dobson.
The wily Golden Lions mentor feels Western Province have a real chance of retaining their title.
DHL Western Province will field an unchanged line-up in Saturday’s ABSA Currie Cup FINAL against the Xerox Golden Lions in Johannesburg.
Coach John Dobson has wisely not tampered with the match-22 that beat the Vodacom Blue Bulls by 23 / 18 in last weekend’s semifinal, with outside centre Johnny Kotze (knock to the knee) cleared to take part in the final.
Kotze will start in his 1st-ever ABSA Currie Cup Final and he is 1 of 7 players doing so, whilst a total of 12 players in the matchday squad will be wearing Province colours in a final for the 1st time.
The Xerox Golden Lions side to take on DHL Western Province in the 2015 ABSA Currie Cup Final shows 3 changes to the starting line-up at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday 24 October 2015 at 13:45 SA Time.
Robbie Coetzee starts at hooker with Malcolm Marx moving to the bench, Kwagga Smith will wear the No 7 jersey while Stephan de Witt takes up a seat on the bench and in the last change Rohan Janse van Rensburg and Stokkies Hanekom will swop places with the latter moving to the bench.
3 Finals will take place on Saturday.
Nigel Owens
Welshman Nigel Owens is favourite to be named as referee of the Rugby World Cup FINAL following the appointment of Frenchman Jerome Garces and England’s Wayne Barnes for the semifinals.
Owens, 44, was appointed an international referee in 2005 and officiated at the 2007 and 2011 World Cups. He took charge of this year’s quarterfinal between New Zealand and France.
Hurricanes (5) 14 / 21 (13) Highlanders (Final Score)
The Hurricanes and Highlanders did battle in the 2015 Super Rugby Final at
Westpac Stadium, Wellington at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 17:35 AEST, 07:35 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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It is the Final of Super Rugby 2015 this weekend.
The long awaited game to determine the champions of 2015 is finally upon us!
Of course, the South African and Australian Franchises are already done and dusted and only 2 New Zealand sides remain in the race, the all season Log leading Hurricanes and the New Zealand Cinderella side, the Highlanders.
The Final takes place in Wellington, New Zealand at 09:35 SA Time (19:35 NZ Time, 17:35 AEST, 07:35 GMT), at Westpac Stadium.
The Hurricanes are firm favourites for the game, having had by far the best overall performance of all 15 Super Rugby franchises in Super Rugby 2015, and running away with the Combined Log. They certainly played entertaining rugby and a lot of it has to be attributed to their forwards finally stepping up to the plate to match their tremendous backline.
Their defensive structures were much improved and their dangerous backline fired.. if one did not know any better one would swear that every last player was on some serious performance enhancing drugs.
I’ve always said that the Hurricanes were always underperforming in relation to the team they have on paper, but in 2015 all the elements finally came together to make them a fabulous side.
Whatever happens in the final, they deserve plaudits for the season of 2015!
The Highlanders on the other side, turned a lot of seemingly no-name forwards into a monster pack and their backline players turned into a dangerous unit with All Blacks written all over every member.
The Highlanders have lost twice to the Hurricanes already in 2015 but last weekend in the semi-final against the Waratahs they showed that they have progressed upwards a number of rungs in the 2015 season and specifically in the last few weekends.
The Highlanders, having almost always been considered New zealand’s step-child Super Rugby side, have had a real Cinderella season and deserve to be in the final and one is almost unwillingly tempted to urge them on for all the honours in the Final.
As a totally neutral observer, all I can say is that I enjoyed the rugby these two teams dished up for us all in 2015… and may the best team win!
Let the Final roll on… no guts, no glory!
Enjoy it with me, folks.
Super Rugby finalists’ NAME PLATES, which one will be engraved?
After 124 games spread across 18 Rounds and a fortnight of finals, we stand at the cusp of crowning a 1st-time Super Rugby champion.
We run the rule over both teams – examine their strengths, potntial weaknesses and try to decipher where the game will be won.
Chris Boyd has announced his side to battle the Highlanders for the Super Rugby title but is still sweating on Ardie Savea who is yet to prove his fitness.
Meanwhile, Saturday night’s finale will quietly take on an extra meaning for a few of the men in black and yellow.
For long-serving Hurricanes Conrad Smith, Ma’a Nonu and Jeremy Thrush, and fellow teammates Chris Smylie, Rey Lee-Lo and Ben Franks, it will be the last time they run onto Westpac Stadium as Hurricanes.
With 468 caps between them, the 6 players will leave a sizeable hole at the Hurricanes when they depart at the end of the season, but not before they do their best to help lift a Super Rugby trophy for their club.
Boyd has named a similar line-up to help those 6 guys do the job, with the only change coming at reserve hooker where Motu Matu’u returns from a knee injury.
Savea’s knee will continue to be monitored throughout the remainder of the week, with Callum Gibbins bracketed as cover should Savea not be deemed fit.
The Highlanders will line up with an unchanged side for the Super Rugby Final against the Hurricanes in Wellington.
Head coach Jamie Joseph has chosen to stick with the same 15 that knocked off the defending champion Waratahs in Sydney a week ago.
On Saturday Elliot Dixon will make his 50th Super Rugby appearance for the Highlanders, while co-captains Ben Smith and Nasi Manu will once more lead the side.
The only change to the squad comes on the bench, where Marty Banks replaces Trent Renata, while Joseph has stuck with 6 forwards on the bench.
Jaco Peyper
Jaco Peyper of South Africa has been appointed to referee the Final of Super Rugby 2015. He will thus be heading for Wellington, New Zealand for this great match.
When he heard of the appointment on Sunday, Peyper was understandably excited, as was André Watson, South Africa’s refereeing boss.
Peyper, a Bloemfontein lawyer, is no stranger to finals. On his way up the refereeing ladder, when he was doing mainly Under 19 matches, he refereed the provincial Under 19 Final. When he was further up the ladder, he refereed the Under 21 Final. Then higher still, he refereed the Vodacom Cup Final. Then in 2012 he refereed the Currie Cup Final and now the Super Rugby Final.
It is the 23rd Super Rugby Final since the 1st one in 1993. Of the 22 finals already refereed South African referees have refereed 14 – André Watson (5), Jonathan Kaplan (3), Craig Joubert (3) and Freek Burger, Tappe Henning and Mark Lawrence (1 each). Peyper will be the 6th South African referee to referee a Final.
Peyper is now on the way to being a vastly experienced referee – after 22 Tests, 60 Super Rugby matches and 55 Currie Cup matches.
Chris Boyd
Hurricanes head coach Chris Boyd said he is taking nothing from his team’s 2 wins over the Highlanders this season ahead of their Final with same opponents on Saturday.
The Hurricanes won their Round 6 encounter 20 / 13 in Dunedin and then in dominant fashion thrashed the Highlanders side 56 / 20 in the return fixture in Round 17 in Napier. However, the latter win was against a considerably weaker Highlanders outfit than the one that they will be facing this Saturday.
“If you remember the last game in Napier they rested their 3 All Blacks (Aaron Smith, Ben Smith and Malakai Fekitoa),” Boyd said.
“Patrick Osborne and Nasi Manu also did not play. It was 5 key players for them – so we will take absolutely no energy from that performance at all.”
Conditions for Saturday’s Final is expected to be wet, which might nullify the attacking threats of both teams who are the competition’s leading try scorers. Boyd, on the other hand, feels that there will be running rugby regardless of the conditions.
This week’s Super Rugby news is of course dominated by the only 2 sides left in the 2015 competition, who will meet in the Final on Saturday, namely the Highlanders and Hurricanes.
In this article we focus on various aspects in the final week for the Hurricanes. We look at how they will approach the final, Conrad Smith discusses his 12-year Hurricanes career and we look at the Hurricane sinjury situation ahead of Saturday’s final.
Game Approch – Keep attacking:
Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd says that his team will not change their attacking approach when they host their first Super Rugby Final.
The Wellington side will host the Highlanders on the weekend which means that Super Rugby will have a 1st-time titleholder, and for the 5th time it will be an all-New Zealand affair.
The table-topping Hurricanes sealed their home final with a 29 / 9 victory over the Brumbies, while the Highlanders travelled to Sydney and beat the defending champion Waratahs to secure their spot.
Highlanders co-captain Nasi Manu said that his side are happy to be written off ahead of the Super Rugby Final against the Hurricanes.
Despite having just 3 All Blacks in their side the Highlanders upset the defending champion Waratahs in their Sydney semi-final on Saturday, and Manu said they relish being underdogs.
“It just added fuel to the fire, coming over here and everyone writing us off,” Manu said. “No-one really expected anything from us. I guess we have always been the underdogs and I believe we thrive off that.”
The Highlanders will be up against the weight of history as well in Wellington, as since the conference system was implemented in 2011 no team that finished outside the Top-2 places on the competition ladder has won.
The Brumbies, Sharks and Crusaders have all made it all the way to the final, only to stumble at the final hurdle.
A new Vodacom Cup champion was crowned in Cape Town on Saturday afternoon when the Steval Pumas lifted the coveted trophy for the 1st time ever. The Lowvelders, coached by former Springbok Sevens player MJ Mentz, became the 8th team to win this competition since its inception in 1998.
The Steval Pumas completed a remarkable run in their 3 playoff matches – they beat the Vodacom Cup champions of 2012, 2013 and 2014 on 3 consecutive weekends away from home.
On Saturday, they upset the odds yet again by beating DHL Western Province, the only unbeaten team left in the competition, in the final. The scoreline of 24 / 7 suggests it was a walk in the park for the Steval Pumas, but they had to dig deep and showed the value of playing knock-out rugby with experienced players.
And as they did in the semi-final last weekend, big lock Rudi Mathee scored a try for the visitors and livewire flanker Marnus Schoeman added a brace of 5-pointers.
Although he could only add 4 points to his overall tally, Steval Pumas flyhalf JC Roos finished the season as the top points scorer with 115 – the only player in 2015 to surpass 100 competition points – while SWD Eagles speedster Alshaun Bock scored the most tries, with 8.
Schoeman, courtesy of his 4 tries in the last 2 matches, ended 2nd on the list of try scorers with 7, while DHL WP’s Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Kefentse Mahlo of the Vodacom Blue Bulls, Martin Sithole of the Down Touch Griffons and the Hino Valke duo of Riaan Arends and Anrich Richter all scored 6 tries.
The Steval Pumas and DHL Western Province have travelled as far afield as Windhoek, Secunda, Kimberley and Caledon, and will converge on Cape Town this weekend for the Vodacom Cup Final.
The match – the 1st time ever the Vodacom Cup Final will be hosted in Cape Town – will form part of Newlands celebrating its 125th year of existence this weekend. And to add a little spice, it’s a replay of last year’s quarter-final, won 13 / 8 by the Steval Pumas in Nelspruit.
One member of that Steval Pumas side, who will be watching from the sidelines in the colours of the DHL Stormers, is Vincent Koch. 10 Of his team-mates from last year’s quarter-final will return to Cape Town this weekend – Jacques Momberg, Frankie Herne, DJ Terblanche, Marius Coetzer, Uzair Cassiem, JC Roos, Wilmaure Louw, Jerome Pretorius, JW Bell and Reynier van Rooyen.
For the home team, only 6 members of their match-22 this weekend were part of the side that tasted defeat in the Mbombela Stadium last year. They are Jan de Klerk, Rayn Smid, Michael Willemse, Sti Sithole, Deacon Chowles and Robert du Preez.
DHL WP coach John Dobson has selected Wilhelm van der Sluys as the “sole survivor” of their 2012 title winning side. Louw and Simon Westraadt, now plying their trade in the Lowveld, were in the colours of GWK Griquas that night 3 years ago.
Louw was also member of the Steval Pumas side which lost in the final against the Xerox Golden Lions in 2013, and will return for the final along with 10 other members of that team – Momberg, Terblanche, Coetzer, Cassiem, Pretorius, Bell, Herne, Eduan van der Walt, Stefan Watermeyer and Blitzbok Rosko Specman.
The last time these 2 sides met in Cape Town, was in semi-final in 2012, with DHL WP winning comfortably by 33 / 20 en route to their maiden Vodacom Cup title.
At home, DHL Western Province hold a commanding 4 / 1 lead over the Steval Pumas, with the visitors from Mpumalanga recording their 1st and only win at DHL Newlands in 2002 (58 / 18). The Capetonians though emerged victorious at home in 2012 (33 / 20), 2011 (27 / 14), 2008 (59 / 19) and 2003 (33 / 28).
Overall, they’ve played against each other 9 times in the Vodacom Cup, with DHL WP winning 6 times and the Steval Pumas on 3 occasions.
“It’s a great occasion for Western Province rugby and we’d like to go out there on Saturday and make our supporters proud of this team,” said Dobson, who will be head coach of the Cape Town-based union in the ABSA Currie Cup.
“We’ve put in a lot of hard work this season and it’s wonderful that we can play a final in front of our supporters at DHL Newlands, but we know it will be a tough encounter against a well-coached and experienced Pumas side. You only have to look at the way in which they won their playoffs in the last fortnight to see that they are peaking at the right time of the season.”
Steval Pumas coach MJ Mentz said: “We’ve already eliminated the champions from 2014 and 2013, and now we have an opportunity to do the same against the champions from 2012.
“It sounds easier than it is though and playing at Newlands provides us with yet another massive challenge. The structures at Western Province are very well established, they are a well-coached side and always bring through some superb young players.
“But we’re focused on our own game and what we want to achieve. We saw against the Golden Lions last weekend what our experienced players can do and we’ll be counting on them again to pull this one through.
“We’re going to Cape Town with a belief that we can win, otherwise we may just as well stay at home. We’ve shown what we can do in the last two weeks by winning tough matches away from home and Newlands will be even tougher.”
Shimlas (26) 63 / 33 (20) Pukke (Final Score)
FNB UFS-Shimlas (University of the Free State) and FNB NWU-Pukke (Nort West University) did
battle in Super Rugby at Shimla Park, Bloemfontein at 19:00 SA Time (17:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & CSN on TV in SA.
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