1997 Super 12 season

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1997 Super 12
Countries  Australia
 South Africa
 New Zealand
Tournament format(s) Round-robin and knockout
Champions New Zealand Auckland Blues (2nd title)
Matches played 69
Top point scorer(s) South Africa Gavin Lawless (170)
( Sharks]])
Top try scorer(s) Australia Joe Roff (16)
(ACT Brumbies)
1996 (Previous) (Next) 1998

The 1997 Super 12 season was the second season of the Super 12, contested by rugby union teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from 28 February to 31 May 1997, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams entered the playoff semi finals, with the first placed team playing the fourth and the second placed team playing the third. The winner of each semi final qualified for the final, which was contested by the Auckland Blues and the ACT Brumbies at Eden Park, Auckland. The Auckland Blues won 23 – 7 to win their second Super 12 title.

While the three Australian and five New Zealand teams remained the same as the 1996 season, the South African teams made changes. Transvaal, after the changes of the political landscape of South Africa, became known as the Gauteng Lions, while Western Province, after not making the top four of the 1996 Currie Cup, were replaced by Free State of Bloemfontein.

Table

     Top four teams advance to playoffs.
Pos. Team Pld W D L PF PA PD BP Pts
1 New Zealand Auckland Blues 11 10 1 0 435 283 152 8 50
2 Australia ACT Brumbies 11 8 0 3 406 291 115 9 41
3 New Zealand Wellington Hurricanes 11 6 0 5 416 314 102 10 34
4 South Africa Sharks 11 5 2 4 321 350 −29 6 30
5 South Africa Gauteng Lions 11 5 1 5 302 346 −44 6 28
6 New Zealand Canterbury Crusaders 11 5 1 5 272 235 37 4 26
7 South Africa Free State 11 5 0 6 301 327 −26 5 25
8 South Africa Northern Transvaal 11 3 3 5 264 342 −78 4 22
9 Australia NSW Waratahs 11 4 0 7 255 296 −41 4 20
10 Australia Queensland Reds 11 4 0 7 263 318 −55 4 20
11 New Zealand Waikato Chiefs 11 4 0 7 272 295 −23 3 19
12 New Zealand Otago Highlanders 11 3 0 8 299 409 −110 5 17

Points breakdown:

  • 4 points for a win
  • 2 points for a draw
  • 1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less
  • 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match

The play offs follow a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system with the highest placed team at home

Regular season

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Finals

Semi finals


Grand final

31 May 1997
Auckland Blues New Zealand 23 – 7 Australia ACT Brumbies
Try: Dowd, Jones
Con: Cashmore (2)
Pen: Cashmore (3)
Try: Roff
Con: Roff
Eden Park, Auckland
Referee: Tappe Henning South Africa
Auckland Blues
15 Adrian Cashmore
14 Brian Lima
13 Eroni Clarke
12 Lee Stensness
11 Joeli Vidiri
10 Carlos Spencer
9 Ofisa Tonu'u
8 Zinzan Brooke (c)
7 Michael Jones
6 Mark Carter
5 Robin Brooke
4 Leo Lafaiali'i
3 Craig Dowd
2 Sean Fitzpatrick
1 Olo Brown
Replacements:
16 Jeremy Stanley
17 Michael Scott
18 Dylan Mika
19 Charles Riechelmann
20 Paul Thomson
21 Andrew Roose
Coach:
New Zealand Graham Henry
ACT Brumbies
15 Stephen Larkham
14 Mitch Hardy
13 James Holbeck
12 Pat Howard
11 Joe Roff
10 David Knox
9 George Gregan
8 Troy Coker
7 Brett Robinson (c)
6 Owen Finegan
5 John Langford
4 David Giffin
3 Patricio Noriega
2 Marco Caputo
1 Ewen McKenzie
Replacements:
16 Rod Kafer
17 Geoff Logan
18 Justin Harrison
19 Ipolito Fenukitau
20 Dean Zammit
21 Timote Tavalea
Coach:
Australia Rod McQueen

Notes and references

Further reading

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