1997 Super 12 season
Encyclopedia
The 1997 Super 12 season was the second season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia
, New Zealand
and South Africa
. The season ran from February to 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 Zealands 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
.
style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center">
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
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The season ran from February to 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 Zealands teams remained the same as the 1996 season
1996 Super 12 season
The 1996 Super 12 season was the inaugural season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 1996, with each team playing all the others once...
, 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
Western Province (rugby team)
DHL Western Province is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. The team has won the Currie Cup on 32 occasions and has the most supporters of any Currie Cup team...
, after not making the top four of the 1996 Currie Cup, were replaced by Free State
Free State Cheetahs
The Free State Cheetahs , currently named the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, for sponsorship reasons, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by the Free State Rugby Union and are based at the 37,076-capacity Vodacom Park in...
of Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...
.
Table
| Top four teams advance to playoffs. |
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Auckland Blues |
11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 435 | 283 | 152 | 8 | 50 |
| 2 | ACT Brumbies |
11 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 406 | 291 | 115 | 9 | 41 |
| 3 | Wellington Hurricanes |
11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 416 | 314 | 102 | 10 | 34 |
| 4 |  Natal SharksNatal Sharks The Natal Sharks are a South African rugby union team that participate in the annual Currie Cup and Super Rugby tournaments. The Sharks home stadium is Kings Park. They draw most of their players from the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The Sharks are the current representative team of the Natal rugby... |
11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 321 | 350 | −29 | 6 | 30 |
| 5 | Gauteng Lions Golden Lions The Golden Lions is a provincial rugby team based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The team was originally known as Transvaal, before changes to the political landscape in South Africa forced a name change to the Gauteng Lions, before again being changed to the Golden Lions. For sponsorship reason... |
11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 302 | 346 | −44 | 6 | 28 |
| 6 | Canterbury Crusaders |
11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 272 | 235 | 37 | 4 | 26 |
| 7 | Free State Free State Cheetahs The Free State Cheetahs , currently named the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, for sponsorship reasons, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by the Free State Rugby Union and are based at the 37,076-capacity Vodacom Park in... |
11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 301 | 327 | −26 | 5 | 25 |
| 8 | Northern Transvaal Blue Bulls The Blue Bulls, for sponsorship reasons known as the Vodacom Blue Bulls, or more popularly by their Afrikaans name die Blou Bulle, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament... |
11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 264 | 342 | −78 | 4 | 22 |
| 9 | NSW Waratahs New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs are an Australian rugby union football team, representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super 15 Super Rugby competition... |
11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 255 | 296 | −41 | 4 | 20 |
| 10 | Queensland Reds Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds represent Queensland in the sport of rugby union in the Southern Hemisphere Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996 they were a representative team selected on merit from the rugby union club competitions in Queensland... |
11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 263 | 318 | −55 | 4 | 20 |
| 11 | Waikato Chiefs |
11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 272 | 295 | −23 | 3 | 19 |
| 12 | Otago Highlanders |
11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 299 | 409 | −110 | 5 | 17 |
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Round 7
Round 8
Round 9
Round 10
Round 11
Round 12
Semi finals
Grand final
| style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> | Auckland Blues | ||
| 15 | Adrian Cashmore Adrian Cashmore Adrian Richard Cashmore in Tokoroa, New Zealand. He is a New Zealand rugby player who played for Auckland and Bay of Plenty provincially, and the Auckland Blues and Chiefs in Super Rugby. He also played professionally in Japan and for Welsh region the Ospreys in the Celtic League... |
||
| 14 | Brian Lima Brian Lima Brian Lima is a former Samoan rugby union footballer who was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame in 2011. Originally a wing, Lima moved into centre for Manu Samoa as his pace lessened, but he remained a formidable player throughout his career.He earned the memorable nickname of "The Chiropractor"... |
||
| 13 | Eroni Clarke Eroni Clarke Eroni Clarke was a Samoan-born New Zealand rugby union player who played for Auckland, the Blues, the Highlanders and the All Blacks at international level. Clarke made 154 appearances for Auckland, making him the fifth most capped player in the union's history... |
||
| 12 | Lee Stensness Lee Stensness Lee Stensness is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer who played for Manawatu, Auckland, the Blues and the All Blacks. He made his debut for the All Blacks in 1993.-Early career:... |
||
| 11 | Joeli Vidiri Joeli Vidiri Joeli Vidiri is a retired Fijian rugby union footballer who also played for the All Blacks. He played as a wing.-Career:... |
||
| 10 | Carlos Spencer Carlos Spencer Carlos James Spencer is a New Zealand rugby union footballer who currently plays at fly-half for the Lions in the Super 14 and formerly for the New Zealand All Blacks. He is well known for his flamboyant, attacking play and ball handling skills. He has signed to play for the Lions for 2010 and 2011... |
||
| 9 | Ofisa Tonu'u | ||
| 8 | Zinzan Brooke Zinzan Brooke Zinzan Valentine Brooke is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer who played at number eight... (c Captain (sports) In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field... ) |
||
| 7 | Michael Jones | ||
| 6 | Mark Carter Mark Carter (rugby) Mark Carter is a former rugby football player. He represented Auckland in both rugby union and rugby league and represented New Zealand in rugby union. He has a street named after him in Manukau City.-Rugby Union:He played in the 1991 Rugby World Cup... |
||
| 5 | Robin Brooke Robin Brooke Robin Matthew Brooke is a former New Zealand rugby player. He played for the All Blacks n the 1990s, playing many tests alongside younger brother Zinzan Brooke... |
||
| 4 | Leo Lafaiali'i Leo Lafaiali'i Leo Lafaiali'i is a Samoan rugby union footballer.Leo Lafaiali'i made his debut for Samoa in 2001 against Tonga, going on to play in Test matches against Fiji, New Zealand, and Tonga later on in the year... |
||
| 3 | Craig Dowd Craig Dowd Craig Dowd born 26 October 1969 in Auckland, New Zealand is a former rugby union player and current coach. He played 60 test matches for New Zealand between 1993 and 2000, spending his entire provincial career with Auckland. He spent his entire Super 12 career, 64 matches, with the Auckland Blues,... |
||
| 2 | Sean Fitzpatrick Sean Fitzpatrick Sean Fitzpatrick MNZM is a former rugby union footballer who represented New Zealand, and is widely regarded as one of the finest players ever to come from that country. He is also the son of former player Brian Fitzpatrick.... |
||
| 1 | Olo Brown Olo Brown Olo Max Brown was born 24 October 1967 in Apia, Samoa. He played 56 tests at prop for the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team from 1992 to 1998, missing only two tests in his career. He suffered neck and back injuries which ended his rugby playing days, and retired to become a lawyer.-External links:... |
||
| Replacements: | |||
| 16 | Jeremy Stanley Jeremy Stanley Jeremy Stanley is a former rugby union player. He was born in Otahuhu, New Zealand.He played for the All Blacks, Ponsonby and Auckland and the Hurricanes as a centre.-External links:... |
||
| 17 | Michael Scott | ||
| 18 | Dylan Mika Dylan Mika Dylan Mika . He was educated at St Peter's College. He is a former rugby union footballer who played for both Samoa national rugby union team and the All Blacks. Mika played mainly at flanker during his career. He first played internationally for Samoa despite being born in New Zealand... |
||
| 19 | Charles Riechelmann Charles Riechelmann Charles Riechelmann was a Tongan-born New Zealand rugby union player. He played for Auckland, the Blues and the All Blacks at international level. He played six test matches for New Zealand in 1997, scoring three tries. He was also a part of the Blues 1996 and 1997 Super 12 winning teams.-External... |
||
| 20 | Paul Thomson Paul Thomson Paul Thomson is the drummer for the Glasgow based band, Franz Ferdinand.... |
||
| 21 | Andrew Roose | ||
| Coach: | |||
| New Zealand |
|||
Stephen Larkham
Stephen Larkham is an Australian rugby union footballer currently playing for the Ricoh Black Rams in Japan. He is best known for his career with the Brumbies in Super Rugby, for whom he played from the inception of the professional Super 12 in 1996 through 2007, and his long tenure with the...
Pat Howard
Patrick William Howard, usually known as Pat Howard or Paddy Howard is an ex-head coach at Leicester Tigers and a former Australian rugby union international who played centre or fly-half. He was educated at Queensland University.He was born in Sydney...
Joe Roff
Joe Roff is a retired Australian rugby union footballer and a product of the Tuggeranong Vikings Rugby Union Club in Canberra, who played on the wing or at fullback for Brumbies and Australia and played 5 tests as a centre in the early part of his test career...
George Gregan
George Musarurwa Gregan AM is an Australian rugby union halfback who has made more appearances for his national team than any other player in the sport's history....
Brett Robinson
Brett Robinson is a former Australian Rugby union player and sports executive with the Australian Rugby Union. Robinson was captain of the ACT Brumbies in the Super 12 competition and played 16 Test matches for the Australia national rugby union team, the "Wallabies". Robinson attended Downlands...
(c
Captain (sports)
In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...
)
Owen Finegan
Owen Finegan is an Australian international rugby union player who plays as a flanker or lock. He is nicknamed "Melon" because of his large head....
David Giffin
David Giffin is a former vice-captain of the Wallabies in rugby union, where he played in the lock position. Queensland-born, he played most of his professional career with the ACT Brumbies in what was then the Super 12. At this level, he earned 81 caps - earning a further 49 at international level...
Patricio Noriega
Patricio Noriega is a former Argentine Rugby Union footballer who played prop. He started his career in local club Hindu and had his test debut for Los Pumas in 1991 against Paraguay. After playing two Rugby World Cup's he then migrated to Australia to join Super 12 team the ACT Brumbies in 1996...
Ewen McKenzie
Ewen James Andrew McKenzie is a former Australian Rugby Union prop and now professional coach, currently with the Queensland Reds who won the 2011 premiership...
Rod Kafer
Rodney "Rod" B. Kafer was a rugby union player for the ACT Brumbies and the Australian Wallabies. He is remembered by Brumbies fans for kicking a drop-goal in the final minute in a 2001 game against the Cats giving the Brumbies a one point win...
Justin Harrison
Justin Harrison, born 20 April 1974 in Sydney, is a former Australian international rugby union player, who played lock forward as is currently forwards coach for Brumbies.-Career:...
Ipolito Fenukitau
Ipolito Fenukitau is a Tongan rugby union footballer. He has played over 10 times for the Tonga national rugby union team, including representing them at the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa and 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia...
Australia Rod McQueenRod McQueen
Rod Macqueen was coach of the most successful Australian rugby union side to date. He has signed on to become the inaugural coach of the Melbourne Rebels Super Rugby side.-Career:...