| Event | 2016 Super Rugby season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 6 August 2016 | ||||||
| Venue | Westpac Stadium,Wellington | ||||||
| Referee | Glen Jackson (New Zealand) | ||||||
| Attendance | 39,000 | ||||||
←2015 2017 → | |||||||
The2016 Super Rugby Final was played between theHurricanes and theLions. It was the 21st final in theSuper Rugby competition's history and the first under the expanded 18-team format. The Hurricanes had qualified in first place of the log standings during the regular season, while the Lions had qualified in second place. Both teams hosted quarter-final and semi-final matches. In the quarter-finals the Hurricanes beat the Sharks while the Lions beat the record Super rugby winners Crusaders. For the semi-finals it was the Hurricanes defeating fellow New Zealand team Chiefs in Wellington and the Lions defeating New Zealand team Highlanders in Johannesburg. Because of being the higher placed team in the regular season log standings, the final was held in Wellington.
The Final attracted a crowd attendance of 39,000.[1]
| Pos | Team | W | D | L | PD | BP | Pts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Hurricanes | 11 | 0 | 4 | +144 | 9 | 53 | |||
| 2 |  Lions | 11 | 0 | 4 | +186 | 8 | 52 | |||
| 3 | Stormers | 10 | 1 | 4 | +166 | 9 | 51 | |||
| 4 |  Brumbies | 10 | 0 | 5 | +99 | 3 | 43 | |||
| Wildcard teams | ||||||||||
| 5 | Highlanders | 11 | 0 | 4 | +149 | 8 | 52 | |||
| 6 | Chiefs | 11 | 0 | 4 | +150 | 7 | 51 | |||
| 7 | Crusaders | 11 | 0 | 4 | +170 | 6 | 50 | |||
| 8 | Sharks | 9 | 1 | 5 | +91 | 5 | 43 | |||
| Source:SANZAAR [2][3] | ||||||||||
The 2016 Super Rugby competition involved an expanded 18-team format. The 18 teams were grouped geographically in two regional groups, each consisting of two conferences: the Australasian Group, with five teams in the Australian Conference and five teams in the New Zealand Conference and the South African Group, with six South African teams, one Argentinean team and one Japanese team split into a four-team Africa 1 Conference and a four-team Africa 2 Conference.[4] The four conference winners qualified for the Quarter Finals, where they had home ground advantage against the 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.
In the quarter-finals, there were wins for Highlanders over the Brumbies, Hurricanes beat Sharks while keeping them with no points, Lions beat Crusaders and Chiefs triumphing over Stormers. In the semi-finals, the Hurricanes defeated Chiefs in Wellington and the Lions defeated Highlanders in Johannesburg. The Hurricanes won their first title by defeating Lions.
The play-off fixtures were as follows:
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 23 July –Wellington | ||||||||||
| Hurricanes | 41 | |||||||||
| 30 July –Wellington | ||||||||||
| Sharks | 0 | |||||||||
| Hurricanes | 25 | |||||||||
| 23 July –Cape Town | ||||||||||
| Chiefs | 9 | |||||||||
| Stormers | 21 | |||||||||
| 6 August –Wellington | ||||||||||
| Chiefs | 60 | |||||||||
| Hurricanes | 20 | |||||||||
| 23 July –Johannesburg | ||||||||||
| Lions | 3 | |||||||||
| Lions | 42 | |||||||||
| 30 July –Johannesburg | ||||||||||
| Crusaders | 25 | |||||||||
| Lions | 42 | |||||||||
| 22 July –Canberra | ||||||||||
| Highlanders | 30 | |||||||||
| Brumbies | 9 | |||||||||
| Highlanders | 15 | |||||||||
| 22 July 2016 | Brumbies | 9–15 | Highlanders | GIO Stadium,Canberra | ||
| 18:00 | Pen:Christian Lealiifano 11',18',52' (3/5)Cards:Matt To'omua  37' to 47' | Report[6] Scoreboard[7] | Try:Waisake Naholo 37'Liam Squire 57'Con:Lima Sopoaga 38' (1/2)Pen:Lima Sopoaga 5' (1/3) | Attendance: 8,559[5] Referee:Angus Gardner |
| 23 July 2016 | Hurricanes | 41–0 | Sharks | Westpac Stadium,Wellington | ||
| 19:35 | Try:Loni Uhila 17' James Marshall 21'Jason Woodward 47'Vaea Fifita 50'TJ Perenara 59'Brad Shields 80'Con:Beauden Barrett 48',51',60' (3/5)Jason Woodward 81' (1/1)Pen:Beauden Barrett 14' (1/1) | Report[8] Scoreboard[9] | Pen:Garth April (0/3) | Referee:Glen Jackson |
| 23 July 2016 | Lions | 42–25 | Crusaders | Ellis Park Stadium,Johannesburg | ||
| 16:30 | Try:Courtnall Skosan 2' Rohan Janse van Rensburg 7'Malcolm Marx 40'Ruan Combrinck 69'Ross Cronjé 74'Con:Elton Jantjies 8',40',70',75' (4/5)Pen:Elton Jantjies 15',62' (2/3)Drop:Elton Jantjies 54' (1/1) | Report[10] Scoreboard[11] | Try:Ryan Crotty 33' Mitchell Drummond 63'Ben Volavola 80'Con:Richie Mo'unga 34',63' (2/3)Pen:Richie Mo'unga 20',47' (2/2)Cards:Luke Romano 6' to 16' | Referee:Craig Joubert |
| 23 July 2016 | Stormers | 21–60 | Chiefs | Newlands Stadium,Cape Town | ||
| 19:00 | Try:Vincent Koch 11', 39' Nizaam Carr 72'Con:Robert du Preez 12',40' (2/2)Brandon Thomson 73' (1/1) | Report[12] Scoreboard[13] | Try:Sam McNicol 14' Brad Weber 17'Tom Sanders 24'James Lowe 34'Damian McKenzie 46'Hika Elliot 75'Tevita Koloamatangi 79'Tawera Kerr-Barlow 81'Con:Damian McKenzie 15',18',25',35',76',80',82' (7/8)Pen:Damian McKenzie 4',29' (2/2) | Referee:Jaco Peyper |
| 30 July 2016 | Hurricanes | 25–9 | Chiefs | Westpac Stadium,Wellington | ||
| 19:35 | Try:Willis Halaholo 7' Beauden Barrett 35'Victor Vito 48'Con:Beauden Barrett 36',49' (2/3)Pen:Beauden Barrett 33',56' (2/2)Cards:Cory Jane 63' to 73' | Report[14] Scoreboard[15] | Pen:Damian McKenzie 11',40',52' (3/4) | Referee:Angus Gardner |
| 30 July 2016 | Lions | 42–30 | Highlanders | Ellis Park Stadium,Johannesburg | ||
| 15:00 | Try:Elton Jantjies 12' Rohan Janse van Rensburg 24'Courtnall Skosan 46'Jaco Kriel 55'Lourens Erasmus 73'Con:Elton Jantjies 13',25',56',74' (4/5)Pen:Ruan Combrinck (0/1) Elton Jantjies 21',45',52' (3/3)Drop:Elton Jantjies (0/1) | Report[16] Scoreboard[17] | Try:Matt Faddes 48' Lima Sopoaga 66'Waisake Naholo 75'Joe Wheeler 82'Con:Lima Sopoaga 76',82' (2/4)Pen:Lima Sopoaga 19',40' (2/3) | Referee:Jaco Peyper |
The Hurricanes won their first Super Rugby title with a dominant 20–3 win over the Lions in Wellington with tries from Cory Jane and man-of-the-match Beauden Barrett. Victor Vito celebrated his 100th and final match for the Wellington-based side in style. Tries were difficult to get with the wet, cold and windy weather conditions with both tries scored off Lions mistakes and Barrett chipped in with 10 points from the boot with two conversions and two penalties to spark tumultuous scenes in the packed stadium. The Lions were unable to find a way to unlock the Hurricanes defence, while Elton Jantjies had a forgettable night in front of goal, scoring only one of his three kicks. The match began with Jantjies missing an early penalty and Jane had a try disallowed in the 6th minute after the TMO ruled correctly that Brad Shields had knocked-on in the build-up. The veteran winger was not to be denied for long, in the 22nd minute when the Hurricanes defence again proved its worth causing Jantjies to throw a wild pass under pressure in his own 22, forcing Lionel Mapoe to make a clearing kick, but the ball went straight to Jane, who raced in to score at the corner. Barrett slotted the conversion to add to the earlier 11th-minute penalty to give the Hurricanes a 10–0 lead. Jantjies reduced the deficit with a penalty three minutes later.[18][19]
Barrett extended his side's lead to 13–3 with another penalty midway through the second half. The match was effectively ended as a contest 11 minutes from full-time when the Lions botched a lineout clearance close to their own line. Replacement hooker Ricky Riccitelli hacked the ball on and the fly-half pounced on it inside the Lions in-goal area for his side's second try making Hurricanes to become the fifth New Zealand side to be crowned Super champions having previously lost both the 2006 and 2015 finals as well as being five times beaten semi-finalists.[20]
| 6 August 2016 19:35 |
| Hurricanes | 20–3 | Lions |
| Try:Cory Jane 22' Beauden Barrett 69'Con:Beauden Barrett 23',70' (2/2)Pen:Beauden Barrett 12',52' (2/2)Drop:Beauden Barrett (0/1) James Marshall (0/1) | Report Scoreboard[21] | Pen:Elton Jantjies 26' (1/3) |
| Westpac Stadium,Wellington Referee:Glen Jackson |
          Hurricanes |     Lions |
Man of the Match: Assistant Referees: |
| Preceded by | Super Rugby Final 2016 | Succeeded by |
| Teams |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super 12 seasons | |||||
| Super 14 seasons | |||||
| Super Rugby seasons | |||||
| Super Rugby Pacific seasons | |||||
| Super Rugby finals | |||||
| Player transfers | |||||
| Regionalised competitions | |||||
