2014 Super Rugby final

Final Standings
Pos	Team	W	D	L	PD	TB	LB	Pts
1	Waratahs	12	0	4	+209	9	1	58
2	Crusaders	11	0	5	+123	4	3	51
3	Sharks	11	0	5	+113	2	4	50
4	Brumbies	10	0	6	+34	4	1	45
5	Chiefs	8	2	6	+6	5	3	44
6	Highlanders	8	0	8	−41	5	5	42
7	Hurricanes	8	0	8	+65	6	3	41
8	Force	9	0	7	−50	3	1	40
9	Bulls	7	1	8	+30	3	5	38
10	Blues	7	0	9	+24	6	3	37
11	Stormers	7	0	9	−36	2	2	32
12	Lions	7	0	9	−46	2	1	31
13	Reds	5	0	11	−119	4	4	28
14	Cheetahs	4	1	11	−155	3	3	24
15	Rebels	4	0	12	−157	1	4	21

The 2014 Super Rugby competition involved fifteen teams, five each from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.[1] The 2014 season was the 19th year of the competition, and the fourth in the expanded 15 team format (12 teams competed between 1996 and 2005, before increasing to 14 between 2006 and 2010).[1] The 2014 competition began on 15 February with the regular season consisting of 120 matches over twenty-two weeks. Each team played the others from their own conference (both home and away), plus four out of five teams from the other two countries (two at home and two away in each case). The top six teams after the regular season advanced to the finals.[1]

The Waratahs finished top of the Australian conference and topped the overall standings, with twelve wins and just four losses during the season (to the Brumbies, Western Force, Blues, and Sharks).[2] The Crusaders finished top of the New Zealand conference with eleven wins and five losses—to the Hurricanes (twice), Chiefs, Blues, and Sharks.[3] The Sharks won the South African conference, and the Brumbies, Chiefs and Highlanders filled the remaining three places as the next top finishers during the regular season.[4]

The Brumbies hosted the Chiefs in Canberra in the first qualifying final, while the Highlanders traveled to Durban to play the Sharks.[5][6] The Brumbies and Chiefs scored four tries apiece in the first qualifier, but the Brumbies prevailed with Christian Lealiifano successful with five kicks from eight off the tee in their 32–30 victory.[7] The second qualifier was also a close match with the Sharks and Highlanders scoring three tries each, but the Sharks came from behind with two penalty kicks by François Steyn in the final 6 minutes to win by 31–27.[8]

For the semi-finals, the Sharks flew to Christchurch to play the Crusaders and the Brumbies travelled to Sydney to play the Waratahs.[9][10] Both games were won by a clear margin in the end but the run of play in each match was substantially different. The Crusaders scored five tries to nil to defeat the Sharks by 38–6.[11] The Brumbies, by contrast, were not shut out of the game until Waratahs' fly-half Bernard Foley scored ten points in last seven minutes to secure victory for his side by 26–8.[12][13][14]

	First round					Semifinals					Final
						26 July 2014
	19 July 2014					1	Waratahs	26
	4	Brumbies	32			4	Brumbies	8			2 August 2014
	5	Chiefs	30								Waratahs		33
						26 July 2014					Crusaders		32
	19 July 2014					2	Crusaders	38
	3	Sharks	31			3	Sharks	6
	6	Highlanders	27