1996 was the first year of the Super 12 tournament and the Waikato Chiefs rugby team. They won 6 of their 11 games and finished 6th overall on the table, but they did not make the playoffs. The team was coached by Brad Meurant and captained by Richard Turner.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Queensland Reds | 11 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 320 | 247 | 73 | 5 | 41 | |
| 2 | Auckland Blues | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 408 | 354 | 54 | 9 | 41 | |
| 3 | Northern Transvaal | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 329 | 208 | 121 | 6 | 38 | |
| 4 | Natal Sharks | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 389 | 277 | 112 | 9 | 33 | |
| 5 | ACT Brumbies | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 306 | 273 | 33 | 4 | 32 | |
| 6 | Waikato Chiefs | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 291 | 269 | 22 | 4 | 28 | |
| 7 | NSW Waratahs | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 312 | 290 | 22 | 8 | 28 | |
| 8 | Otago Highlanders | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 329 | 391 | -62 | 6 | 26 | |
| 9 | Wellington Hurricanes | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 290 | 353 | -63 | 5 | 17 | |
| 10 | Transvaal | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 228 | 299 | -71 | 4 | 16 | |
| 11 | Western Province | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 251 | 353 | -101 | 1 | 15 | |
| 12 | Canterbury Crusaders | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 234 | 373 | -139 | 2 | 13 |
The Chiefs squad for the 1996 Super 12 season were:
| 1996 Chiefs squad | ||
|---|---|---|
Props
Hookers Locks | Loose forwards
Scrum-halves
Fly-halves
| Midfield
Wingers
Fullbacks |
| (c) denotes team captain, Bold denotes player is internationally capped. |
| Player | Tries | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | ||
| 7 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 11 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 3 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | ||
| 9 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | ||
| 9 | 4 | — | — | — | 20 | ||
| 11 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | ||
| 8 | 4 | — | — | — | 20 | ||
| 3 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 8 | 2 | 18 | 15 | 1 | 94 | ||
| 11 | 3 | — | — | — | 15 | ||
| 11 | 2 | — | — | — | 10 | ||
| 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 3 | 2 | — | — | — | 10 | ||
| 9 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | ||
| 7 | 2 | — | — | — | 10 | ||
| 3 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 9 | 2 | — | — | — | 10 | ||
| 6 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | ||
| 5 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | ||
| 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 3 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 7 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | ||
| 5 | 0 | 7 | 11 | 0 | 47 | ||
| 3 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | ||
| — | 2 | — | — | — | 10 | ||
| Total | 11 | 32 | 25 | 26 | 1 | 291 |
Craig Stevenson