2012 Super Rugby season explained

2012 Super Rugby season
Countries:	Australia (5 teams) New Zealand (5 teams) South Africa (5 teams)
Tournament Format:	Round-robin and knockout
Count:	1
Matches:	125
Attendance:	2712656
Tries:	609
Top Point Scorer:	Aaron Cruden (251)
Top Try Scorer:	Andre Taylor (10) Bjorn Basson (10)
Website:	Official site
Previous Year:	2011
Previous Tournament:	2011 Super Rugby season
Next Year:	2013
Next Tournament:	2013 Super Rugby season

The 2012 Super Rugby season was the second season of the Super Rugby competition, an annual rugby union competition that involves teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, in its 15-team format. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as FxPro Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New Zealand and Vodacom Super Rugby in South Africa. Including its past incarnations as Super 12 and Super 14, this was the 17th season for the Southern Hemisphere's premier transnational club competition. The conference games took place every weekend from 24 February until 14 July (with a three-week break between rounds 15 and 16 for international matches), followed by the finals series, culminating in the grand final on 4 August. While its three main broadcasting partners are Fox Sports (Australia), Sky Sport (New Zealand) and SuperSport (South Africa), Super Rugby can be viewed in many countries throughout the world.^[1]

The Chiefs, based in Hamilton, New Zealand, claimed their first-ever title in the competition's history, defeating the Durban-based Sharks 37–6 in the final held on 4 August at the Chiefs' home of Waikato Stadium.

Competition format

Covering 24 weeks, the schedule featured a total of 125 matches. The 15 teams are grouped by geography, labelled the Australian Conference, New Zealand Conference and the South African Conference. The regular season consists of two types of matches:^[2]

• Internal Conference Matches – Each team plays the other four teams in the same conference twice, home and away.
• Cross Conference Matches – Each team plays four teams of the other two conferences away, and four teams of the other two conferences home, thus missing out on two teams (one from each of the other conferences). Each team plays two home and two away games against teams from each of the other countries, making a total of eight cross conference games for each team. There will be a three-week international break between rounds 15 and 16 of the regular season.

The top team of each conference, plus the next top three teams in table points regardless of conference (wild card teams), advance to the finals. The top two conference winners, based on table points, receive first-round byes. In the first round of the finals, the third conference winner is the No. 3 seed and hosts the wild card team with the worst record, and the best wild card team hosts the second-best wild card team. In the semi-finals, the No. 2 conference winner hosts the higher surviving seed from the first round, and the No. 1 conference winner hosts the other first-round winner. The final is hosted by the top remaining seed.^[3]

Standings

Australian Conference

Pos	Team	Rnd	W	D	L	Bye	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1		18	11	0	5	2	359	347	+12	38	36	4	2	58
2		18	10	0	6	2	404	331	+73	41	31	5	5	58
3		18	4	0	12	2	346	407	−61	33	43	3	8	35
4		18	4	0	12	2	362	520	−158	37	59	3	5	32
5		18	3	0	13	2	306	440	−134	30	49	2	5	27

New Zealand Conference

Pos	Team	Rnd	W	D	L	Bye	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1		18	12	0	4	2	444	358	+86	47	30	5	3	64
2		18	11	0	5	2	485	343	+142	47	34	5	4	61
3		18	10	0	6	2	489	429	+60	58	39	8	1	57
4		18	9	0	7	2	359	385	−26	36	31	2	4	50
5		18	4	0	12	2	359	430	−71	34	50	2	6	32

South African Conference

Pos	Team	Rnd	W	D	L	Bye	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1		18	14	0	2	2	350	254	+96	28	21	0	2	66
2		18	10	0	6	2	472	369	+103	50	38	6	5	59
3		18	10	0	6	2	436	348	+88	47	31	7	4	59
4		18	5	0	11	2	391	458	−67	35	47	3	7	38
5		18	3	0	13	2	317	460	−143	30	52	2	3	25

Overall standings

Pos	Team	Rnd	W	D	L	Bye	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1		18	14	0	2	2	350	254	+96	28	21	0	2	66
2		18	12	0	4	2	444	358	+86	47	30	5	3	64
3		18	11	0	5	2	359	347	+12	38	36	4	2	58
4		18	11	0	5	2	485	343	+142	47	34	5	4	61
5		18	10	0	6	2	472	369	+103	50	38	6	5	59
6		18	10	0	6	2	436	348	+88	47	31	7	4	59
7		18	10	0	6	2	404	331	+73	41	31	5	5	58
8		18	10	0	6	2	489	429	+60	58	39	8	1	57
9		18	9	0	7	2	359	385	−26	36	31	2	4	50
10		18	5	0	11	2	391	458	−67	35	47	3	7	38
11		18	4	0	12	2	346	407	−61	33	43	3	8	35
12		18	4	0	12	2	359	430	−71	34	50	2	6	32
13		18	4	0	12	2	362	520	−158	37	59	3	5	32
14		18	3	0	13	2	306	440	−134	30	49	2	5	27
15		18	3	0	13	2	317	460	−143	30	52	2	3	25

Source: sanzarrugby.com

Legend:

• Rnd = Round completed (games played plus byes), W = Games won, D = Games drawn, L = Games lost, Bye = Number of byes, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, TF = Tries for, TA = Tries against, TB = Try bonus points, LB = Losing bonus points, Pts = Log points, Q = Qualification

Points breakdown:

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

The overall standings classification system:^{[4] [5]}

• Three conference winners/leaders in log points order
• Three wildcard teams in log points order
• The remaining nine teams in log points order
• When teams are level on log points, they are sorted by number of games won, then overall points difference, then number of tries scored and then overall try difference

Round-by-round

Team progression  - 2012 Super Rugby season

Team	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	R16	R17	Final
	style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	8 (4th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	12 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	16 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	20 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	24 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	28 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	29 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	33 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	37 (2nd)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	41 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	45 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	49 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	50 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	54 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	58 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	62 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	66 (1st)
	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (12th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	6 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	10 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	14 (4th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	18 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	22 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	26 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	31 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	35 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	39 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	44 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	45 (2nd)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	49 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	53 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	58 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	62 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	63 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	64 (2nd)
	style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	8 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	12 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	13 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	13 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	13 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	17 (8th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	21 (9th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	21 (10th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	25 (9th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	26 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	31 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	36 (8th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	40 (8th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	44 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	49 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	53 (8th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	58 (3rd)
	style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	5 (9th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	6 (10th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	10 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	14 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	18 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	19 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	23 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	28 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	33 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	37 (5th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	37 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	42 (5th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	46 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	51 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	52 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	56 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	61 (4th)
	style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	9 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	10 (5th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	14 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	19 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	20 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	24 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	29 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	33 (4th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	37 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	42 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	46 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	47 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	48 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	49 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	54 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	54 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	59 (5th)
	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	2 (12th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	7 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	11 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	12 (10th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	17 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	17 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	22 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	23 (9th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	27 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	31 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	36 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	41 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	45 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	45 (7th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	49 (8th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	54 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	59 (6th)
	style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (5th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	8 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	12 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	13 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	17 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	18 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	19 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	24 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	26 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	31 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	35 (3rd)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	39 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	44 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	45 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	49 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	54 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	58 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	58 (7th)
	style="background:#FFCCCC"	0 (15th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (10th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	9 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	10 (8th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	15 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	16 (8th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	21 (6th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	25 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	25 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	25 (10th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	30 (8th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	34 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	35 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	40 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	45 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	49 (6th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	53 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	57 (8th)
	style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	8 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	12 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	16 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	17 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	22 (2nd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	22 (5th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	26 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	30 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	34 (5th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	34 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	35 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	39 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	44 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	44 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	45 (9th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	46 (9th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	50 (9th)
	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	2 (14th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	6 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	7 (13th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	12 (12th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	16 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	17 (11th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	21 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	22 (11th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	26 (10th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	27 (10th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	27 (12th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	32 (10th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	36 (10th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	37 (10th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	38 (10th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	38 (10th)
	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (11th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	6 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	7 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	8 (11th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	13 (9th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	13 (10th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	17 (10th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	21 (10th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	25 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	26 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	26 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	27 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	28 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	30 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	30 (11th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	34 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	35 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	35 (11th)
	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (9th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (13th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	5 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	5 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	6 (15th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	10 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	10 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	11 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	12 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	12 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	12 (15th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	16 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	16 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	17 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	19 (15th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	23 (14th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	28 (13th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	32 (12th)
	style="background:#FFE6BD"	4 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	4 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	5 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	6 (13th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	10 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	10 (15th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	14 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	14 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	14 (13th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	18 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	20 (12th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	24 (12th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	29 (10th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	29 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	29 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	29 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	31 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	32 (13th)
	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (10th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (15th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	5 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	7 (15th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	12 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	12 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	13 (13th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	17 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	17 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	18 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	18 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	19 (13th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	23 (13th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	27 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	27 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	27 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	27 (14th)
	style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	5 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	5 (12th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	9 (10th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	10 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	10 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	10 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	10 (15th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	14 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	14 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	14 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	14 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	14 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	15 (15th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	20 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	20 (15th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	25 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	25 (15th)
The table above shows a team's progression throughout the season. For each round, their cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.
Key:	win	draw	loss	bye

Regular season

The following fixtures were released on 2 September 2011.^{[6] [7]}

Round 18

Finals

See main article: 2012 Super Rugby final.

Final

Players

Leading try scorers

Top 10 try scorers
Pos	Name	Team	Tries
1			10
			10
3			9
			9
5			8
			8
			8
			8
			8
10			7
			7
			7
			7
			7

Source: South African Rugby Union

Leading point scorers

Top 10 overall point scorers
Pos	Name	Team	Points
1			251
2			228
3			197
4			149
5			146
6			145
7			144
8			141
9			126
10			109

Source: South African Rugby Union

Referees

The following refereeing panel was appointed by SANZAR for the 2012 Super Rugby season:^[8]

Attendances

Team	Main stadium	Capacity	Total attendance	Average attendance	% capacity
		50,000	139,962	17,495	37%
		25,800	176,337	17,633	74%
		34,500	114,881	14,360	43%
		18,000	150,400	16,711	91%
		30,728	133,242	16,655	57%
		52,500	310,316	34,479	65%
		25,011	115,352	14,419	57%
		44,000	167,494	20,936	47%
		29,500	111,338	13,917	47%
		20,500	106,041	13,255	64%
		52,000	194,165	24,270	46%
		51,792	268,497	33,562	64%
		62,567	186,533	23,316	37%
		46,000	153,950	19,243	41%
		51,900	383,348	42,594	82%

Notes

• Australian crowd figures taken from SMH match reports.

External links

• Web site: SANZAR Super Rugby site.
• Web site: Australia Super Rugby site.
• Web site: New Zealand Super Rugby site.

Notes and References

1. Web site: SANZAR broadcasters by territory . sanzarrugby.com . 6 July 2012.
2. Web site: Super Rugby Conferences . superrugby.com . 7 September 2011.
3. Web site: Super Rugby Finals Format . superrugby.com . 7 September 2011.
4. Web site: About Super XV Rugby . superxv.com . 11 April 2011.
5. Web site: Team with "Most Wins" will finish higher in Super Rugby . SANZAR . 12 June 2011 . 13 June 2011.
6. News: Draw for Super Rugby 2012 . superrugby.com . 2 September 2011 . 4 September 2011.
7. News: Fixtures 2012 . superrugby.com . 17 November 2011 . 17 November 2011.
8. Web site: SANZAR name 2012 Super rugby referee panel . superxv.com . 10 November 2011 . 11 November 2011.