The inaugural 2021 Super Rugby Trans-Tasman Grand Final saw the Blues beat the Highlanders 23 – 15
The Super Rugby is a top professional Rugby Union football tournament.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some big changes were made to the competition from when it returned in 2020 and for the 2021 season.
For the 2021 Super Rugby season, the tournament was wholly regionalised.
2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa and the 2021 Super Rugby AU have replaced the previous 15 side format used from 2018 till 2020.
There are now just 10 franchises in the Super Rugby tournament – five from Australia and five from New Zealand.
SA Rugby withdrew their five Super Rugby teams towards the end of 2020, while the Japanese Sunwolves and Argentinian Jaguares also departed from the competition before the start of the 2021 tournament.
Following the 2021 Super Rugby competition there will also be the inaugural Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in 2021. This will feature the five Australian sides playing the five New Zealand sides in a crossover competition running from May 14 – June 19, 2021.
The 2021 Super Rugby Australia Grand Final saw the Reds defeat the Brumbies 19-16 at Suncorp Stadium, while the Super Rugby Aotearoa (NZ) 2021 Grand Final was won by the Crusaders who beat the Chiefs 24 – 13 for their 5th straight Super Rugby title.
The inaugural 2021 Super Rugby Trans-Tasman Grand Final saw the Blues defeat the Highlanders 23 – 15 at Eden Park in an all-New Zealand decider.
Super Rugby History
Previously it was played between 15 teams from the Southern Hemisphere and Japan. The original format was founded in 1995 with the inaugural season taking place in 1996. It was now a five-nation Rugby Union tournament with teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan and Argentina.
There were two Super Rugby seasons with 18 teams, but for the 2018 – onward Super Rugby tournaments the competition went back to 15 teams.
The Super Rugby competition originated as the Super 6 tournament consisting of just the six clubs from New Zealand (three), Australia (two) and Fiji (one). That inaugural comp never reached the current heights or popularity of the current Super Rugby Championship. The tournament format has undergone a number of notable changes mainly to the number of Rugby Union clubs competing in the event. It has been known as the Super 6 (1992), Super 10 (1993-95), Super 12 (1995-2005), Super 14 (2006-10) and simply ‘Super Rugby’ from 2011-2020.
Super Rugby Betting is hugely popular with markets open across the season on all the matches as well 16as futures Rugby Union odds on the Super Rugby Grand Final Winner.
From 2016 – 2018 there were four Super Rugby conferences including two for Africa. That changed in 2018 with the 15 Super Rugby Clubs competing in three conferences:
- Australian Conference (4 Australian teams plus the Japanese Sunwolves)
- New Zealand Conference (5 New Zealand teams)
- South African Conference (4 South African Teams plus the Jaguares from Argentina)
The Super Rugby finals were, until 2020, played out between the best team in each of the three conferences, plus the next best five clubs (wildcards) from across all conferences.
Blues Win Super Rugby 2021 Trans-Tasman Grand Final
The inaugural Super Rugby Trans-Tasman competition came to a close at Eden Park in Auckland with the Blues coming away with their first Super Rugby title success of any kind in 18 years in front of a 36,000 strong home crowd.
It was an all-New Zealand decider between the two top-ranked teams in the competition, the ladder-leading Blues coming away with a 23 – 15 Grand Final victory over the Highlanders.
The Blues were favourite at home and as expected narrowly held the measure of the visitors in a thriller thanks to a Blake Gibson try just three minutes from full-time to clinch the win.
- Competition: Super Rugby Trans-Tasman
- Grand Final Champions: Blues
- Runners-Up: Highlanders
- Score: Blues 23 – 15 Highlanders
2021 SUPER RUGBY STANDINGS
Across the Super Rugby 2021 season the standings lists the position of all the current teams and tracks their progress towards the Super Rugby finals. Super Rugby Clubs are ranked based on the number of season wins and losses, with their competition points also listed.
SUPER RUGBY CLUBS & CONFERENCES
There are currently two Super Rugby Conferences from Australia and New Zealand playing across two Super Rugby competitions for 2021: Super Rugby Australian and Super Rugby Aotearoa.
AUSTRALIAN CONFERENCE
| Club |
City |
Stadium (Capacity) |
First Season |
| Brumbies |
Canberra, ACT |
GIO Stadium (25,011) |
1996 (Super 12) |
| Force |
Perth, WA |
HBF Park (20,500) |
2006 (Super 14) |
| Rebels |
Melbourne, VIC |
AAMI Park (30,050) |
2011 |
| Reds |
Brisbane, QLD |
Suncorp Stadium (52,500) |
1996 (Super 12) |
| Waratahs |
Sydney, NSW |
Sydney Football Stadium from 2022 |
1996 (Super 12) |
NEW ZEALAND CONFERENCE
| Club |
City |
Stadium (Capacity) |
First Season |
| Blues |
Auckland, Auckland Region |
Eden Park (50,000) |
1996 (Super 12) |
| Chiefs |
Hamilton, Waikato |
FMG Stadium Waikato (25,800) |
1996 (Super 12) |
| Crusaders |
Christchurch, Canterbury |
Orangetheory Stadium (18,600) |
1996 (Super 12) |
| Highlanders |
Dunedin, Otago |
Forsyth Barr Stadium (30,748) |
1996 (Super 12) |
| Hurricanes |
Wellington, Wellington Region |
Sky Stadium (34,500) |
1996 (Super 12) |
Note: The South African Conference left the Super Rugby competition in 2020.
SUPER RUGBY GRAND FINAL RESULTS
Since 1996 there have been 10 clubs to take out a Super Rugby Championship. The most successful Super Rugby club boasting an impressive 11 Super Rugby Grand Final wins in that time is the Crusaders from the South Island of New Zealand whose latest championship title was in 2021.
The other teams to take out multiple Super Rugby Championships are the: Blues (3), Bulls (3) Brumbies (2), Chiefs (2) and Reds (1) who won the 2021 Super Rugby AU competition. New Zealand Super Rugby clubs have dominated the Grand Final results.
- Lowest Scoring Super Rugby Grand Final: Crusaders (19) def. Jaguares (3) in 2019
- Closest Super Rugby Grand Final Results: Crusaders (20) def. Brumbies (19) in 2000; Bulls (20) def. Sharks (19) in 2007; Waratahs (33) def. Crusaders (32) in 2014
- Largest Super Rugby Grand Final Win: Bulls (61) def. Chiefs (17) in 2009
- All African Super Rugby Grand Final: Bulls (25) def. Stormers (17) in 2010
| Year |
Winner |
Score |
Runner-Up |
| 1996 |
Blues (NZ) |
45 – 21 |
Sharks (ZA) |
| 1997 |
Blues (NZ) |
23 – 7 |
Brumbies (AUS) |
| 1998 |
Crusaders (NZ) |
20 – 13 |
Blues (NZ) |
| 1999 |
Crusaders (NZ) |
24 – 19 |
Highlanders (NZ) |
| 2000 |
Crusaders (NZ) |
20 – 19 |
Brumbies (AUS) |
| 2001 |
Brumbies (AUS) |
36 – 6 |
Sharks (ZA) |
| 2002 |
Crusaders (NZ) |
31 – 13 |
Brumbies (AUS) |
| 2003 |
Blues (NZ) |
21 – 17 |
Crusaders (NZ) |
| 2004 |
Brumbies (AUS) |
42 – 38 |
Crusaders (NZ) |
| 2005 |
Crusaders (NZ) |
35 – 25 |
Waratahs (AUS) |
| 2006 |
Crusaders (NZ) |
19 – 12 |
Hurricanes (NZ) |
| 2007 |
Bulls (ZA) |
61 – 17 |
Chiefs (NZ) |
| 2008 |
Crusaders (NZ) |
20 – 12 |
Waratahs (AUS) |
| 2009 |
Bulls (ZA) |
61 – 17 |
Chiefs (NZ) |
| 2010 |
Bulls (ZA) |
25 – 17 |
Stormers (ZA) |
| 2011 |
Reds (AUS) |
18 – 13 |
Crusaders (NZ) |
| 2012 |
Chiefs (NZ) |
37 – 6 |
Sharks (ZA) |
| 2013 |
Chiefs (NZ) |
27 – 22 |
Brumbies (AUS) |
| 2014 |
Waratahs (AUS) |
33 – 32 |
Crusaders (NZ) |
| 2015 |
Highlanders (NZ) |
21 – 14 |
Hurricanes (NZ) |
| 2016 |
Hurricanes (NZ) |
20 – 3 |
Lions (ZA) |
| 2017 |
Crusaders (NZ) |
25 – 17 |
Lions (ZA) |
| 2018 |
Crusaders (NZ) |
37 – 18 |
Lions (ZA) |
| 2019 |
Crusaders (NZ) |
19 – 3 |
Jaguares (ZA) |
| 2020 |
Season Cancelled Due to COVID-19 |
– |
– |
| 2021
Super Rugby AU |
Reds (AUS) |
19-13 |
Brumbies (AUS) |
| 2021
Super Rugby Aotearoa |
Crusaders (NZ) |
24-13 |
Chiefs (NZ) |