The Hurricanes from Wellington go up against the Otago Highlanders in Saturday’s final at the Westpac Stadium in the New Zealand capital with only one thing certain — whoever wins will record their first Super Rugby championship.
Dominant
The Hurricanes, whose one appearance in a Super Rugby final was in 2006 where they lost to the Canterbury Crusaders, topped the regular season table with 14 wins and 66 points, while the Highlanders compiled the second-best record but only qualified fourth because the format puts the leaders of the three conferences — Australia, South Africa and New Zealand — ahead of the points standings.
Strong defence
The Highlanders’ one final appearance was in 1999 when they also lost to the Crusaders. They scored the second most tries this season and in the past two weeks have displayed superb tactical nous to beat two-time winners the Waikato Chiefs 24-14 and then reigning champions the New South Wales Waratahs 35-17 in the semi-finals.
High tempo
Chris Boyd, coach of the Hurricanes, who beat the ACT Brumbies 29-9 in their semi-final, is expecting a top class rugby match today. “I would expect the intensity and pace of the game will go up another 30 per cent,” Boyd said. “But I don’t suspect it can last for 80 minutes at that pace.”
Similarities
Jamie Joseph, the Highlanders coach, shares Boyd’s view that it will be a close encounter. “There are a lot of similarities with the way we play, we like to move the ball,” he said. “We have a slightly different approach to some areas of the game. Is it going to be a tactical battle? I think it could be, but not as much, necessarily, as last week because we are similar.”
History
The Hurricanes won both regular season games against the Highlanders, winning 20-13 on their travels in March and then thrashing the Highlanders 56-20 on home turf in their penultimate regular season game last month, scoring eight tries with TJ Perenara and Ma’a Nonu crossing twice each.
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