Thrilling Vodacom Super Rugby final expected in Wellington
Emirates Lions hunting for first title in Saturday battle with Hurricanes
- Second successive Final for side from Wellington
- Vodacom donates more than R2m as part of their #Tries4Books campaign
The Emirates Lions meet the Hurricanes on Saturday in Wellington with both teams aiming to land their first Vodacom Super Rugby title. The match kicks off at 09h35 SA time and will be shown live on SuperSport 1.
This will be the first time the Emirates Lions have reached the final and on Saturday morning they are aiming to become only the second South African franchise to win the title, following the success of the Vodacom Bulls in 2007, 2009 and 2010.
The Hurricanes, meanwhile, will be make a third final appearance after their failed efforts in 2006 and 2015.
Both sides are in superb form at the moment, with the Johannesburg outfit returning to New Zealand on the back of a record eight-match home winning streak following their semi-final victory last weekend over defending champions, the Highlanders.
The Canes have won seven consecutive matches on their way to a home final, including last Saturday’s semi-final win over the Chiefs in treacherous conditions at the Westpac Stadium.
However, the Emirates Lions will be buoyed by their superb record of late against New Zealand teams. They have won their last three games against Kiwi opposition, scoring in excess of 40 points on each occasion.
Another thrilling encounter is on the cards inside the stadium otherwise referred to as the Cake Tin. This final pitches the best attack against the best defence, with the Emirates Lions having averaged a competition high 36.4 points and 4.8 tries per game, whilst the Hurricanes have conceded the least average score per game, a lowly 19 points per match so far.
The Wellington battle will also pit the two most outstanding flyhalves of the 2016 campaign against each other.
Emirates Lions’ pivot Elton Jantjies was in sensational form last week in the semi-final win over the Highlanders, a performance which saw him crowned as Man of the Match. His opposite number, Beauden Barrett, is also the talisman for the Hurricanes and he too was in splendid form last weekend against the Chiefs.
Jantjies has scored 187 points so far this season in 15 matches, including three tries, while Barrett has collected 208 points in his 17 matches, which includes eight tries.
Encouraging news for the Emirates Lions is that their regular No 8, Warren Whiteley, has been declared fit and he will lead the side on Saturday.
The final will be handled by New Zealand referee Glen Jackson.
Hurricanes vs Emirates Lions
Venue: Westpac Stadium
Date: Saturday, 6 August 2016
SA kick-off time: 09h35
Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Team news: Assistant referees: Angus Gardner, Ben O’Keeffe
TMO: Ben Skeen
Team news:
- No 8 Warren Whiteley has been declared fit and will lead the Emirates Lions Saturday against the Hurricanes in Wellington.
- The Springbok loose forward, who missed last weekend’s semi-final win over the Highlanders with a calf injury, replaces Ruan Ackermann in the Emirates Lions starting line-up.
- Lourens Erasmus has been included on the bench, while Ross Cronje is also fit to provide scrumhalf cover. The rest of the squad is kept unchanged.
Stats:
- There will be a new name on the trophy this year, meaning that five of the last six Vodacom Super Rugby seasons will have seen a first-time winner.
- The Hurricanes have won nine of their 10 encounters with the Emirates Lions in Super Rugby, including each of their last seven. In those last seven wins they have beaten the South African side by an average of 15.3 points per game.
- Not only will the Hurricanes be searching for Final glory, but also an eighth consecutive win, which would set a franchise record.
- The Hurricanes are yet to win a Final from two attempts, losing by seven points to the Crusaders in 2006 and by the same margin to the Highlanders in 2015.
- This will be the first time the Emirates Lions have reached the Final and they are aiming to become only the second SA side to win the title (Vodacom Bulls in 2007, 2009, 2010).
- The Emirates Lions have won their last three games against New Zealand opposition, scoring in excess of 40 points on each occasion.
- Not since 2012 has a Vodacom Super Rugby final been decided by more than the value of a converted try (when the Chiefs beat the Cell C Sharks by 37-6).
- The Emirates Lions (25) and Hurricanes (23) have scored the second and third most tries from possessions originating in their own half respectively this season, only the Crusaders (26) have scored more.
- This final pitches the best attack against the best defence, the Emirates Lions have averaged a competition high 36.4 points and 4.8 tries per game whilst the Hurricanes have conceded a league low 19 points per game.
- Ardie Savea won three turnovers in the Hurricanes’ semi-final win, more than any other player across the weekend, to take his season tally to 24, the second most of any player and only one behind the Brumbies’ David Pocock (25). Savea has also made more tackles than any other player this season (192).
- The final sees the most prolific kickers in the competition go head to head. Beauden Barrett (71) and Elton Jantjies (70) have kicked more goals than any other players in the competition, though the Emirates Lions’ shot-taker (74%) has been more accurate than his New Zealand counterpart (70%).
Teams:
Hurricanes: 15 James Marshall, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Woodward, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara, 8 Victor Vito, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Michael Fatialofa, 4 Vaea Fifita, 3 Ben May, 2 Dane Coles (captain)/Ricky Riccitelli, 1 Loni Uhila. Replacements: 16 Ricky Riccitelli/Leni Apisai, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Mike Kainga/Reggie Goodes, 19 Mark Abbott, 20 Callum Gibbins/Tony Lambourn, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Vince Aso, 23 Julian Savea.
Emirates Lions: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley (captain), 7 Warwick Tecklenburg, 6 Jaco Kriel, 5, Franco Mostert, 4 Andries Ferreira, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Dylon Smith. Replacements: 16 Armand ‘Akker’ van der Merwe, 17 Corner Fourie, 18 Jacques van Rooyen, 19 Lourens Erasmus, 20 Ruan Ackermann, 21 Ross Cronje, 22 Howard Mnisi, 23 Jaco van der Walt.
Tries for Books
During the 2016 Vodacom Super Rugby season, Vodacom decided to contribute R7 000 for every try scored by a South African team, towards setting up e-libraries and giving access to books to communities in need through their Tries for Books campaign.
The total number of tries to date scored by South African teams in the competition is 301 (including penalty tries), which translated to an amount of R2 107 000 donated by Vodacom so far.
Follow #Tries4Books for details. To find out more about the Tries for Books campaign, follow this link: https://youtu.be/X3AmU-jAAvw
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