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With just one game of Super Rugby remaining in 2016, Jamie Wall looks back at five of the season‘s best games.
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Round 1: Blues 33 Highlanders 31
WATCH: Full Game | Condensed
The Super Rugby season kicked off back in February with the Blues upsetting the defending champions in a thriller at Eden Park. After Ben Smith opened the scoring for the Highlanders the Blues struck back with openside Blake Gibson making the All Blacks fullback look like he was made out of balsa wood with a brutal one-out run to the line. Smith put himself back together to finish off a great Highlanders team try in the second half, before Patrick Tuipolotu hit back again for the Blues, who managed to hang on in front of a home crowd that had been watching One Day International cricket at the same venue the previous weekend. Long-suffering Blues fans probably had their expectations raised a little too high by their team’s Round 1 performance.
Round 2: Chiefs 32 Lions 36
WATCH: Full Game | Condensed
The coming-out party for this season’s Cinderella team came in the decidedly unromantic setting of Hamilton, where the Chiefs found out the hard way that the Lions aren’t Super Rugby’s joke team anymore. Three of the Lions’ most prominent players of the season stepped up, with skipper Warren Whitely scoring a try, Elton Jantjes kicking accurately and He-Man lookalike Faf de Klerk marshalling a dominant forward pack around the field. The Chiefs definitely played their part in the spectacle as well, with Seta Tamanivalu and Damian McKenzie displaying the sort of form that would get them All Black squad call ups later in the year.
Round 4: Jaguares 26 Chiefs 30
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Argentina’s Los Jaguares were widely tipped as a dark horse contender for the Super Rugby title pre-tournament, but instead left many scratching their heads as their season slowly unraveled. Their vast early-season promise was exemplified in their first home game, a Round 4 thriller against the Chiefs. The game will be remembered for Jaguares replacement halfback Martin Landajo’s stunning 73rd-minute try, but in a game that didn’t lack for excitement, the visitors pulled the lead back an equally freewheeling try to Brad Weber just five minutes later.
Round 9: Sunwolves 36 Jaguares 28
WATCH: Full Game | Condensed
There were some apocalyptic predictions made about the Sunwolves’ chances before the Super Rugby season started, and they seemed to be coming true when the Cheetahs destroyed them 92-17 in Round 8. But in the biggest turnaround of the season, the next week they ran out onto Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium and shocked the Jaguares 36-28, scoring three entertaining tries and holding their nerve at the death to notch their first (and so far only) Super Rugby win. The Sunwolves, who had already achieved cult status early in the season thanks to their terrifying mascot, had exceeded almost everyone’s wildest expectations.
Round 14: Hurricanes 27 Highlanders 20
WATCH: Full Game | Condensed
Revenge is a dish best served in the 79th minute. While it didn’t quite make up for the Hurricanes’ capitulation in the 2015 final, this game certainly dispelled any doubts about Ardie Savea’s ability to wear the black jersey. The flanker scored two tries to lead the Hurricanes to victory. For the first he finished off an 80-metre team effort sparked by Cory Jane; the second came as the relentless home side smashed away at the defending champions’ line, eventually opening up a gaping hole which Savea went crashing through. The Highlanders had earlier come back from a 14-point deficit to draw level, but with just seconds left on the clock, Savea’s try proved the decisive blow.
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