2008 Super 14
| 2008 Super 14 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Countries |
 Australia South Africa New Zealand
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| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and knockout | ||
| Champions |
Crusaders (7th title) |
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| Matches played | 91 | ||
| Attendance | 2,000,000 (21,978 per match) | ||
| Tries scored | 519 (5.7 per match) | ||
| Top point scorer(s) |
Stephen Donald (150) (Chiefs) |
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| Top try scorer(s) |
Lelia Masaga (8) (Chiefs) |
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The 2008 Super 14 season started in February 2008 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 31 May, when the Crusaders won their seventh Super Rugby title with a 20–12 victory over the Waratahs in front of the Crusaders' home fans at AMI Stadium. The 2008 season was the third of the expansion, which led to the name change to the Super 14. The schedule, which covered 3½ months, featured a total of 94 matches, with each team playing one full round robin against the 13 other teams, two semi-finals and a final. Every team received one bye over the 14 rounds.
The 2008 competition is currently the highest level competition to trial any of the International Rugby Board's (IRB) Experimental law variations (ELVs). The laws had been trialled in various competitions in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. The highest level competition the laws had previously been introduced to was the 2007 Australian Rugby Championship. The introduction of the laws for the 2008 season was approved by the competition's governing body, SANZAR, at a meeting on 4 December 2007.
SANZAR decided not to adopt all the ELVs, and decided to adopt the following:
Con: Dan Carter (4)Pen: Dan Carter (2)
The final of the 2008 Super 14 season took place on 31 May 2008 at AMI Stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand. The match was hosted by the Crusaders who defeated the New South Wales Waratahs by 20 points to 12.
The Crusaders scored the first points of the game when fly-half Dan Carter kicked a penalty in the fourth minute, giving the Crusaders a 3–0 lead. The Waratahs scored their first points of the match when Kurtley Beale kicked the ball across field, and Waratah's winger Lachlan Turner caught the ball to score a try. The attempted conversion by Beale was unsuccessful, leaving the Waratahs with a 5-3 lead.
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