Chiefs don't expect travel fatigue to play a role when they host the Brumbies in a most unexpected Super Rugby final on Saturday.The defending champions upset the recent form book with a breathtaking 20-19 semi-final win over the Crusaders at Waikato Stadium.
Hours later the Brumbies conjured a greater upset, toppling the Bulls 26-23 courtesy of a last-gasp try in Pretoria to reach their first final in nine years. News from :
3news.co.nz
Chiefs (formerly known as the
Waikato Chiefs) are a professional
rugby union team based in
Hamilton,
New Zealand and are the current
Super Rugby champions. Their home ground is
Waikato Stadium. The Chiefs play in black, red and yellow coloured jerseys. The team competes in the
Super Rugby
competition known as the Super 12 from 1996 to 2005, Super 14 from
2006–2010 and Super Rugby from 2011 onwards. The Chiefs are one of the
competition's five
New Zealand sides.
Until 2004, the Chiefs were the only New Zealand side to never have
qualified for the Super 12 semi-finals. In that year the Chiefs earned
their first semi-final berth, and in the end achieved 4th place
(defeated 37-20 in the semi-final by the
ACT Brumbies). They made the 2009 final but found themselves on the short end of a record 61–17 defeat by the
Bulls.
The Chiefs were rewarded with a home final after a strong 2012
season. Their opponents, the Sharks, went into the match as underdogs.
The Chiefs defeated the Sharks 37-6 winning their first Super Rugby
title.
Chiefs were founded in 1995 as the Waikato Chiefs for the inaugural Super 12 season in
1996. Prior to the Super 12, the Super 10 competition had been in place, which
NPC
teams took part in, including Waikato. In the first year of competition
the Chiefs placed 6th in the overall standings, missing out on making
the finals; winning 6 of their 11 regular season matches. The following
season the Chiefs placed 11th, winning 4 games and losing 7. In
1998 the Chiefs performed closer to the standard of their 1996 season and placed at 7th in the final standings. In
1999 the side were able to do one better and claimed 6th position on the ladder but were still yet to make the playoffs.
In
2000
the Chiefs won 3 of their regular season games and finished the regular
season in 10th place. The following season the team equalled their best
position again - finishing 6th. In
2002 the team won 4 games and lost 7 to finish in 8th position, and the season after,
2003 Super 12 season,
fell to a 10th place finish. But the season after, the Chiefs won 7
regular season games and came 4th on the ladder - claiming the first
semi-final spot in their history. The Chiefs lost the semi-final against
the Brumbies. In
2005 the team finished 6th. In
2006, the Super 12 expanded to the
Super 14,
with the addition of a new Australian and South African club. The
Chiefs won 7 of their 13 games and drew once with 5 losses to come 7th.
In 2009, the Chiefs made their second ever semi-final, defeating the
Hurricanes
14 - 10 to advance to the final for the first time. They lost the final
to the Bulls by the biggest-ever margin of 61-17. In the
2010 and
2011 seasons, they were unable to replicate their form of 2009, missing the playoffs in both seasons.
In
2012, the Chiefs finished at the top of the New Zealand conference, qualifying for a home semi-final, which they won, defeating the
Crusaders 20-17. They subsequently hosted the
final for the first time in the teams's history, comprehensively defeating the
Sharks
by 37 - 6, claiming their first title. They also set many club records
in the 2012 season, including: most home wins, best home streak, best
season winning streak, and most points and tries scored.
[1]
In 2013, the Chiefs again won the New Zealand confrence with a
regular-season record of 12 wins and four losses. They also won the BNZ
Cup, a new trophy established by the NZRU for the New Zealand side with
the best record in intra-conference matches.
Source :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiefs_%28rugby_union%29