The 2022 Super Rugby Pacific Final was played between the Blues and the Crusaders, both of New Zealand. It was the 25th final in the Super Rugby competition's history, and the first since 2019 after the 2020 Super Rugby season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and regional tournaments were played in the 2021 Super Rugby season. The Blues had qualified in first place on the regular season standings, while the Crusaders had qualified in second place. Both teams hosted quarter-final and semi-final matches.
The final was won by the Crusaders who beat the Blues by fourteen points. The Crusaders stretched their record number of Super Rugby wins to eleven, while also stretching their number of titles won to thirteen, having won both the 2020 Super Rugby Aotearoa season and 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa season.
Road to the final +Finals Series qualifying teams Top 8 finishers Team 1 Blues 13 0 1 188 6 58 2 Crusaders 11 0 3 202 8 52 3 Chiefs 10 0 4 105 5 45 4 Brumbies 10 0 4 98 4 44 5 Hurricanes 8 0 6 111 7 39 6 Waratahs 8 0 6 48 6 38 7 Reds 8 0 6 15 3 35 8 Highlanders 4 0 10 3 7 23Source: The 2022 season was a 12-team competition. The conference system from previous years was removed, with a single table introduced instead. Two new teams debuted in the 2022 season, with the Drua, representing Fiji, and Moana Pasifika, representing Pacific Islands heritage players, joining the five New Zealand sides and five Australian sides, following the full-time return of the Force to the competition. The top 4 sides in the competition earned home quarter-finals, with the following four sides in the table playing against them.
The Blues finished top of the overall table, having won thirteen of their fourteen fixtures round robin fixtures, and had won fifteen fixtures in a row heading into the final. The Crusaders had finished second overall having won eleven of their round robin fixtures. Heading into the fixture, Stephen Perofeta of the Blues was the competition's top points scorer, with 127 points, while Leicester Fainga'anuku and Will Jordan, both of the Crusaders, were the competition's top try scorers, both with ten tries.
In the quarter-finals the Blues beat fellow New Zealand team the Highlanders while the Crusaders beat the Reds. For the semi-finals, it was the Blues defeating the Brumbies in Auckland and the Crusaders defeating the Chiefs in Christchurch. Because of being the higher-placed team in the regular season log standings, the final was held in Auckland.
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Match
The final was held at Eden Park in Auckland. Weather conditions were wet with persistent drizzle. It was thought to have been the first major rugby union final where both sides had been captained by brothers, with Beauden Barrett captaining the Blues and Scott Barrett captaining the Crusaders. Two other sets of brothers also played in the fixture, with the Goodhue brothers (Jack for the Crusaders and Josh for the Blues) and the Ioane brothers (Akira and Rieko both for the Blues) joining the Barrett brothers in the fixture.
Details
FB 15 Stephen PerofetaRW 14 AJ LamOC 13 Rieko IoaneIC 12 Roger Tuivasa-Sheck LW 11 Mark Tele'a FH 10 Beauden Barrett (c)SH 9 Finlay Christie N8 8 Hoskins Sotutu OF 7 Adrian Choat BF 6 Akira IoaneRL 5 Tom RobinsonLL 4 Josh Goodhue TP 3 Nepo Laulala HK 2 Kurt Eklund LP 1 Alex Hodgman Substitutes:HK 16 Soane Vikena PR 17 Karl Tu'inukuafe PR 18 Ofa Tu'ungafasi LK 19 Luke Romano LF 20 Dalton Papalii SH 21 Sam Nock CE 22 Bryce Heem FB 23 Zarn Sullivan Coach: Leon MacDonald FB 15 Will JordanRW 14 Sevu ReeceOC 13 Jack GoodhueIC 12 David Havili LW 11 Leicester Fainga'anuku FH 10 Richie Mo'ungaSH 9 Bryn Hall N8 8 Cullen GraceOF 7 Tom Christie BF 6 Pablo Matera RL 5 Sam WhitelockLL 4 Scott Barrett (c)TP 3 Oli Jager HK 2 Codie Taylor LP 1 George Bower Substitutes:HK 16 Brodie McAlister PR 17 Tamaiti Williams PR 18 Fletcher Newell LK 19 Quinten Strange LF 20 Corey Kellow SH 21 Mitchell Drummond CE 22 Braydon Ennor WG 23 George Bridge Coach: Scott Robertson Man of the Match: Sam Whitelock (Crusaders)
Assistant referees: Nic Berry (Rugby Australia) Stu Curran (New Zealand) Television match official: Shane McDermott (New Zealand)
References