# 1997 Super 12 season

The 1997 Super 12 season was the second season of the Super 12, contested by rugby union teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from 28 February to 31 May 1997, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams entered the play-off semi-finals, with the first-placed team playing the fourth and the second-placed team playing the third. The winner of each semi-final qualified for the final, which was contested by the Auckland Blues and the ACT Brumbies at Eden Park, Auckland. The Blues won 23–7 to win their second Super 12 title.
While the three Australian and five New Zealand teams remained the same as the 1996 season, the South African teams made changes. Transvaal, after the changes of the political landscape of South Africa, became known as the Gauteng Lions, while Western Province, after not making the top four of the 1996 Currie Cup, were replaced by Free State of Bloemfontein.

## Table

* Top four teams advance to playoffs
| Pos. | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | BP | Pts |
| 1 | Auckland Blues | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 435 | 283 | 152 | 8 | 50 |
| 2 | ACT Brumbies | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 406 | 291 | 115 | 9 | 41 |
| 3 | Wellington Hurricanes | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 416 | 314 | 102 | 10 | 34 |
| 4 | Sharks | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 321 | 350 | −29 | 6 | 30 |
| 5 | Gauteng Lions | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 302 | 346 | −44 | 6 | 28 |
| 6 | Canterbury Crusaders | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 272 | 235 | 37 | 4 | 26 |
| 7 | Free State | 11 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 301 | 327 | −26 | 5 | 25 |
| 8 | Northern Transvaal | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 264 | 342 | −78 | 4 | 22 |
| 9 | NSW Waratahs | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 255 | 296 | −41 | 4 | 20 |
| 10 | Queensland Reds | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 263 | 318 | −55 | 4 | 20 |
| 11 | Waikato Chiefs | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 272 | 295 | −23 | 3 | 19 |
| 12 | Otago Highlanders | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 299 | 409 | −110 | 5 | 17 |
Points breakdown:
* 4 points for a win
* 2 points for a draw
* 1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less
* 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match
The playoffs follow a 1 v 4, 2 v 3 system with the highest placed team at home

## Finals
### Semi finals

* 24 May 1997
| Auckland Blues | 55–36 | Sharks |
| Try: Adrian Cashmore Carlos Spencer Eroni Clarke Joeli Vidiri Mark Carter Zinzan Brooke Con: Adrian Cashmore (6) Pen: Adrian Cashmore | | Try: Errol Stewart Henry Honiball Joos Joubert Lawrence Payne Con: Henry Honiball (3) |
* Eden Park, Auckland Referee: Wayne Erickson (Australia)
* 24 May 1997
| ACT Brumbies | 33–20 | Wellington Hurricanes |
| Try: George Gregan James Holbeck Joe Roff Mitch Hardy Con: David Knox Pen: David Knox (2) | | Try: Christian Cullen (2) Con: Jon Preston (2) Pen: Jon Preston (2) |
* Canberra Stadium, Canberra Attendance: 23,731 Referee: André Watson (South Africa)

### Grand final

* 31 May 1997
| Auckland Blues | 23–7 | ACT Brumbies |
| Try: Dowd Jones Con: Cashmore (2) Pen: Cashmore (3) | | Try: Roff Con: Roff |
* Eden Park, Auckland Referee: Tappe Henning (South Africa)
| | 15 | Adrian Cashmore |
| | 14 | Brian Lima |
| | 13 | Eroni Clarke |
| | 12 | Lee Stensness |
| | 11 | Joeli Vidiri |
| | 10 | Carlos Spencer |
| | 9 | Ofisa Tonu'u |
| | 8 | Zinzan Brooke (c) |
| | 7 | Michael Jones |
| | 6 | Mark Carter |
| | 5 | Robin Brooke |
| | 4 | Leo Lafaiali'i |
| | 3 | Craig Dowd |
| | 2 | Sean Fitzpatrick |
| | 1 | Olo Brown |
| Replacements: ||
| | 16 | Jeremy Stanley |
| | 17 | Michael Scott |
| | 18 | Dylan Mika |
| | 19 | Charles Riechelmann |
| | 20 | Paul Thomson |
| | 21 | Andrew Roose |
| Coach: ||
| Graham Henry ||
| | 15 | Stephen Larkham |
| | 14 | Mitch Hardy |
| | 13 | James Holbeck |
| | 12 | Pat Howard |
| | 11 | Joe Roff |
| | 10 | David Knox |
| | 9 | George Gregan |
| | 8 | Troy Coker |
| | 7 | Brett Robinson (c) |
| | 6 | Owen Finegan |
| | 5 | John Langford |
| | 4 | David Giffin |
| | 3 | Patricio Noriega |
| | 2 | Marco Caputo |
| | 1 | Ewen McKenzie |
| Replacements: ||
| | 16 | Rod Kafer |
| | 17 | Geoff Logan |
| | 18 | Justin Harrison |
| | 19 | Ipolito Fenukitau |
| | 20 | Dean Zammit |
| | 21 | Timote Tavalea |
| Coach: ||
| Rod McQueen ||