The Reds host the Crusaders in the Super Rugby Final 2011

The Reds host the Crusaders in the Super Rugby Final at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday, bringing the curtain down on a 2011 season that saw the tournament adopt a new “Conference” format with the addition of a fifteenth team.

In the 16 years of Super Rugby history since 1996, the Crusaders been the dominant superpower whilst the Reds have regularly performed below their potential.

In 1996, the Reds were considered in most quarters to be the strongest team in the competition, having claimed the Super 10 championship in the two years previous. Under John “Knuckles” Connelly, the Reds had emerged as not only the strongest rugby state in Australia, but formed the backbone of the Wallabies team. John Eales, Michael Lynagh, Toutai Kefu and Tim Horan were the key players in Reds jerseys that not only were Test stars, but players that would have waltzed into a world selection picked by most rugby aficionados.

This strength was demonstrated after the side finished top of the table, a feat duplicated in 1999 and again this season.

The Crusaders were a proud region but lived firmly under the shadow of the Blues. The key feeder union to the franchise, Canterbury hadn’t won a title since 1983 (the now defunct Division One NPC), while Auckland were in the midst of a glorious run, and even Otago and Waikato had recently claimed domestic titles. With Vance Stewart the inaugural coach, and hard as nails All Blacks prop Richard Loe the captain, the Crusaders finished the maiden season of Super Rugby with the wooden-spoon.

The different statuses of the two teams was aptly demonstrated when the Reds entertained the Crusaders at home and ran out 52-16 winners, which until this year’s 53-3 defeat of the Rebels was their highest ever points scored. Eales scored 22 points that day, as the Reds scored six tries to one.

Yet any indicator that the Crusaders were going to be the Reds ‘whipping boys’ was firmly dismissed during the 1997 season, when the Reds travelled to Christchurch and lost 48-3, in what was informally the last game at Lancaster Park. To this day that result stands as the second worst defeat suffered by a Reds team.

The portents were there that the Crusaders could become a power, as that year Wayne Smith took over the coaching reigns, appointing industrious loose forward Todd Blackadder as his captain.

In 1998 few would have predicted early in the season that the Crusaders would win the title, suffering three losses in their first four matches, including a 35-9 defeat inflicted on them by the Reds in Brisbane. However the Crusaders would have the last laugh, as the Reds lost back-to-back games – to the Sharks and Brumbies – while the champions-elect won their last two matches in South Africa – beating the Cats and Sharks – to give them their first Super Rugby Semi-Final appearance. That season would see the Crusaders claim their first crown.

The 1999 Super 12 season would see the Reds again finish top-of-the-table, confirming their pedigree with a 36-23 win over the Crusaders in Christchurch. The Crusaders, with a new coach in Robbie Deans, would win their third title in a row – and still remain the only team to have accomplished this feat.

The defending champions sneaked into the knockout stages placed fourth, but would create history by winning the title with consecutive playoff matches away from home – first defeating the Reds 28-22, before going on to beat the Highlanders in Dunedin. That result would begin an 11 match winning streak for the Crusaders over the Reds.

In 2000 long serving Reds coach John Connelly would step down, with Mark McBain taking over the reins.

For the next ten years though it would be a one-sided rivalry with the Crusaders dominant:

2000: 27-19 in Brisbane
2001: 32-26 in Christchurch
2002: 34-27 in Brisbane
2003: 34-6 in Christchurch
2004: 20-17 in Brisbane
2005: 59-24 in Christchurch
2006: 47-21 in Brisbane
2007: 33-22 in Christchurch
2008: 27-21 in Brisbane
2009: 32-12 in Christchurch

Deans would ensure the Crusaders would be blessed with coaching consistency, leaving his post as the longest serving Super Rugby coach to take up the Wallabies’ coaching post. The Reds saw Andrew Slack replace McBain in 2003, while Jeff Miller (2004 to 2006), Eddie Jones (2007) and Phil Mooney (2008 to 2009) tried their hand at a Reds revivial.

While the Crusaders confirmed their legacy as one of the greatest ‘provincial’ teams in world rugby, with seven titles, the Reds struggled, with six years of bottom-three finishes.

Yet, if one game was to encapsulate the change in fortunes for the Reds, it would be against the Crusaders, who arrived at Suncorp Stadium in 2010 with an 11-year winning record against their opponents. Certainly the Reds were hoping for a change of fortunes, knowing that in their last two matches in Brisbane against the Crusaders, they had led at half-time.

Enter Quade Cooper and the Reds, as the mercurial flyhalf scored a Reds record 31 points (beating Elton Flatley’s mark of 26) en route to a remarkable 41-20 upset. Cooper scored two tries while Digby Ioane and Rod Davies added one each.

This season saw another classic played out between the sides in Brisbane; the Reds snatching the honours 17-16 with a last gasp penalty by Cooper.

Their storied rivalry continues this weekend, as the 2011 Super Rugby Final gets ready to be played out by two teams whose marvellous history will record another chapter on July 9.

The final commences at 19h40 EST (21h40 NZ and 11h40 SA).

HEAD TO HEAD

Played 17, Crusaders 12, Reds 5
In Brisbane: Played 10, Reds 4, Crusaders 6
Tries scored: Crusaders 60, Reds 41
Points scored: Crusaders 505, Reds 401
Aggregate scoreline: Crusaders 30 – 24 Reds