The team that tops the Super rugby table is not necessarily the team which wins the Super rugby title but most often it is.

The history of the first 16 years of Super Rugby in the professional era tells us that. It excludes the early days of the Super 10 (1993 to 1995).

On four occasions the team that came first in the Round Robin did not win Super Rugby - 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2007. The Reds have come first three times and won the trophy once.

In finals of 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 the team that came top of the Round Robin played the team which came second. But then in 1999 the final was between the team that came 3rd and the team that came 4th - and the team that came 4th came forth and won the title.

That all changed in 2011 when the teams that came 1st and 2nd in the Round Robin went automatically into semi-finals while the teams that came third to sixth played off for the right to make the semis.

Of the four teams in this year’s semis the Crusaders have been there most often.

The 2012 semi-finalists in previous semi-finals:

Sharks: 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2007, 2008, 2012
Crusaders: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
Chiefs: 2004, 2009, 2012
Stormers: 1999, 2004, 2010, 2011, 2012

Absent are frequent semi-finalists, the Brumbies, who contested semi-finals six times up to 2006, the Bulls, Blues and Hurricanes.

A table of semi-finalists, including this year’s, would look like this:

15: Crusaders
7: Sharks
6: Bulls, Brumbies, Blues, Hurricanes
5: Stormers, Waratahs
4: Reds
3. Highlanders, Chiefs
2: Cats

New Zealand teams have made the semi-finals 33 times, South African teams 20 times and Australian teams 15 times.

When it was the Super 12, every team made the semi-finals at least once. Since then the Lions, the Cheetahs, the Force and the Rebels have not made a semi-final, though previously the Lions and the Cheetahs formed the Cats.

This year there is no Australian team in the semi-finals. The same thing happened in 1998, 2007 and 2009. In 2001 there was no New Zealand team in the semi-finals. In 2002 and 2003 there was no South African team in the semi-finals.

The Crusaders have been semi-finalists 11 times in a row.

Semi-final Winners

10: Crusaders
5: Brumnbies
4: Blues
3: Sharks, Bulls
2: Waratahs:
1: Highlanders, Hurricanes. Chiefs, Stormers, Reds

Team names have changed a bit but here is a synopsis of the Super Rugby’s semi-finalists.

1996:

Log position:   Queensland, Auckland, Northern Transvaal, Natal.

Semi-finals:  
Natal beat Queensland 43-25 in Brisbane
Auckland Blues beat Northern Transvaal 48-11 in Auckland.

Final:  
Blues beat Natal 45-21

1997:

Log position:  Auckland Blues, ACT Brumbies, Wellington Hurricanes, Natal Sharks.

Semi-finals:  
Brumbies beat Hurricanes 33-20 in Canberra
Blues beat Sharks 55-36 in Auckland.

Final:  
Blues beat Brumbies 23-7 in Auckland.

1998:

Log position:  Auckland Blues, Canterbury Crusaders, Coastal Sharks, Otago Highlanders

Semi finals:  
Blues beat Highlanders 37-31 in Auckland
Crusaders beat Sharks 36-32 in Christchurch

Final:  
Crusaders beat Blues, 20-13

1999:

Log position:  Reds, Stormers, Highlanders, Crusaders

Semi-finals:  
Highlanders beat Stormers 33-18 at Newlands
Crusaders beat Reds 28-22 in Brisbane

Final:  
Crusaders beat Highlanders 24-19

2000:

Log position:  Brumbies, Crusaders, Highlanders, Cats

Semi-finals:  
Brumbies beat Cats 28-5 in Canberra
Crusaders beat Highlanders 37-15 in Christchurch

Final:  
Crusaders beat Brumbies 20-19 in Canberra

2001:

Log position:  Brumbies, Sharks, Cats, Reds

Semi-finals:  
Brumbies beat Reds 30-6 in Canberra
Sharks beat Cats 30-12 in Durban

Final:  
Brumbies beat Sharks 36-6 in Canberra

2002:

Log position:  Crusaders, Waratahs, Brumbies, Highlanders

Semi-finals:  
Crusaders beat Highlanders 34-23 in Christchurch
Brumbies beat Waratahs 51-10 in Sydney

Final:  
Crusaders beat Brumbies 31-13 in Christchurch

The Crusaders won all 13 of their matches scoring. 30 or more points in every match

2003

Log position:  Blues, Crusaders, Hurricanes, Brumbies

Semi-finals:  
Crusaders beat Hurricanes 39-16 in Christchurch
Blues beat Brumbies 42-21 in Auckland

Final:  
Blues beat Crusaders 21-17

2004:

Log position:  Brumbies, Crusaders, Stormers, Chiefs

Semi-finals:  
Crusaders beat Stormers 27-16  in Christchurch
Brumbies beat Chiefs 32-17 in Canberra

Final:  
Brumbies beat Crusaders 47-38 in Canberra

2005:

Log position:  Crusaders, Waratahs, Bulls, Hurricanes

Semi-finals:  
Crusaders beat Hurricanes 47-7 in Christchurch
Waratahs beat Bulls 23-13 in Sydney

Final:  
Crusaders beat Waratahs 35-25 in Christchurch

2006:

Log position:  Crusaders, Hurricanes, Waratahs, Bulls

Semi-finals:  
Hurricanes beat Waratahs 16-14 in Wellington
Crusaders beat Bulls 35-15 in Christchurch

Final: 
Crusaders beat Hurricanes 19-12 in Christchurch

2007:

Log position:  Sharks, Bulls, Crusaders, Blues

Semi-finals:  
Sharks vs Blues, 34-18 in Durban
Bulls vs Crusaders, 27-12 in Pretoria

Final: 
Bulls vs Sharks, 20-19 in Durban
 
2008:
 
Log position:  Crusaders, Waratahs, Sharks, Hurricanes
 
Semi-finals:  
Crusaders beat Hurricanes 33-22
Waratahs beat Sharks28-13 in Sydney
 
Final:  
Crusaders beat Waratahs 20-12
 
2009:
 
Log position:  Bulls, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Crusaders
 
Semi-finals:  
Bulls beat Crusaders 36-23
Chiefs beat Hurricanes 14-10
 
Final:
Bulls beat Chiefs, 61-17
 
2010:
 
Log position:  Bulls, Stormers, Waratahs, Crusaders
 
Semi-finals:  
Bulls beat Crusaders 39-24 in Soweto
Stormers beat Waratahs 25-6 at Newlands
 
Final:
Bulls beat Stormers 25-17 in Soweto
 
2011:
 
Log position:  Reds, Storerms, Crusaders, Blues, Waratahs, Sharks
 
Play-offs 
Crudsaders vs Sharks, 36-8 in Nelson
Blues vs Waratahs, 26-13 in Auckland

Semi-finals:   
Crusaders beat Stormers 29-10 at Newlands
Reds beat Blkues 30-13 in Brisbane
 
Final:
 
Reds beat Cruisaders, 18-13 in Brisbane
 
2012:
 
Log position:  Stormers, Chiefs, Reds, Crusaders, Bulls, Sharks
 
Play-offs:
Crusaders beat Bulls, 28-13 in Christchurch
Sharks beat Reds, 30-17 in Brisbane
 
Semi-finals:  
Chiefs vs Crusaders in Hamilton
Stormers vs Sharks at Newlands