The nation of New Zealand consists of two main islands, the North Island and the South Island. The South Island is larger between the two islands but is however less populous than the North Island. Although the South Island is referred to as the Mainland, merely a quarter of the total population of New Zealand inhabit this place. South island rose into prominence primarily during the gold rush period when most of the European settlers focused on this area as the primary area of settlement.
Sports play an exceptionally dominant role in the South Islanders life-style. Probably the most popular sports in this area are rugby, cricket and netball. The most popular sport in South Island is Rugby and also this sport is additionally the national sport. Some of the other sports that enjoy some level of popularity in this region are Ice Hockey, basketball and football.
The South Island has separate teams that take part in Rugby League and Rugby Union matches. Their team that participates in the Rugby League matches is known as the Canterbury Bulls. This team is based from the largest city in South Island called Christchurch and also have held it’s place in the sports news for winning several Bartercard Cups.
There are a number of teams in South Island that take part in the Rugby Union Matches. The Crusaders, the Canterbury Rugby Football Union, Southland Stags, the Highlanders, Tasman Makos, Buller, Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury, West Coast Rugby Football Union and North Otago are some of the popular teams that play rugby union matches.
Amongst each of the teams that play rugby union, it is the Crusaders who enjoy being by far the most successful. Based out of Christchurch, this team was formerly called the Canterbury Crusaders and participates in the Super 14 championships. This team is additionally considered to be one of the most successful teams in the history of Super Rugby. This franchisee also represents the provincial rugby union teams such as Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury, Buller, West Coast Rugby Football Union and Tasman Makos.
The Crusaders were formed in 1996 in order to represent South Island in the Super 12matches. This team experienced a dismal start and finished in the last spot in their first season. Their upswing began from 1998 from where they went on a fantastic spree. They have been consistent winners and have won five Super 12 trophies. With their fifth win, the Crusaders were also given the Super 12 trophy for keeps.
Following the Super 12 victories, the Crusaders happen to be playing the Super 14 since its inauguration in 2006. They have claimed two victories both in the Super 14 seasons taking their amount of title wins to seven.
Other than being in the news because of their fantastic winning records, this team from South Island also holds several records. The primary of those competition records being the top number of points scored in a game and also the most number of tries in the game. Along with this all time high also comes a record of the all time low competition record in which the Crusaders scored the lowest amount of points in the game up against the Otago Highlanders.