Super Rugby Final 2015: Date, Time, Live Stream for Hurricanes vs. Highlanders

Tom SunderlandJul 2, 2015

The Hurricanes play host to the Highlanders in Saturday's 2015 Super Rugby final, with each team looking to enter its name into the history books.

Neither New Zealand franchise has ever won a Super Rugby championship, but the forthcoming crunch encounter presents two of the southern hemisphere's in-form outfits with a prime opportunity to end that drought.

Each team has made a trip to the final in the past, with the Highlanders losing to the Crusaders 24-19 in 1999 and the same opposition defeating the Hurricanes 19-12 in 2006.

Pressure on Canes to Clinch Maiden Crown

NAPIER, NEW ZEALAND - JUNE 05: Ma'a Nonu of the Hurricanes looks to the sky after scoring a try during the round 17 Super Rugby match between the Hurricanes and the Highlanders at McLean Park on June 5, 2015 in Napier, New Zealand. (Photo by Joel Ford/G

Joel Ford/Getty Images

There hasn't been a great deal of debate about which team has ruled Super Rugby this season, and the Hurricanes wrapped up their first-place league finish with weeks to spare.

However, pulling that same quality out of the bag in the Grand Final is easier said than done, and the Highlanders present an extremely tough, yet familiar foe.

Both teams came through their respective semi-finals with flying colours, as the Canes defeated the Brumbies 29-9 and the Highlanders overcame reigning champions Waratahs 35-17.

Chris Boyd's side ended the normal season 14 points clear at the table's summit—a Super Rugby record—leading SuperSport's Brenden Nel to heap praise on their free-running ability:

It was barely a month ago when the Hurricanes blew the Highlanders out of Napier with a 56-20 defeat, but certain selection tactics mean Saturday's contest is bound to be tighter.

They've been praised as the southern hemisphere's best and quite possibly the world's finest team for months now, but one fixture still stands between the Hurricanes and sealing their bragging rights.

The Highlanders will be happy to gift their fellow New Zealanders that pressure, having finished fourth in the table, knowing all the while they're capable of an upset on their day.

New Zealand's Super Rugby Ascension

NAPIER, NEW ZEALAND - JUNE 05: Julian Savea of the Hurricanes (right) and Waisake Naholo of the Highlanders chase after the ball during the round 17 Super Rugby match between the Hurricanes and the Highlanders at McLean Park on June 5, 2015 in Napier, Ne

Joel Ford/Getty Images

With both the Canes and Highlanders making it to the 2015 final, we have now seen at least one New Zealand franchise represented in the last five Super Rugby finals—since the conference system was introduced.

It's something Paul Williams of Rugby World referred to as his "dream Super Rugby final," asserting that these two sides have, without any shade of doubt, been the most deserving of reaching this season's Super Rugby showpiece:

"
Whether you’re from South Africa, South Island, New South Wales or the original South Wales, no one can argue that the Hurricanes and the Highlanders aren’t the best teams in this year’s competition.
Waisake Naholo, Aaron Smith, Ma’a Nonu and Nehe Milner-Skudder have played the simplest, yet most exquisite rugby of the season. The Hurricanes' back line have taken passing to an almost ‘arcade-like’ level deserving of inclusion in the Android remake of NBA Jam.
"

If the prolonged success of New Zealand's national team hadn't cemented their status as the world's best, then the Super Rugby franchises are certainly doing their bit to stamp their southern-hemisphere dominance.

The All Blacks truly are picking from the cream of the crop too. Rugby writer Marc Hinton outlined just how many All Blacks are likely to start at Westpac Stadium on Saturday:

Saturday's game marks the first all-New Zealand Super Rugby final since the Crusaders beat the Hurricanes nine years ago, but the balance of power may be swinging back in favour of their teams.

It's too early to suggest or predict whether this reign of devastating rugby success will continue and for how long, but the club teams are sure to be enjoying their streak of terror just as much as the reigning world champions, the All Blacks.