History
The Chiefs were founded in 1995 for the inaugural Super 12 season in 1996. Prior to the Super 12, the Super 10 competition had been in place, which NPC teams took part in (including Waikato). In the first year of competition the Chiefs placed 6th in the overall standings, missing out on making the finals; winning 6 of their 11 regular season matches. The following season the Chiefs placed 11th, winning 4 games and losing 7. In 1998 the Chiefs performed closer to the standard of their 1996 season and placed at 7th in the final standings. In 1999 the franchise were able to do one better and claimed 6th position on the ladder but were still yet to make the Super 12 finals.
In 2000 the Chiefs won 3 of their regular season games and finished in 10th place by the end of the season. The following season the team equalled their best position again - finishing 6th. In 2002 the team won 4 games and lost 7 to finish in 8th position, and the season after, 2003, fell to a 10th finish. But the season after the Chiefs won 7 regular season games and came in at 4th on the season table - claiming their first semi-final spot in their history. The Chiefs lost the semi-final against the Brumbies. In 2005 the team finished 6th. In 2006 the Super 12 expanded to the Super 14 with the addition of a new Australian and South African team. The Chiefs won 7 of their 13 games and drew once with 5 losses to come 7th. In 2009 the Chiefs made their second ever semi final, defeating the Hurricanes 14 - 10 to advance to the final for the first time. They lost the 2009 final to the Bulls by the biggest-ever margin 61-17.
In 2012, the Chiefs finished at the top of the New Zealand conference, qualifying for a home semi-final, which they won, defeating the Canterbury Crusaders 20-17 at Waikato Stadium, Hamilton. They subsequently hosted the Super Rugby final for the first time in the teams's history, comprehensively defeating the Sharks by 37 - 6 for their first title. They also set many Chiefs franchise records in the 2012 season, including: most home wins, best home streak, best season winning streak, and most points and tries scored.
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“In history as in human life, regret does not bring back a lost moment and a thousand years will not recover something lost in a single hour.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)
“The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records between the material and the moral nature.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I feel as tall as you.”
—Ellis Meredith, U.S. suffragist. As quoted in History of Woman Suffrage, vol. 4, ch. 14, by Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper (1902)