The Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy is a rugby union challenge trophy contested between the Auckland-based Blues and Dunedin-based Highlanders in the Super Rugby. The trophy is awarded in memory of Gordon Hunter, who had been head coach of both teams prior to his death in 2002. Hunter was the head coach in the Highlanders' inaugural Super 12 season.
History Hunter was held in high regard and in 2020, Highlanders' coach Aaron Mauger noted that he gave players the courage to "really back themselves", while co-captain at the time, Aaron Smith said he was motivated by the trophy and "we would like nothing more to keep the Gordy Hunter at home". One commentator said that while Hunter "may have been a Southlander by birth... he was an Otago man at heart".
The trophy was first played for in 2002 with the Highlanders winning 20–13. Prior to 2011, the trophy was contested every time the two teams met, but with the introduction of the conference system meaning there are two meetings per regular season, the decision was made that the trophy would only be contested in matches hosted by the holders. While the Blues scored non-trophy-match wins over the Highlanders in the 2013 and 2014 seasons, the Highlanders won both home and away in 2015 on their way to lifting the Super Rugby title. As of 2023, the Blues currently hold the trophy, since earning it in 2020's Super Rugby Aotearoa, and defeating the Highlanders 16–9.
Past winners The following table summarises the results between the two sides since the trophy was first contested in 2002. 2016 was the first season in which the Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy could not be contested due to the Blues only playing the Highlanders once – not in the host city of the current holders.
(Brackets) denotes total matches the cup was held. No. Season Date Venue Score Winner Annual trophy (2002–2010) 1 2002 3 May Eden Park, Auckland 13–20 (1) 2 2003 4 April Carisbrook, Dunedin 22–11 (2) 3 2004 8 May Eden Park, Auckland 50–22 (1) 4 2005 25 February Carisbrook, Dunedin 14–30 (2) 5 2006 17 February Carisbrook, Dunedin 25–13 (3) 6 2007 2 March Eden Park, Auckland 28–9 (3) 7 2008 10 May Carisbrook, Dunedin 15–40 (4) 8 2009 17 April Eden Park, Auckland 26–6 (5) 9 2010 19 February Carisbrook, Dunedin 15–19 (6) Challenge trophy (since 2011) 10 2011 29 April Carisbrook, Dunedin 10–15 (7) 11 17 June Eden Park, Auckland 33–16 (8) 12 2012 26 May Eden Park, Auckland 20–27 (4) 13 2013 1 June Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin 38–28 (5) 14 2014 22 February Forstyh Barr Stadium, Dunedin 29–21 (6) 15 2015 18 April Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin 30–24 (7) 16 2017 8 April Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin 26–20 (8) 17 2018 23 February Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin 41–34 (9) 18 2019 20 April Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin 24–12 (10) 2020 2 May Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin colspan=3 19 2020 (NZ) 2 August Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin 21–32 (9) 20 2021 (NZ) 14 March Eden Park, Auckland 39–17 (10) 21 2022 11 March North Harbour Stadium, Albany 32–20 (11) 22 2023 2 June Eden Park, Auckland 16–9 (12) 23 2024 18 May Eden Park, Auckland 47–13 (13) 24 2026 17 April Eden Park, Auckland 47–40 (14)
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