What happens if a Super Rugby Pacific semifinal ends in draw?

What happens if one of the Super Rugby semifinals this week ends in a draw? With two tight contests between the Crusaders and Blues in Christchurch on Friday and then Chiefs-Brumbies in Hamilton the following night you wouldn’t rule it out.

The match goes to extra time.

But what happens if the match is drawn at the end of extra time?

The match goes to a 10 minute ‘sudden death’ period.

But what happens if the scores are level at the end of the 10 minute sudden death period?

I’m glad you asked. Then, we enter into the mythical realm of the ‘kicking competition’. If you’re a neutral rugby fan, this is the result you want.

Sanzaar’s playoff rules state a place-kick competition using five kickers from each team will be the vehicle to determine the winner of the match.

Such a scenario has only unfolded twice in first class rugby history, in, you guessed it, the northern hemisphere. The first occasion was in the 2009 Heineken Open semifinal between Cardiff and Leicester, which remained level at 26-26 following 80 minutes and the conclusion of extra time.

Four of Cardiff’s kickers successful in their shots at goal, before Leicester’s fourth attempt was missed by Johne Murphy.

Tom James then stepped up for the chance to win the game for Cardiff but sent his attempt wide, with the shoot-out continuing before Cardiff’s Martyn Williams missed, allowing Leicester No8 Jordan Crane to bang over the winner.

The latest kicking competition occurred just last season when Toulouse beat Munster 4-2 in the European Cup quarter-final after the sides were tied at 24-24 after extra-time. Munster missed three of their five attempts with Ben Healy responsible for two of the failed kicks.

Despite the incredibly slim chance of a kicking competition taking place in a Super Rugby playoff match the rules are incredibly detailed.

But, should Friday or Saturday produce the closest Super Rugby playoff match in history, here are the rules in full:

c) Kicking Competition – if the match is still tied at the end of sudden death, the Referee will conduct a place kicking competition to determine the winner of the match, according to the following procedures:

i) All Players and Match officials will remain on the Playing Area. The Referee will call the captains of the two teams together and will conduct

a coin toss. The winner of the coin toss then may either choose which Team kicks first (in which case the loser chooses the end at which all place kicks will be taken) or choose the end at which all place kicks will be taken (in…