Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy


The Gordon Hunter Memorial Trophy is a Rugby Union trophy contested between the Blues and Highlanders as a part of some regular season Super Rugby fixtures between the two sides. The trophy is awarded in memory of Gordon Hunter, who had been head coach of both teams prior to his passing in 2002. The Highlanders currently lead in trophy-match wins with ten victories to the Blues' 8. Prior to 2013, 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. The Highlanders currently hold the trophy, and have done so since winning both matches in the 2012 season. 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.

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.
The next contest for the trophy will take place in Round 14 of the 2020 Super Rugby season when the Blues head down south to try and stop the Highlanders retaining the trophy for an 8th consecutive time. The Highlanders have held the trophy 10 times while the Blues are currently 2 behind with 8 wins.
SeasonCityHomeScoreAway
2002AucklandBlues13 - 20Highlanders
2003DunedinHighlanders 22 - 11Blues
2004AucklandBlues 50 - 22Highlanders
2005DunedinHighlanders14 - 30Blues
2006DunedinHighlanders 25 - 13Blues
2007AucklandBlues 28 - 9Highlanders
2008DunedinHighlanders15 - 40Blues
2009AucklandBlues 26 - 6Highlanders
2010DunedinHighlanders15 - 19Blues
2011DunedinHighlanders10 - 15Blues
2011AucklandBlues 33 - 16Highlanders
2012AucklandBlues20 - 27Highlanders
2013DunedinHighlanders 38 - 28Blues
2014DunedinHighlanders 29 - 21Blues
2015DunedinHighlanders 30 - 24Blues
2017DunedinHighlanders 26 - 20Blues
2018DunedinHighlanders 41 - 34Blues
2019DunedinHighlanders 24 - 12Blues