In just his second season in charge, Cheika coached the Waratahs to their first ever Super Rugby title, with the team finishing seven points ahead of their nearest rivals, the Crusaders. The Waratahs defeated the Brumbies 26–8 in the semifinal which earned them a first home final against their Christchurch-based rivals, the Crusaders, whom the Waratahs had not defeated in over a decade. In the 2014 Super Rugby final the Waratahs beat the Crusaders by a single point, 33-32, in a nail-biter witnessed by a record Super Rugby crowd of over 61,007 people at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.