2026 Super Rugby AUS was the second edition of Australia's national rugby union competition, Super Rugby AUS, organised by Rugby Australia (RA), involving four of Australia's Super Rugby teams: the , the , the and the . The season began on 12 September and finished 3 October 2026 with the Grand Final between the first-placed and the second-placed .
The were the defending champions, having defeated the in the previous year's inaugural edition 33–26.
On 3 October, the defeated the 53–26 at the Hale School in Perth's Wembley Downs.
Competition and format The schedule and format was announced in early August 2026, and remained unchanged from the previous season: a single round-robin format during the regular season, with each team playing the other three teams once across three rounds. Following the conclusion of the round-robin stage, the top two teams on the competition ladder advance to a single Grand Final, to be held on Saturday, 3 October 2026.
Law variations Ahead of the first round, sports journalist Brett McKay confirmed via Twitter that new laws would be in place for the 2026 tournament. These included: Increased reserves in matchday squads (up from eight to ten). Following a tactical substitution, the replacement player may be withdrawn and the original player reinstated in the event of an injury (the previous law had only applied to the front row). Following a try, the team restarting play must remain at the half-way line, rather than retreating behind the posts, with only one defending player eligible to advance in attempt to charge the conversion. Free kicks will be awarded for an incorrectly aligned scrum and for accidental offside offences. Where a free kick is awarded at a scrum, the point of sanction will move to the back of the scrum.
Venues and personnel In the schedule announcement, all venues was confirmed. The would host their first round fixture against the at Bungendore Sports Hub in Bungendore on the outskirts of the Australian Capital Territory. Their second venue was Viking Park in Wanniassa. The , whom had a reduced amount of home games from the previous season, host the at Halesworth Park in Perth's Butler suburb, the home ground of the North Coast Rugby Union Football Club. The host two games, one a their headquarters: Ballymore Stadium, Herston, and their second round clash against the at Gallas Fox Park in Queensland's Maranoa Region. The match and venue were confirmed in June 2026 and form a larger partnership between the New South Wales Rugby Union and the Queensland Rugby Union with Santos, and is part of the annual "Festival of Rugby" event. The venue had previously held pre-season trials. The ' sole home game was at Pittwater Park, Warriewood.
Overview Team Stadia information Coach Captain Stadia Capacity Viking Park, Wanniassa 7,000 Stephen Larkham Toby MacPherson Bungendore Sports Hub, Bungendore Ballymore Stadium, Herston 8,000 Vern Cotter Gallas Fox Park, Roma 3,000 Halesworth Park, Butler Damian Steele Nic Dolly Pittwater Park, Warriewood 10,000 Lachlan McCaffrey Eamon Doyle
Ladder
Fixtures Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Grand Final
FB 15Mac GrealyRW 14Dylan PietschOC 13Boston FakafanuaIC 12Kurtley BealeLW 11Wallace Charlie FH 10Harry McLaughlin-PhillipsSH 9 Nathan Hastie N8 8 Jackson Iose OF 7 Jack Daly BF 6 Kane Koteka RL 5 Will HarrisLL 4 Zak HealeyTP 3 Misinale Epenisa HK 2 Nic Dolly (c) LP 1 Tom Robertson Replacements:HK 16Albert Alcock PR 17Max Sawers PR 18Bradley Kuhn LK 19Regin Pratt BR 20Aden Ekanayake WG 21Ronan LeahyBR 22Nate Gallagher BR 23Tim Sail SH 24Luke Aiken FH 25Evan Hooper Coach:Damian Steele FB 15Latrell Smiler Ah-KiongRW 14Freedom Vaha'akoloOC 13Nick Chan IC 12Charlie Bird LW 11Otto SerfonteinFH 10Max Burey SH 9 Teddy WilsonN8 8 Isaac Fonua OF 7 Marshall Le Maitre BF 6 Joe MangelsdorfRL 5 Tom Girle LL 4 Eamon Doyle (c)TP 3 Edwin Langi HK 2 Ethan DobbinsLP 1 Tom Lambert Replacements:HK 16Folau Fainga'a PR 17Brady Dawson PR 18Will Goddard LK 19Toby Brial BR 20Angus Scott-Young BR 21Luke Reimer HK 22Oniti Finau SH 23Ben Fuhiniu WG 24Hadley Tonga FH 25Joe Dillon Coach:Lachlan McCaffrey Man of the Match: Will Harris (Western Force)
Awards Player of the Year + Player of the Tournament Player Position Team Boston Fakafanua Centre
Squads
+ squad Forwards Backs Coach Stephen Larkham
+ squad Forwards Backs Coach Damian Steele
+ squad Forwards Backs Coach Vern Cotter
+ squad Forwards Backs Coach Lachlan McCaffrey
Notes
References