Super Rugby is the major professional rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere. The competition began as Super 12 in 1996, consisting of 12 teams from Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. An extra Australian and South African team were added in 2005 and the name was changed to Super 14. A fifteenth team joined in 2011 and the competition was rebranded as Super Rugby. The current format consists of three conferences of five teams from each country. Teams play other members of their conference twice (home and away) and four teams from each of the other two conferences once. The top team in each conference and the next best three over all conferences advance to the finals. In all previous formats there were no conferences and each team played every team once, with the top four progressing to the finals. The tournament is organised and governed by SANZAAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentine Rugby). Super Rugby is considered a successor to the Super Six (1992) and Super 10 (1993–1995), although SANZAR did not administer those tournaments.
Champions
YearNo. of TeamsFinalLosing semi-finalistsWinnersScoreRunners-up1st losing semi-finalists2nd losing semi-finalists 199612 Auckland Blues45–21 Natal Sharks Queensland Reds Northern Transvaal 199712 Auckland Blues23–7 ACT Brumbies Wellington Hurricanes 199812 Canterbury Crusaders20–13 Auckland Blues Otago Highlanders 199912 Canterbury Crusaders24–19 Otago Highlanders Queensland Reds 20001220–19 200112 36–6 20021231–13 200312 21–17 200412 47–38 20051235–25 20061419–12 200714 20–19 20081420–12 200914 61–17 201014 25–17 201115 18–13 201215 37–6 201315 27–22 201415 33–32 2015 15 21–14 2016 1820–3 2017 1825–17 2018 1537–18 2019 1519-3 2020 15 season cancelled 2021 10 Regional competitions played, no official champions 2022 1221–7 2023 12 25–20 2024 1241–10 2025 1116–12 2026 1160–5
By team
TeamCombinedSuper 12Super 14Super Rugby 13 5 2 6 4 3 0 1 3 0 3 0 2 2 0 0 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1Totals2910514
By country CountryWinning teamsCombinedSuper 12Super 14Super Rugby New Zealand 228212 Australia 4202 South Africa 3030Totals92810513
Competition structure
1996–2010 Every season, each team played every other team once, in a round-robin. The venues for regular season matches alternated each year, therefore teams would not play one another at the same venue in consecutive seasons unless they met in the play-offs. The tournament used the rugby union bonus points system; teams were awarded four points for a win, two for a draw, and none for a loss. They received bonus points for scoring four or more tries in a match, and for a loss by seven or fewer points.
After each team had completed their regular season matches, the top 4 teams qualified for the semi-finals. Semi-finals were held under a Shaughnessy playoff system; the first-placed team in the table hosted the fourth-placed, and second hosted third. The winner of each semi-final advanced to the final, held at the home ground of whichever team amassed more points in the round-robin table.
2011–2015 In 2011, Melbourne Rebels joined the Super Rugby competition, meaning that Australia, New Zealand and South Africa would each be represented by five teams. The tournament format was also changed. Teams are divided into three conferences; one per country. Each team plays other teams in the same conference home and away, and plays eight further matches against teams from other conferences, for a total of sixteen games. Each team receives two byes throughout a season; from 2014 no points are added to the team's total on the day a bye is allocated. The highest placed team in each conference qualifies for the finals stage, along with three highest scoring teams which were not conference winners. The two highest scoring teams advance straight to the semi-finals, while the 3rd to 6th placed teams play-off to decide which two teams advance to the semis. The format of the semi-finals and final is the same as that previously used in the Super 14. The bonus points system has also been retained, with the single addition that a team receives four points for each bye.
2016–2020 2016 saw the tournament expand to 18 teams with the inclusion of an Argentine team and Japanese team. The South African conference was split in two with the Sunwolves in South African conference 1 and Jaguares in South African conference 2. South African conference 1 teams will play Australian and New Zealand teams in alternative years with South African conference 2 teams. Every team plays 16 games in the regular season with the top 8 teams qualifying for the quarter-finals 1 v 8 etc. with each conference winner being seeded 1–4.
2020– Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the 2020 Super Rugby season was suspended, and then ultimately cancelled. Regional tournaments were set up to complete the 2020 season, with Super Rugby AU played in Australia, Super Rugby Aotearoa played in New Zealand and Super Rugby Unlocked played in South Africa. The and didn't compete in these regional tournaments, while the Western Force competed in Super Rugby AU and the , and competed in Super Rugby Unlocked. Only Super Rugby AU had a final as such for 2020, with a qualifying final and then final. Following the 2020 season, the South African sides withdrew from Super Rugby, while the Jaguares and Sunwolves also left the competition. Therefore, in 2021 only 10 teams competed in Super Rugby, again in regional tournaments with the addition of Super Rugby Trans-Tasman played between both Australian and New Zealand sides. A final was added to the Super Rugby Aotearoa competition in 2021, while a qualifying final and then final was again played in Super Rugby AU. Super Rugby Trans-Tasman will also have a final.
Tournaments
Key SymbolMeaningChampionsGamesRegular season recordPointsRegular season points scored and concededDiffDifference between points scored and concededBPBonus pointsTPTable points
Teams mentioned are those that qualified for the play-off rounds. Results are written so that the score of the team in each row is mentioned first. The highlighted team won that season's Super Rugby final.
Note. For 1996 and 1997, it was the policy of the South African Rugby Union to send the top four teams of the previous year's Currie Cup to the Super 12. This resulted in the , Transvaal, Northern Transvaal and Western Province playing in 1996 and the Sharks, the Gauteng Lions, Free State Cheetahs and Northern Transvaal playing in 1997. In 1998, South Africa set up four (and later five, then six) Super Rugby regions, similar to the policy adopted by the New Zealand Rugby Union. For these areas, please see Super Rugby franchise areas.
Super 12 (1996–2005) + Super 12 annual playoff teams and Champion (1996–2005)YearDurationTable positionTeamGamesPointsBPTPSemi scoreFinal scoreRefsplayedwondrawnlostforagainstdiff199628 February –31 May1 11902320247+7354125–43—2 11803408354+5494148–1145–213Northern Transvaal11803329208+12163811–48—4 11605389277+11293343–2521–4519971 March –25 May1 111010435283+15285055–3623–72 11803406291+11594133–207–233 11605416314+102103420–33—4 11524321350–2963036–55—199827 February –30 May1 11902388296+9274337–3113–202 11803340260+8094136–3220–133Coastal Sharks11704329263+6683632–36—4 11704343279+6463431–37—199926 February –30 May1 11812233170+6323622–28—2 11803290244+4643618–33—3 11803280203+7733533–1819–244 11713322262+6033328–2224–19200025 February –27 May1 11902393196+19794528–519–202 11803369293+7673937–1520–193 11605310280+3083215–37—4 11704320334–144325–28—200123 February –26 May1 11803348204+14484036–636–62 11803322246+7663830–126–363 11704285244+4163412–30—4 11605300277+238326–36—200222 February –25 May1 111100469264+20575134–2331–132 11803337284+5373910–51—3 11704374230+144103851–1013–314 11803329207+12263823–34—200321 February –24 May1 111001393185+20894942–2121–172 11803358263+9584039–1617–213 11704324284+4073516–39—4 11605358313+4573121–42—200420 February –22 May1 11803408269+13984032–1747–382 11704345303+4263427–1638–473 11704286260+2653316–27—4 11704274251+2353317–32—200525 February –28 May1 11902459281+17894547–735–252 11902322174+14884423–1325–353 11704301229+7263413–23—4 11803281248+332347–47—
Super 14 (2006–2010) + Super 14 annual playoff teams and Champion (2006–2010)YearDurationTable positionTeamGamesPointsBPTPSemi scoreFinal scoreRefsplayedwondrawnlostforagainstdiff2006February 10 –May 271 131111412210+20255135–1519–122 131003328226+10274716–1412–193 13904362192+17094514–16—4 13715355290+6573815–35—2007February 2 –May 191 131003355214+14154534–1819–202 13904388223+16564227–1220-193 13805382235+147104212–27—4 13904355235+12064218–34—2008February 15 –May 311 131102369176+19385233–2220-122 13913255186+6954328–1312–203 13913271209+6244213–28—4 13814310204+10674122–33—2009February 13 –May 301 131003338271+6764636–2361-172 13904338236+10294514–1017–613 13904380279+10184410–14—4 13814231198+3374123–36—2010February 12 –May 291 131003436345+9174739–2425–172 13904365171+19484425–617–253 13904385288+977436–25—4 13814388295+9374124–39—
Super Rugby (2011–)
Six team playoff tournament (2011–2015) + Super Rugby annual playoff teams and Champion (2011–2015)YearDurationTable positionTeamConferencepositionGamesPointsBPTPQualifier scoreSemi scoreFinal scoreRefsplayedwondrawnlostforagainstdiff2011February 18 –July 91 1161303429309+120666—30-1318–132 1161204400257+143763—10-29—3 1161114436273+16376136-829-1013-184 2161015405335+70106026-1313-30—5 2161006398252+14695713–26——6 2161015407339+687578–36——2012February 24 –August 41 1161402350254+96266—19-26—2 1161204444358+86864—20-1737-63 1161105359347+1265817-30——4 2161105485343+14296128-1317-20—5 2161006472369+103115913-28—6 3161006436348+88115930-1726-196-372013February 16 –August 41 1161204458364+941066—20-1927-222 1161204448330+118763—23-26—3 2161105446307+13986038-919-20—4 1161024430295+13586015-1326-2322-275 2161024321296+256589-38——6 2161006382258+2465413-15——2014February 16 –August 21 1161204481272+2091058—26-833-322 1161105445322+123751—38-632-333 1161105406203+11365031-276-38—4 2161006412378+3454532-308-26—5 216826384378+684430-32——6 316808401442-41104227-31——2015February 13 – July 41 1161402458288+1701066—29-914-21 2 1161105409313+9685217-3517-35—3 1161015373323+5034519-39——4 2161105450333+11795324-1435-1721-145 3161006372299+7384814-24——6 216907369261+108114739-199-29—
Eight team playoff tournament (2016–2024)