Super Rugby

Super Rugby is a professional rugby union competition featuring teams from the Southern Hemisphere. Founded in 1996, it has shifted through multinational and regional formats.

Super 12: The twelve-team competition that launched Super Rugby in 1996. This inaugural format established the competition's original round-robin season.
Super 10: A ten-team Southern Hemisphere rugby union tournament contested from 1993 to 1995. It was the immediate predecessor to the professional competition launched in 1996.
Rugby Australia: The governing body for rugby union in Australia. It organizes Australian participation and has overseen multiple league restructurings.
United Rugby Championship: A professional rugby union league featuring clubs from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. South African franchises moved from Super Rugby into this northern-hemisphere competition.
Super Rugby expansion: The addition of teams and territories to Super Rugby beyond its original twelve-team format. Expansion brought new markets and franchises but complicated travel and the competition structure.
Super 14: The expanded Super Rugby format contested by fourteen teams from 2006 to 2010. Two new franchises widened the original competition before another expansion.
SANZAR: The governing partnership formed by the rugby unions of South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia. Its member unions created the competition and coordinated its early seasons.
New Zealand Rugby: The governing body for rugby union in New Zealand. Its provincial and national structures underpin New Zealand's Super Rugby teams.
European Rugby Champions Cup: A European club rugby union tournament contested by teams qualifying through domestic leagues. It offers cross-border club competition through a qualification model unlike Super Rugby's league season.
Super Rugby contraction: The reduction of Super Rugby teams and participating unions after periods of expansion. Departures and restructuring changed the league from a transcontinental contest into regional competitions.

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New Zealand national rugby union teamRelated: Its New Zealand franchises provide a major pathway for All Blacks players.