The Super Rugby competition in rugby union, including teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, is based on a franchise system of teams representing substantial regions of the three participating countries. This article provides specific detail as to the areas covered by each Super Rugby franchise.
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Traditionally, Australia has not had a national rugby competition, with the game being structured around regional club competitions. Instead, the five Australian Super Rugby franchises have evolved from traditional state and territory representative sides. The rugby power bases of New South Wales, Queensland and Australian Capital Territory are joined by Western Australia and Australian Football League stronghold Victoria as the franchise locations:
| Conference | Club | Location | Feeder Area(s) | Home Ground(s) | First season | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | ||||||
| Reds | Brisbane | Queensland | Ballymore Stadium (traditional home), Suncorp Stadium | (1882 v NSW [1]), 1996 (Super Rugby) | 1 (2011, 2 Super 10) | |
| Waratahs | Sydney | Central and Northern New South Wales | Sydney Football Stadium, Stadium Australia | (1882 v QLD [1]), 1996 (Super Rugby) | 0 | |
| Brumbies | Canberra | ACT and Southern NSW | Canberra Stadium | (1938 v New Zealand[2]), 1996 (Super Rugby) | 2 (2001, 2004) | |
| Force | Perth | Western Australia | Perth Oval | 2006 | 0 | |
| Rebels | Melbourne | Victoria | Melbourne Rectangular Stadium | (1889 v NSW [3]), 2011 | 0 |
This leaves three states and territories which do not have a franchise:
Queensland Reds versus NSW Waratahs is the oldest and most fierce rivalry. ACT Brumbies also have the Waratahs as their main rival. The Force and Rebels have been mentioned to have all three original treams as their rivals ijna a new-old clash.[4]
In New Zealand, each of the country's five Super Rugby franchises are linked with several provincial unions in the country's two domestic competitions, the professional ITM Cup and amateur Heartland Championship. For all practical purposes, all Super Rugby players will be drawn from the ITM Cup sides. Each franchise is entitled to draw players from any of its member unions without any player draft or negotiations with another franchise. The specific unions linked to each franchise are:
| Conference | Club | Location | Feeder Area(s) (former NPC clubs) |
Home Ground(s) | First season | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | ||||||
| Blues | Auckland | ITM Cup clubs: | Eden Park | 1996 | 3 | |
| Chiefs | Hamilton | ITM Cup clubs:
Heartland Championship clubs: |
Waikato Stadium | 1996 | 0 | |
| Crusaders | Christchurch | ITM Cup clubs:
Heartland Championship clubs: |
Lancaster Park | 1996 | 7 | |
| Highlanders | Dunedin | ITM Cup clubs:
Heartland Championship clubs: |
Forsyth Barr Stadium (2012-), Carisbrook (to 2011), Rugby Park Stadium |
1996 | 0 | |
| Hurricanes | Wellington | ITM Cup clubs:
Heartland Championship clubs: |
Wellington Stadium | 1996 | 0 |
South Africa operates its Super Rugby system in basically the same manner as in New Zealand, with each franchise linked with one or more unions in the country's domestic competition, the Currie Cup. During the 1996 and 1997 Super 12 seasons, South Africa entered their 4 top finishers in the previous season's Currie Cup. The franchises were created for the 1998 season.
The country currently has five franchises. The four franchises from the Super 12 era—the Bulls, Cats (now the Lions), Sharks and Stormers—were joined in 2006 by the Central Cheetahs. Their identities are largely based around the 5 traditional powers of the Currie Cup competition; the Blue Bulls, Golden Lions, Natal Sharks, Western Province and Free State Cheetahs respectively. The sixth franchise is a developmental franchise which does not compete in Super Rugby, but has the eventual aim to (see below).
The unions linked to each franchise are:
| Conference | Club | Location | Feeder Area(s) | Home Ground(s) | First season | Championships |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Africa | ||||||
| Bulls | Pretoria | Blue Bulls (Pretoria and Limpopo Province) | Loftus Versfeld Stadium | 1998 | 3 (2007, 2009, 2010) | |
| Cheetahs | Bloemfontein | Free State Cheetahs (central and western Free State)
Griffons (northern Free State) Griquas (Northern Cape) |
Free State Stadium, Hoffe Park Stadium | (1997 as the Free State Cheetahs) 2006 | 0 | |
| Lions (Cats until 2006) | Johannesburg | Golden Lions (Johannesburg) | Ellis Park Stadium | 1998 | 0 (1 Super 10, as the Golden Lions) | |
| Sharks | Durban | Natal Sharks (KwaZulu-Natal) | Kings Park Stadium | 1998 | 0 | |
| Stormers | Cape Town | Boland Cavaliers (northern Western Cape) | Newlands Stadium | 1998 | 0 | |
| Southern Kings | Port Elizabeth | Border Bulldogs (eastern Eastern Cape)
Eagles (Western Cape east of Cape Town) Eastern Province Kings (western Eastern Cape) |
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium | - | - |
The proposed Sixth Franchise were supposed to be entrenched in the 2007 and 2008 Super 14 seasons and were to draw from the Southern and Eastern Cape Region (SEC) and based in Port Elizabeth. They became a major bone of contention in South African rugby, when it was proposed originally, that the entry of the Spears would mean a promotion/relegation system would be put in place in 2006 to determine which team would not participate in the following season's Super 14. The entrenchment of the Spears proved highly controversial; after allegations of financial mismanagement and poor results against other South African sides, the South African Rugby Union (SARU) decided on 19 April 2006 to scrap its original plan to admit the Spears in 2007.
The High Court of South Africa gave the Spears a potential reprieve in August 2006 when it ruled that the Spears had a valid contract with SARU and its commercial arm, SA Rugby, to enter both the Currie Cup and Super 14. Both the SARU and SA Rugby planned to appeal this decision. In November 2006, all parties involved reached a settlement; the Spears dropped their suit and abandoned any attempts to enter the Super 14.[5]
Since the Spears never joined Super Rugby, the SARU and SA Rugby had to determine how to reincorporate players from the Spears region to the other franchises. In January 2009, the SARU announced that a new SEC franchise, also to be based in Port Elizabeth, would be launched in June 2009 to coincide with the arrival of the British and Irish Lions for a midweek tour match in the city. The franchise, a joint venture between the Eastern Province and Border unions, was created with the goal of an eventual place in Super Rugby, though no entry date has been mooted. SARU also confirmed that the franchise would not assume the Southern Spears name;[6] the team was later announced as the Southern Kings. The Southern Kings are now confirmed to be drawing from the Spears' former area. Most of the players in the Kings' debut match against the British and Irish Lions are affiliated with the team's co-owners, the Border and Eastern Province unions (the latter being the operators of the Eastern Province Kings), but South Western Districts (operators of the Eagles) are also involved. The Kings are apparently cooperating on some level with the Stormers, since the inaugural Kings side has players from both Western Province and Boland. Presumably, while the Kings remain outside Super Rugby, players from the Kings' region may be acquired by other South African franchises.
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