There will be one extra team, the Melbourne Rebels, contesting the 2011 Super 15 rugby competition (hence the move from the Super 14 name), with the season running from February to July (ends early to accommodate the World Cup in September & October).
There are 2 types of matches :
Internal Conference Matches - Each team plays the other 4 teams in the same conference twice, home and away.
Cross Conference Matches - Each team plays 4 teams of the other two conferences away, and 4 teams of the other 2 conferences home, thus missing out on 2 teams (1 from each of the other conferences).
The top team of each conference, plus the next top 3 teams in table points (regardless of conference) move on to the finals.
Australian Conference |
New Zealand Conference |
South African Conference |
Brumbies (Canberra) |
Blues (Auckland) |
Bulls (Pretoria) |
NSW Waratahs (Sydney) |
Chiefs (Hamilton) |
Cheetahs (Bloemfontein) |
Melbourne Rebels (Melbourne) |
Crusaders (Canterbury) |
Lions (Johannesburg) |
Queensland Reds (Brisbane) |
Highlanders (Otago) |
Sharks (Durban) |
Western Force (Perth) |
Hurricanes (Wellington) |
Stormers (Cape Town) |
Week |
Match |
Home team |
Away team |
1 |
A Qualifier |
Rank 4 |
Rank 5 |
|
|
B Qualifier |
Rank 3 |
Rank 6 |
2 |
C Semi |
Rank 2 |
Winner of match A or B |
2 |
D Semi |
Rank 1 |
Other winner from match A or B |
3 |
Final |
Winner of match C or D |
Other winner from match C or D |
11 Nov 2009 |
It is announced that the 15th team in the Super 15 will be the Melbourne Rebels. |
21 Oct 2009 |
No unanimity is reached at a SANZAR meeting to discuss the applications from the Southern Kings and Melbourne to be the 15th Super Rugby team, and it is agreed that the matter should be proceed to arbitration. |