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70-673: SANZAAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina Rugby; previously known as SANZAR) is the body which oversees Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship competitions in rugby union . SANZAAR meets annually and is composed of the CEOs from its member unions. It was formed as SANZAR in 1996 as a joint venture of the South African Rugby Union , the New Zealand Rugby Union , and the Australian Rugby Union . From

140-655: A 20-game home and away season in 2020 but Super Rugby AU played two additional knockout matches to decide the Australian title. Super Rugby Unlocked featured South Africa's four Super Rugby teams (the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers) plus former franchise the Cheetahs as well as the Currie Cup sides Griquas and Pumas . These seven teams competed in a single round-robin domestic format in 2020. In September 2020, SA Rugby announced

210-519: A TV deal worth more than A$ 1 billion beyond 2020. Specifically, he stated, "You could have a deal comparable to the other major sports in Australia. Rugby is a college (university) sport in the US , if soccer can create its own league there and sell teams for $ 40 million, imagine what you could do in 10–12 years with rugby in that market." By comparison, the largest TV deal in Australian sport, that of

280-528: A competition that did not include South African teams was a commercial non-starter because of large broadcast revenues from that country and because the NZRU considered Super Rugby matches in South Africa to be critical for national team development. SANZAR announced on 4 September 2013 that South Africa would be granted a sixth franchise starting in the 2016 season, negating the need for relegation play-offs involving

350-553: A crossover tournament. In September 2020, the South African Rugby Union withdrew their four franchises from the competition, with plans for them to join the PRO14 . The Argentine Jaguares also left the competition. In August 2021 a 12-team format was confirmed, with the addition of the Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika, a team representing the Pacific islands. The tournament for 2022 and 2023

420-651: A four-point loss to fellow countrymen the Blues. In 2004 the Brumbies took revenge on their 2000 final loss to the Crusaders defeating them 47–38 in front of a home crowd. The Crusaders would bounce back to win the 2005 final 35–25 against the Australian side the New South Wales Waratahs who reached their first-ever final. This was the last year of the 12 team format. From the early 2000s Australia had started to push for

490-720: A four-team Africa 1 Conference a four-team Africa 2 Conference. While a Japanese team has been invited to participate in the Super Rugby competition from 2016, Japan was never a member of SANZAAR. 2020 was also the Sunwolves team's last year in Super Rugby competition. In 2017, the Australian Rugby Union was rebranded to Rugby Australia . Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and

560-668: A full member of SANZAAR from 2016. Three additional teams were included in the Super Rugby competition, one each from South Africa, Argentina and Japan. Two regional groupings were formed: the Australasian Group, with five teams in the Australian Conference and five teams in the New Zealand Conference and the South African Group, with six South African teams, one Argentinean team and one Japanese team split into

630-539: A home quarter final. They were joined by four wild card teams, three from the Australasian group and one from the South African group. From the 2018 season the format changed again, with two South African teams and an Australian team being dropped. There were three conferences, one containing the five New Zealand teams, a South African one including Argentina's team and an Australian one including Japan's team. Due to

700-787: A number of transnational competitions involving regional and provincial rugby union teams had taken shape in the southern hemisphere. The earliest of these was the South Pacific Championship , which was launched in 1986 and continued until 1990. After the demise of the South Pacific Championship, with no tournament played in 1991, the competition was relaunched as the Super 6 in 1992. The original Super 6 competition consisted of three provincial teams from New Zealand: Auckland , Canterbury , Wellington ; along with two Australian state teams: Queensland and New South Wales ; and also

770-676: A professional worldwide rugby competition funded by Kerry Packer , who had already developed professional cricket. At one point the WRC had a majority of the All Blacks and Wallaby teams signed up to their competition. However, the South African Rugby Union told the Springboks players that they would never play for their country again if they committed to the WRC, and they remained with the SARU. Most of

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840-572: The Australian Football League ( Australian rules ), is worth A$ 1.26 billion from 2012 to 2016. Even that figure was dwarfed by the TV contracts of the NFL , for which contracts at the time were worth more than US$ 4 billion annually. Peters added that the conference-based structure was ideal for expanding the competition to new territories, either by adding new conferences or by adding teams to

910-706: The British Lions (named "Combined British") when they toured Argentina in 1910 as part of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of the Revolución de Mayo . The match was played on 12 June and the Argentina side lost 28-3. Argentina officially joined The Rugby Championship following a meeting in Buenos Aires on November 23, 2011. They became a full member of SANZAAR , the body which operates Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship competitions in rugby union, from

980-516: The COVID-19 pandemic the competition had to undergo a change in structure and be split into regionalised tournaments. There were two national competitions, Australia's Super Rugby AU and New Zealand's Super Rugby Aotearoa , and those were followed by Super Rugby Trans-Tasman in 2021, a crossover competition involving the five Australian sides playing the five New Zealand sides. Super Rugby currently only consists of Australian and New Zealand sides, with

1050-504: The Cheetahs and Western Force teams for the expanded Super 14 competition. The SANZAR partnership was tested in 2007 after New Zealand removed its top 22 players from the Super 14 competition, and South Africa's removal of players from the Tri-Nations prompted calls for the Australian Rugby Union to cancel future matches against the Springboks. In 2009 there emerged concerns that South African Rugby Union might opt to break away from

1120-729: The Fiji national team . In 1993, the Super Six competition was revamped and expanded into the Super 10 tournament. With South Africa being readmitted into international sport following the dismantling of apartheid, there was an opportunity to launch an expanded competition which would also feature South Africa's top provincial teams. The inaugural competition featured the following teams: Waikato , Auckland , Otago and North Harbour (New Zealand); Natal , Northern Transvaal and Transvaal (South Africa); Queensland and New South Wales (Australia) and Western Samoa (Pacific Tri-Nations winner). The Super 10

1190-463: The Hurricanes 19–12. During the 2007 season, 22 All Blacks missed the competition's first seven rounds as part of an All Black "conditioning programme" that was a part of the All Blacks' 2007 Rugby World Cup preparations, and every New Zealand franchise was without players for the first seven rounds. At the end of the regular season, for the first time since 1998, no Australian franchise had made

1260-655: The SARU , was reportedly driven by internal union politics. With only five guaranteed places in Super Rugby but six active franchises, the bottom team in the South African Conference faced a promotion/relegation playoff with the sixth franchise for a place in the next season's competition. Australia and New Zealand warmed to the SARU proposal, as a trans-Tasman competition would potentially allow for more regional derbies, fewer time zone complications and less player travel. However, NZRU chief executive Steve Tew indicated that

1330-450: The South African Rugby Union , Brian van Rooyen. After van Rooyen was ousted as president, SARU announced that the Spears would not enter the competition. SARU investigated the viability of the Spears after discovering serious financial irregularities. A High Court of South Africa ruling stated that the Spears had a valid contract to compete in the Super 14 and Currie Cup. However, because of

1400-604: The Tri Nations Series , an annual competition between each country's Test teams. This concept was developed by Queensland Rugby Union CEO Terry Doyle, New South Wales Rugby Union CEO David Moffett and Australian Rugby Union CEO Bruce Hayman. Rian Oberholzer was the first CEO of SANZAR. SANZAR's proposals were under serious threat from the World Rugby Corporation (WRC), a company formed by lawyer Geoff Levy and former Wallaby player Ross Turnbull. Both wanted

1470-561: The 2016 season, its name was changed to SANZAAR following the inclusion of the Argentine Rugby Union as a full member of the organisation. SANZAR was formed in 1995, shortly after rugby's move to professionalism, to counter the threat of Australia's Super League , a new rugby league competition that offered large salaries to players. SANZAR proposed the Super 12 , an annual provincial competition with teams from all three countries, and

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1540-869: The 2020 Super Rugby competition to be cut short. As health concerns eased, other professional sports returned to play. The Super Rugby season was unable to resumed, however, due to border restrictions and the need for teams to be placed into quarantine upon arrival in each country. This resulted in New Zealand Rugby and Rugby Australia forming their own Super Rugby tournaments starting in June and July respectively, so that their teams could compete domestically. South African Rugby subsequently launched its own domestic Super Rugby competition which started play in October 2020. The three competitions formed were: Super Rugby Aotearoa featured all five New Zealand teams from Super Rugby:

1610-534: The All Blacks then followed them, and finally the Wallabies did too. To fund the competitions, SANZAR looked to News Limited , who was the Super League's broadcaster, eventually being offered $ 555 million over 10 years for worldwide television rights. In 2002, a proposal to expand the Super 12 to fourteen teams, supported by Australia and South Africa, was vetoed by the New Zealand Rugby Union . This led to calls for

1680-483: The Australian and South African teams to withdraw from the competition, but the partnership continued and the issue was revisited before the end of the original 10-year broadcasting deal. For the 2006 season, SANZAR agreed to expand the Super 12 competition with two new teams and to increase the number of Test matches played in the Tri-Nations. Licences were granted for franchises based in Bloemfontein and Perth, creating

1750-509: The Australian model of one franchise per union. This model differs from the traditional club-based model of other Australian sports; with 4 Super Rugby teams in Australia compared to the 16 Australian-based National Rugby League teams and the 18 teams of the Australian Football League . The Pacific Islands franchise, Moana Pasifika, played mainly in New Zealand during the 2022 season. The following sides have won Super Rugby titles since

1820-595: The Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders and Hurricanes. Super Rugby AU included Australia's four teams, the Reds, Waratahs, Brumbies and Rebels, as well as former Super Rugby side, the Western Force . The Force had continued as a franchise after their 2017 post-season exclusion from Super Rugby and were playing in Global Rapid Rugby , also suspended due to COVID-19. The Australian and New Zealand competitions each scheduled

1890-628: The Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers, with the Cheetahs and Kings losing their spots. The Cheetahs and Kings joined the Pro 12, which became the Pro14 from the 2017–2018 season onwards. On 11 August 2017, Australia announced that the Western Force had lost their licence. On 21 March 2019, SANZAAR confirmed that 2020 will be the Sunwolves last season of competition in Super Rugby. The global COVID-19 pandemic caused

1960-631: The Canterbury Crusaders became The Crusaders. Also South Africa followed the New Zealand franchise model, where previously South African participation was decided by the previous year's Currie Cup placings. SANZAR announced in December 2004 that a new five-year television deal had been signed that would cover 2006 to 2010, with News Corporation winning the rights for the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and SuperSport winning rights for South Africa. The contract

2030-649: The Japanese Sunwolves departing the competition after the 2020 season, the South African sides voting to leave to join an expanded PRO14 (Later known as the United Rugby Championship ), and the Argentine Jaguares not set to compete in any Super Rugby tournament in 2021. From 2022, the tournament reverted to round robin format featuring 12 teams, with the Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika joining

2100-477: The Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the Super 12 in the 1996 season with 12 teams from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, building on competitions dating back to the South Pacific Championship in 1986. The Super 12 was established by SANZAR after the sport became professional in 1995. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced

2170-483: The South Africans for years in business and sport . Part of their DNA is to take it to the brink. There's a moment when they will realise they have taken it far enough." On 20 May 2009, SANZAR announced it had reached agreement on a new deal involving all three nations beginning in the 2011 season. The deal for 2011 to 2015 included: Further expansion was agreed in 2015 to include the Argentine Rugby Union as

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2240-646: The Super 12, the Unions had a product that was in demand from viewers, enabling them to sell a 10-year contract for exclusive television rights to News Corp for US$ 555 million, giving them both coverage and financial support to kickstart the new competition. With significant sponsorship, and rugby turning a professional sport in August 1995, the Super 12 competition successfully kicked off in 1996 with five New Zealand franchises, four South African provinces and three domestic Australian teams competing. New Zealand's dominance of

2310-637: The addition of some English citizens who resided in Argentina. Its rival was formed by English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish people plus some Argentine-born players of English descent. On May 14, 1874, the Rugby Football Union rules were adopted to play rugby in Argentina. Those rules were used for the first time during the match contested at Buenos Aires Cricket Club between two teams from that institution. The teams were called El bando del Sr. Trench ("Mr. Trench's side"), and El bando del Sr. Hogg ("Mr. Hogg's side"). Nevertheless, other sources say that

2380-466: The alliance over a dispute about the proposed plan to expand Super Rugby to fifteen teams in 2011, voicing its support for the concept generally but disagreeing over its length and format. On 6 May 2009, however, ARU Chief Executive John O'Neill warned that the South Africans would be the real losers, missing out altogether and potentially losing players if they went ahead with the split. "The joint venture must remain intact", he urged. "I have dealt with

2450-593: The beginning of the Crusaders' three-year dominance as they went on to win the 1999 and 2000 finals over the Otago Highlanders and ACT Brumbies respectively. The 2001 season was the first in which no New Zealand franchise reached the final, being contested between the ACT Brumbies and Sharks with the Brumbies convincing winners, with a 36–6 scoreline. The Crusaders won their 4th final in 2002 winning all 11 matches and missed out on their 5th in 2003 with

2520-587: The competition began in the first year when the Auckland Blues won the inaugural competition defeating South African side the Sharks 45–21 in a home final. The Blues would repeat the success of 1996 beating Australian side the ACT Brumbies 23–7 in the 1997 final. The Blues then reached their third successive final in 1998 but went down to fellow countrymen the Canterbury Crusaders 13–20. This would mark

2590-488: The competition to split into three, the reformed competition in 2021 only included teams from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands. The name was changed to Super 14 with the addition of two teams for the 2006 season , and with expansion to 15 teams for the 2011 season , the competition was rebranded as Super Rugby (with no number). In 2016 two new teams, the Jaguares from Argentina and Sunwolves from Japan, joined

2660-666: The competition's inception in 1996. Argentine Rugby Union The UAR organises all the national teams, including Senior ( Pumas ) , U-20 ( Pumitas ) , Argentina XV , Sevens and Women's squads and the franchise Jaguares that participates in SANZAAR 's Super Rugby competition. The first rugby match in Argentina was played in 1873, in the Buenos Aires Cricket Club Ground sited in Palermo, Buenos Aires . Only 24 players (all of them were English ) could meet to contest

2730-561: The competition, playing in two newly separated African groups. In 2018, the Cheetahs, Kings and Western Force were dropped, leaving 15 teams. The Sunwolves left the competition before the end of the 2020 season. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Due to international travel restrictions relating to the pandemic, Rugby Australia and New Zealand Rugby held domestic tournaments, Super Rugby AU and Super Rugby Aotearoa respectively. Both these tournaments continued in 2021, to be followed by Super Rugby Trans-Tasman ,

2800-489: The competition. The two new teams didn't perform all that well, the South African franchise the Cheetahs did the better of the two teams finishing 10th on the ladder notching up 5 season wins. The Australian franchise the Western Force only managed one victory and ended winning the wooden spoon as last placed 14th. The highlight for the Force was a 23-all draw against eventual champions the Crusaders, who defeated first-time finalists

2870-503: The competition. There are no divisions from 2022 onwards, with one main log being used instead, and top 8 teams qualifying for the playoffs. Since 2022, each Super Rugby season has featured a "Super Round", where an entire round of Super Rugby matches is played over a weekend at a single stadium; both the 2022 and 2023 Super Rounds were played at AAMI Park in Melbourne , with the 2024 Super Round set to be played there as well. Before 1996,

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2940-519: The conclusion of the Super Rugby tournament; the Tri-Nations preceded the Rugby Championship before Argentina joined the competition. The organisation was formed in 1996 to establish and run the Super 12, and Tri-Nations Tournament. Prior to 2011, Super Rugby was a round-robin competition where each team played every other team once; a team had six or seven home games, and six or seven away games each. The winner received four competition points; if

3010-599: The country's existing four teams plus the Cheetahs , which draws its players from the Free State and Northern Cape Provinces . For the 2007 season, the Southern Spears , based in Port Elizabeth , were originally intended to replace the lowest-finishing South African team from the 2006 competition. However, the existing South African Super 14 franchises opposed the plan, which was pushed through by controversial president of

3080-453: The current conferences. He also discussed the possibility that offshore Super Rugby teams could be a home for surplus players from the SANZAR countries, keeping them in the SANZAR fold and away from European clubs. Prior to Super Rugby's broadcast contracts expiring after the 2015 season, SANZAR considered several alternatives for the competition's future organisation: The last proposal, made by

3150-399: The current five Australian and five New Zealand sides to be joined by Moana Pasifika , and a Fijian side. New Zealand Rugby has confirmed that it intends to partner with Fiji Rugby and Moana Pasifika, along with Australia going forward. In April 2021, it was announced that licences had been offered to the Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika ahead of joining Super Rugby in 2022. The new format

3220-541: The deal. Under the new deal, Australia and South Africa each got one extra team in the competition, and a third round of fixtures was added to the Tri Nations Series. The new Australian team in the competition was based in Perth and was named the Western Force . The addition of the new South African team led to considerable controversy, including government involvement. Finally, the five teams for 2006 were confirmed to be

3290-452: The first championship that same year , played by the five founding members. In the inaugural game, Lomas defeated Buenos Aires by 11-4. Lomas would be the first Argentine champion, winning the title at the end of the season. The sport requested affiliation with the International Olympic Committee (COI), who advised them to add Argentina to their name and so they became the "Unión Argentina de Rugby" on 29 November 1951. This body, one of

3360-479: The first game under the rules of rugby was played on Thursday, 14 May 1874, at David Mathven's country house, in Caballito, Buenos Aires . Buenos Aires FC also played the first inter-provincial rugby game in Argentina, when it faced Rosario AC in the city of Rosario , on 28 June 1886. In 1899, clubs Belgrano , Rosario , Lomas , Buenos Aires and Flores founded the "River Plate Rugby Union", naming Leslie William Corry-Smith as President. The body organized

3430-423: The fourth placed team, and the second placed team hosting the third placed team. The two winners then played the final at the home ground of the top surviving seed. There were 91 regular season games in total. Games were held over 14 weekends with each team receiving one bye . From 2011 – 2015 the format changed, with each country forming its own conference . Each team within a conference played each of

3500-423: The game was a draw two points were awarded to each team. The bonus points system was also used, where any team scoring four or more tries, and/or losing by seven points or less, receives an extra competition point. In 2016, the try bonus changed. A team now has to score three more tries than their opponents. The top four teams at the end of the round-robin phase then played semi-finals – the first placed team hosting

3570-423: The inclusion of a fourth Australian team, and South Africa for another team from its country. There was also speculation of including a team from the South Pacific Island nations, such as Fiji; or a combined Pacific Islanders team from Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. Argentina was also pushing for inclusion in the Super 12. In the early 2000s the provincial names from the New Zealand franchises were dropped, so, for example,

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3640-420: The match. The teams were named Bancos ("Banks" in Spanish) and Ciudad ("City") and formed with 11 and 13 players respectively. That same year, another match was played on the Polo Field of Flores AC , part of land owned by the Unzué family. The teams were called Inglaterra ("England") and El Mundo ("The World"). The first team was formed by Royal Navy officers that were temporarily in Buenos Aires, with

3710-645: The oldest rugby unions in the world, became a member of the International Rugby Board (IRB) after being invited to the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 . When the rest of the rugby union world went professional in 1995, the UAR decided to keep the game amateur. Also, the Buenos Aires clubs split off the UAR and formed the Unión de Rugby de Buenos Aires (URBA), which has the same status as other provincial unions. Argentine players who opt to go overseas to play professionally (historically in Italy and France , with an increasing number today playing in England ) remain eligible for national team selection (although this

3780-451: The organisation was considering adding franchises in Argentina, Japan and the United States in 2016, the first year of SANZAR's next television contract. This was also the year that rugby sevens entered the Olympics , which contributed towards increased interest in the sport in many countries, including Japan and the US. Australian sports broadcasting analyst Colin Smith noted that the addition of Japanese and American teams could result in

3850-414: The organisation's financial and administrative troubles, in November 2006 a settlement was reached. The Spears abandoned their legal case, and will continue to exist, but not compete in the Super 14. SANZAR rejected a proposal to split the Super 14 into two seven-team divisions, and decided to keep the competition in its traditional single-table format. Argentina and the Pacific Islands remained shut out of

3920-423: The other four teams from their own country twice and the other ten teams once each; the season has to end with a six-team finals series. There were four major compromises, however, designed to accommodate certain wishes of each country, that somewhat complicated the model: SANZAR announced in 2009 the addition of a fifth Australian team that would play in the expanded "Super Rugby" competition in 2011. The licence

3990-489: The other teams in its conference twice, once at home and once away. Each team then played four out of the five teams from each of the other conferences once. Competition points were awarded on a similar basis as before. The format of the finals also changed; it involved six teams: the top team in each of the three conferences plus the three next teams with the highest total number of points, regardless of conference. The four lower ranking teams were paired in two sudden death games;

4060-417: The semi-finals. Although the Brumbies were strong and the Western Force experienced vast improvement, it was a poor season for the Queensland Reds and Waratahs who finished last and second last respectively. Also, the competition featured the first all-South African final as the Sharks and Bulls , who finished 1–2 on the season ladder, both won their respective semi-finals. The final, held in Durban , saw

4130-465: The sixth South African franchise. SANZAR then announced on 20 November 2014 that Japan and Argentina would each be allocated a team from the 2016 season onwards. In 2017, the Australian Rugby Union was rebranded to Rugby Australia . In April 2017, SANZAAR confirmed the competition would be reduced to 15 teams in 2018 with two South African and one Australian team to have their franchises withdrawn. Subsequently, four South African teams took part:

4200-420: The team and have taken Rugby Australia to court over the decision. The Rebels will not take part in the 2025 Super Rugby season. There are eleven franchises currently in Super Rugby; four from Australia, one from Fiji, five from New Zealand, and one representing the Pacific Islands. Each franchise is representing a franchise area, with each franchise in New Zealand representing a collection of unions, compared to

4270-494: The three nations against each other. In addition it was decided to hold an annual Tri-Nations Test Series between the three countries. A significant reason for the development of the Super 12 was the threat to rugby union from rival football code rugby league : part of the business model for the Foxtel pay TV network in Australia was to attract subscribers by offering an exclusive product (such as rugby union) which could not be seen on free-to-air broadcast television. By setting up

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4340-453: The visiting Bulls win 20–19. During the time the competition was branded as the Super 14, only two teams won the tournament. The Crusaders winning the 2006 and 2008 tournaments; while the Bulls ended victorious in 2007, 2009, and 2010 respectively. SANZAR unveiled in 2009 its model for an expanded season that would begin in 2011. This model was based around the original ARU proposal for three national conferences: each side were to have played

4410-438: The winners of those two games each played one of the two top ranked teams (which received a bye at the start of the finals). Those winners played for the championship. For the 2016 and 2017 seasons the format changed again, with three more teams joining, one each from Argentina, Japan and South Africa. There were four conferences, with Africa getting two conferences. The finals had eight teams with each conference winner getting

4480-449: The withdrawal from Super Rugby of all of their teams, with plans for the four sides to join an expanded Pro14/United Rugby Championship competition. Super Rugby Aotearoa and Super Rugby AU continued in 2021, Super Rugby Trans-Tasman would also take place in 2021, a crossover competition featuring the Australian sides playing the New Zealand sides. In the longer term, a new 12-team tournament from 2022 onwards had been mooted, with

4550-472: Was awarded to Victoria , Australia, and the team's name announced as the Melbourne Rebels . The Australian start-up franchise was given the nod ahead of South Africa's Southern Kings . Brian Waldron, former CEO of the NRL club the Melbourne Storm , was confirmed as the new CEO of the Rebels on 11 January 2010, but resigned on 23 April after a salary cap breach was uncovered at the Storm. In February 2012, SANZAR chief executive Greg Peters announced that

4620-408: Was confirmed in August 2021, with the tournament branded as Super Rugby Pacific, with the competition returning to a round robin format, although the divisions will be replaced by one main log instead. In 2024, the Melbourne Rebels, following a period of financial difficulties and being placed into administration, were shut down by Rugby Australia. The Rebels board have challenged the decision to cut

4690-482: Was named Super Rugby Pacific . The competition has been dominated by New Zealand teams, who have won 19 times in 26 years. The Crusaders have won most often, with 12 titles. SANZAAR is the body that administers Super Rugby, and has the Australian , New Zealand , South African and Argentine rugby unions as its members. SANZAAR also runs the Rugby Championship tournament that is contested by Argentina , Australia , New Zealand , and South Africa following

4760-459: Was not originally the case). As a result, the national team was heavily, though not exclusively, made up of European-based players. In 2016, the UAR formed the Jaguares team to compete in the Super Rugby competition. Also, it established a policy of selecting Pumas players from Super Rugby teams only, thereby excluding players from European clubs. The first national team (under the name "The River Plate Rugby Football Union") made its debut against

4830-494: Was won by Transvaal (South Africa) in 1993, and by Queensland (Australia) in 1994 and 1995. The official declaration of professionalism in rugby union in August 1995 led to a restructuring of the Super 10 competition. Following the success of the 1995 World Cup , the rugby boards of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa formed SANZAR (South African, New Zealand and Australian Rugby) to administer an annual 12-team provincial/franchise based competition pitting regional teams from

4900-430: Was worth US$ 323 million over five years, a 16% annual increase compared to the previous deal. It covers international fixtures as well as the Super 14. SANZAR remained free to negotiate separate deals for other markets, such as France, Japan and the Americas. The TriNations is the "cash cow" for the SANZAR partners as it provides nearly 60 per cent of the money from News Ltd. The Super 14 made up about 30 per cent of

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