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Super Rugby to mark 30th anniversary with tweaks to finals format / Photo: © AFP
NYSE - LSE
Super Rugby to mark 30th anniversary with tweaks to finals format
Super Rugby will mark its 30th anniversary next year with the first of 77 matches kicking off on February 13, officials said Thursday, while tweaks were made to its finals format.
The Canterbury Crusaders open the season against the Otago Highlanders in Dunedin after securing their 13th title with a 16-12 victory over the Waikato Chiefs this year.
"Thirty years on from the first Super Rugby season, the competition continues to deliver what makes it special -– world-class players, high-octane rugby and a connection to communities right across the Pacific," said Super Rugby chief Jack Mesley.
Each of the 11 teams in New Zealand and Australia's top club competition will play 14 matches across a 16-round regular season.
That is followed by a six-team finals series, which comes with a tweak to the "lucky loser" format.
Instead of being penalised one seeding, as they were last year, the highest-ranked losing team from the qualifying finals will now progress as fourth seed.
That will ensure they play away from home in the semi-finals and final, should they qualify -- this year the top-ranked Chiefs were beaten in a qualifying final but still got to host a semi.
The competition has also brought back its "Super Round", where all teams descend on the same city for a bumper weekend of five matches.
It will be held from April 24-26 in Christchurch to mark the opening of the One New Zealand Stadium, a replacement for Lancaster Park which was damaged in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and demolished in 2019.
T.Martin--SFF
