Super Rugby Teams

where are the 18 Super Rugby teams from ?

Super Rugby has continually evolved and has been rebranded as Super Rugby Pacific.

Super Rugby Pacific is in its inaugural season after all the South African franchises pulled out of the tournament and moved to the northern hemisphere.

The new format has 12 teams from Australia (five), New Zealand (five) and the Pacific Islands (two). Fijian Drua was added from Fiji. Moana Pasifika is made up of a mixture of players from Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands.

The first three formats of Super Rugby in the professional era involved countries from the ‘Big Three’ southern hemisphere nations of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Super 12 (1996-2005), Super 14 (2006-2010) and Super Rugby (15 teams: 2011-2015) all included New Zealand, South African, and Australian provinces, clubs, states and franchises.

Major expansions and contractions before Covid-19 changed the rugby landscape

The competition expanded again, this time adding three more teams – Super Rugby (18 teams: 2016-2017). This format was short-lived as the tournament contracted back to 15 franchises (2018-2020).

Three different competitions were formed because of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. Super Rugby Aotearoa (five New Zealand teams: 2020-2021), Super Rugby AU (five Australian teams: 2020-2021), and Super Rugby Unlocked (seven South African teams: 2021) formed due to travel restrictions and various lockdowns in each of the countries.

Super Rugby Trans-Tasman (2021) was formed as a New Zealand and Australian combined tournament after South Africa withdrew from Super Rugby altogether in 2020.

Super Rugby Pacific was born out of the need to finally involve the Pacific Islands, so long forgotten and left aside by the major rugby unions.

For more news on a particular team or their history click on the Team name/Link that you are interested in at the very top of every page. Once you arrive at the “Team Page” look for the History link on the right which will take you to a page with detail on where the team is from and their history.

For your convenience, we have also posted the Team links below. These links are always available at the top of every page.