The new format of Super Rugby sees the inclusion once more of Eastern Cape franchise the Southern Kings, three years after their short stint in the competition in 2013. The 2016 edition of the world’s most prestigious rugby competition kicks off next week.
The new format of Super Rugby sees the inclusion once more of Eastern Cape franchise the Southern Kings, three years after their short stint in the competition in 2013. The 2016 edition of the world’s most prestigious rugby competition kicks off next week.
However, the reintroduction of the Kings is small change in comparison to the host of changes made to the format of the competition. This now hosts a total of 18 teams, including the Sunwolves (Japan) and the Jaguares (Argentina), and sees the introduction of a four conference tournament.
The four conferences are separated into two African conferences of eight teams in total, which include the Sunwolves and Jaguares, whilst the other two Australasian conferences comprise ten teams from Australia and New Zealand. The Kings are in the second African conference, alongside the Lions, Sharks and Jaguares.
The Kings will play a total of 15 matches, eight of which will be played in Port Elizabeth and seven away. They play each team in their conference twice, one home match and one away. They then play all the teams (four matches) in the other African conference before they play five teams from the Australasian conferences, some at home and some away, to bring the total to 15 matches.
After the first round, the leaders of all four conferences automatically qualify to host a home quarter final. Their opponents will be the wildcard teams – the next best placed teams in the combined conferences, with one wildcard from the African conferences and three from the Australasian conferences.
The new format means that teams will play one less game than before and will also have a reduced tour time, even with the introduction of a new tour match in either Japan or Argentina.
The Kings begin their Super Rugby campaign on Saturday 27 February when they play host to the Sharks at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
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