The structure for next season’s Super Rugby competition is reportedly in place after organisers in New Zealand and Australia came to an agreement over its basic format.
It’s understood the 12-team tournament will see every participant play 14 regular-season games, with the top eight finishers in the table advancing to the play-offs.
The post-season structure will reward those teams finishing higher in the table, with first facing eight, second going up against seventh, and so on.
The competition will feature five franchises apiece from New Zealand and Australia, while the Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika outfits will each make their Super Rugby debuts.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported the teams will play one game against each of the other 11 outfits, though there’s still debate over how to structure those three additional fixtures.
One proposal is for the matches to be randomly decided, but there are obvious difficulties with that method given it could leave some sides facing considerably easier schedules than others.
Another possibility is for teams to face sides from within the same domestic union, but that may favour Australia’s franchises given New Zealand has dominated the competition in recent years.
The New Zealand Herald reported that proposal was swiftly shot down: “Their request was not granted amid concerns that the competition would instantly lack integrity if there was a heavy weighting on local derbies – with New Zealand sides having argued in the past that this creates inequity and sets them a much harder path to reach the finals than their Australian rivals.
“A formula is being developed based on how the Trans-Tasman table finished this year and the only certainty to date is that the two new teams, Moana Pasifika and Fiji Drua, will definitely play each other twice in 2022.”
Clubs from New Zealand have lifted the last five straight Super Rugby titles, with Crusaders responsible for the last three of those (2017-19).
It was also two Kiwi teams that contested the inaugural Super Rugby Trans-Tasman final in June, not to mention taking the top five table places when New Zealand faced their Aussie counterparts.
News of the two unions reaching a general agreement comes at a time when New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and Rugby Australia (RA) are in a state of conflict regarding the international game.
The All Blacks recently cancelled plans to travel to Perth to continue their Rugby Championship campaign following several outbreaks of Covid-19 in both New Zealand and Australia.
That’s led Rugby Australia to propose new plans to delay their Bledisloe III clash on August 28 until September 4, seeking A$5million (£2.6m) in compensation if the fixture is shelved again.
It’s understood the 2022 Super Rugby season will kick off in February with plans to conclude the campaign in mid-June, identical to the old format prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
