The best provincial competition in the world, Super Rugby, will expand to 15 teams in 2011 with the inclusion of the Melbourne Rebels and will also undergo a significant format revamp.
The new 3-conference system will see the 5 teams within each country play their 4 "local" rivals on a home and away basis. Highlights include:
More regular season matches in Australia
40 Super Rugby matches will be played in Australia each season as opposed to 26 under the current Super 14 structure (an increase of more than 50%).
Melbourne Rebels will play 12 of its 16 regular-season games on Australian soil – with only 4 matches overseas.
More local derbies in Australia
There will be 20 all-Australian local derbies in Australia each season compared to the current 6. Local derbies are traditionally the highest rating matches in Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne Rebels will play 8 games against other Australian teams in 2011, and will also play 4 of the 5 teams out of the NZ conference (2 home, 2 away).
More playoffs
50% more play-off matches at the end of the regular season matches. The top team in each conference will qualify for the finals and the other 3 teams to qualify for the playoffs will be the sides with the most number of competition points – regardless from which conference they come.
Broadcast reach
- Super Rugby will be broadcast throughout Australasia, Africa, Europe, North America and South America.
- All competition matches will be broadcast live on Foxtel in Australia, Sky Television in New Zealand and Supersport in South Africa. Matches will also be broadcast on BSKYB in the United Kingdom and Ireland, J Sports in Japan and Direct TV in the United States of America.
- Throughout the season, a weekly 1-hour highlights package will also be broadcast on free-to-air television on Channel 9 in Australia.