The Super 14 Rugby Union is the biggest rugby tournament in the Southern Hemisphere. This tournament is played between teams from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The matches are held are the supervision of a joint union between South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, called SANZAR.
Format: All the 14 teams in this tournament played against each other on a home-and away basis. At the end of the league stage, the top four teams advance to the semi-finals. From there the finalists are chosen who compete in the final. During the group stage, teams are awarded four points for a victory and two points for a draw. One bonus point is given to the team which scores four or more tries or when a team loses by seven points or less.
The tournament is held over a period of 14 weeks. During the group stage, the teams play their home matches on their home ground. However, there is no fixed venue for the semi-final and final of this tournament. For the semi-finals the higher ranked teams will get the advantage of playing on their home ground.
History: A tournament of this type was first held in 1986. It consisted of three teams from New Zealand, two teams from Australia and one team from Fiji. With the success of this meet it was expanded to Super 10 in 1993 with South African and Western Samoa sides also taking part. Fiji, however, pulled out of this tournament. In 1996, the meet was expanded again to accommodate 12 teams and came to be known as the Super 12.
The teams that take part in the Super 14 tournament are:
- Brumbies
- New South Wales Waratahs
- Queensland Reds
- Western Force
- Blues
- Chiefs
- Crusaders
- Highlanders
- Hurricanes
- Bulls
- Central Cheetahs
- Lions
- Sharks
- Stormers
The first four teams are from Australia while the next five are from New Zealand. The last five teams on the list come from South Africa.
