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Super 14

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Sports events

                        Super 14
   The current Super 14 logo
   Sport             Rugby union
   Founded           1996
   No. of teams      14
   Country           Flag of Australia  Australia,
                     Flag of New Zealand  New Zealand,
                     Flag of South Africa  South Africa
   Current champions Crusaders

   The Super 14 is the largest rugby union championship in the southern
   hemisphere, consisting of provincial teams from Australia, New Zealand
   and South Africa. The fourteen sides all compete against one another,
   with no divisional or pool system. Each team plays 13 games during the
   regular season which runs for fourteen weeks.

   The best four teams, finishing in the top four places on the
   competition ladder after the regular season, enter the finals leg of
   the tournament. The semi-finals are contested to decide the two
   finalists, which is played at the highest ranked winners' home ground,
   as opposed to a pre-selected neutral venue.

   The current competition was inaugurated in 1996, and from the first
   season through to 2005, the competition was known as Super 12; the name
   change came about following the expansion for the 2006 season. The term
   Super Rugby is sometimes used when talking about the Super 14 and Super
   12 collectively. Matches are now broadcast in 41 countries.

Naming rights

   The naming rights for the competition are different in the three
   countries:
     * In New Zealand, sporting goods retailer Rebel Sport has naming
       rights and the competition is referred to as the Rebel Sport Super
       14. Previously Ubix and then Telecom New Zealand (TNZ).
     * In Australia, the Investec Bank has naming rights and the
       competition is referred to as the Investec Super 14. Previously the
       Tooheys New Super 14, after the Tooheys New brand of the Tooheys
       brewery.
     * In South Africa, telecommunications company Vodacom has naming
       rights and the competition is referred to as the Vodacom Super 14.

The competition

   Force playing the Waratahs.
   Enlarge
   Force playing the Waratahs.

   The Super 14 is a round-robin competition with each team playing every
   other team once, with six or seven home games and six or seven away
   games. There are 91 regular season games in total. Games are held over
   14 weekends with each team receiving one bye. A team receives four
   points for a win, two for a draw, and none for a loss. Teams also
   receive a bonus point for scoring four tries, regardless of the final
   result. A bonus point is also earned by a team that loses a game by
   seven points (a converted try) or less. The top four teams at the end
   of the round-robin phase then play semifinals, with the first placed
   team hosting the fourth placed team and the second placed team hosting
   the third placed team. The two winners then play the final at the home
   ground of the top surviving seed.

The logo

   The Super 14 logo was designed by Coast Design, Sydney for the new
   competition in 2006. The new identity breaks away from the traditional
   shield formats, common to many sporting codes, and uses Roman numerals
   (XIV) which is unique for sport in the region. The game's dynamism and
   speed are suggested by the orbiting rugby ball which has three distinct
   stitches, a subtle reference to the three countries of the tournament.

   Prior to the expansion to the Super 14, the Super 12 used a logo in the
   shape of a shield, which had the sponsors name at the top, and then the
   words "Rugby" and "Super 12". The lower half of the logo used three
   different coloured stripes, green, black and gold, the respective
   colours of the national teams of South Africa, New Zealand and
   Australia.

History

Early competition

   Following the dramatic finish to the 1995 World Cup in South Africa,
   professionalism became a part of rugby union, which led to the
   establishment of a number of professional sports leagues. Prior to
   1995, regular competitive rugby union had taken shape in a number of
   southern hemisphere competitions, the earliest of which was the South
   Pacific Championship, which was launched in 1986. The original
   competition consisted of three teams from New Zealand; Auckland,
   Canterbury, Wellington along with two Australian teams; Queensland and
   New South Wales, and Fiji. The competition was relaunched as the Super
   Six (or the Super Sixes) in 1992, following Australia's win at the 1991
   World Cup. The competition proved so popular that it was restructured
   again following the first Super Six season. The competition was renamed
   the Super 10 (or the Super Tens) , which introduced South African
   teams, as well as Western Samoa in 1993 and 1994, and Tonga in 1995,
   with Fiji not participating.

Super 12

   Another significant reason for the development of the Super 12
   competition was the introduction, in Australia especially but also in
   other nations, of pay (or subscription) television. A key part of the
   business model for the Foxtel pay TV network in Australia was to
   attract subscribers by offering an exclusive product (such as rugby
   union) which could not be seen on free-to-air broadcast television.
   Another reason is that with the establishment of the Super League, the
   Rugby Unions were concerned that they would lose players, who were
   switching codes to follow the high salaries. Therefore by setting up
   the Super 12, the Unions had a product that was in demand from viewers,
   enabling them to sell a 10 year contract for exclusive television
   rights to News Corp for USD 555 million, giving them both coverage and
   financial support.

   The first Super 12 series was held in 1996, Australia, New Zealand and
   South Africa formed SANZAR (South African, New Zealand and Australian
   Rugby) to administer an annual 12-team provincial competition and
   Tri-Nations Test Series between the three countries. It was born out of
   the success of 1995 Rugby World Cup, pitting regional teams of the then
   three strongest rugby nations against each other.

   From the early 2000s Australia started to push for the inclusion of a
   fourth Australian team, and South Africa for another team from its
   country. There was also speculation of including a team from the South
   Pacific Island nations, such as Fiji; or a combined Pacific Islanders
   team from Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. Argentina was also pushing for
   inclusion in the Super 12.

Expansion

   In September 2004, SANZAR began negotiations for a new television deal
   to take effect in 2006. That December, SANZAR announced that a new TV
   deal had been signed, with News Corporation winning the rights for the
   UK, Australia and New Zealand and Supersport winning rights for South
   Africa. The contract is worth USD 323 million over five years, which is
   a 16% annual increase compared to the previous deal. It covers
   international fixtures as well as the Super 14. SANZAR remained free to
   negotiate separate deals for other markets, such as France, Japan and
   the Americas.

   Under the new deal, Australia and South Africa each got one extra team
   in the competition, and a third round of fixtures was added to the Tri
   Nations Series. The proposal also included the possibility of splitting
   the updated Super 14 into two seven-team divisions, but it was decided
   to keep the competition in its traditional single-table format.
   However, Argentina and the Pacific Islands remain shut out of the
   competition under this proposal.

   It was confirmed in 2005 that the new Australian team in the
   competition will be based in Perth and was named the Western Force. The
   addition of the new South African team led to considerable controversy,
   including government involvement. Finally, the five teams for 2006 were
   confirmed to be the country's existing four teams, plus the Central
   Cheetahs, which will draw its players from the Free State and Northern
   Cape Provinces.
   The Cats playing the Sharks.
   Enlarge
   The Cats playing the Sharks.

   In 2007, the Southern Spears, based in Port Elizabeth, were originally
   intended to replace the lowest-finishing South African team in the 2006
   table. As part of the same plan, the Spears were also guaranteed a
   place in the 2008 Super 14. After the 2007 season, the lowest-finishing
   South African team in that year's Super 14 table, other than the
   Spears, was to play a promotion/relegation test match against the team
   that was relegated in 2006. The plan included a similar test match in
   following years, with the Spears subject to possible relegation
   starting at the end of the 2008 season.

   However, the existing South African Super 14 franchises, plus the
   Cheetahs, strongly opposed the plan, which many believed to have been
   railroaded through by the controversial president of the South African
   Rugby Union, Brian van Rooyen. After van Rooyen was voted out as
   president in 2006, SARU announced that the Spears' future presence in
   the Super 14 would be reconsidered. On 19 April 2006, SARU officially
   announced that the Spears would not enter the competition; although new
   SARU president Oregan Hoskins said that the Spears franchise had not
   been killed off, their future as a franchise is now in doubt.

   SARU called for an investigation into the viability of the Spears
   franchise after discovering that the Spears could not account for ZAR
   4.6 million (USD 750,000) in funding that SARU provided to the Spears.
   Spears CEO Tony McKeever has been suspended as of May 16, 2006, pending
   investigation irregularities in the club's finances. The Spears'
   inclusion in the Currie Cup was also in doubt due to an anticipated
   exodus of players.

   In August, the Spears received a temporary reprieve when the High Court
   of South Africa ruled that they had a valid contract with SANZAR and
   SARU to compete in both the Super 14 and Currie Cup. However, the
   organisation's financial and administrative troubles continued, and in
   November 2006 the Spears and SARU reached a settlement. The Spears
   abandoned their legal case; while they will still exist as a legal
   entity, they now will not compete in Super Rugby in the foreseeable
   future.

Future

   On Sunday May 21, 2006, New Zealand Sunday newspaper, the Sunday Star
   Times revealed the All Black coach Graham Henry wanted to keep around
   30 of the country's top players out of the 2007 Super 14 season with
   the World Cup in the later stages of that year. On Monday May 22,
   stuff.co.nz ran an article that stated "Super 14 franchises appear
   ready to cop on the chin plans to keep leading All Blacks out of the
   first half of next year's competition".

   The franchises, New Zealand Rugby Union and Henry are to meet on
   Wednesday to further discuss the proposal. The 2007 season is believed
   to be scheleduled to start in mid-January, opposed to the February 10th
   start for the 2006 season.

   There have been reports that South Africa may withdraw from the Super
   14 post-2010. It has been speculated that South Africa may want to
   align themselves with European nations instead, due to the better time
   zone and travel issues. There are reports that South African officials
   feel they are disadvantaged due to the long away legs of the
   tournament. There has been speculation that the future may involve
   Argentine or Japanese teams.

Teams

   Overview of teams
   Country Team City/Area Stadium
   Australia Brumbies Australian Capital Territory and southern New South
   Wales. Canberra Stadium
   New South Wales Waratahs New South Wales north of Goulburn. Aussie
   Stadium
   Queensland Reds Queensland and far north New South Wales. Suncorp
   Stadium
   Western Force Western Australia. Subiaco Oval
   New Zealand Blues Northland Peninsula and most of metropolitan
   Auckland. Eden Park
   Chiefs Central and eastern North Island, including Hamilton. Waikato
   Stadium
   Crusaders North and central South Island, including Christchurch. Jade
   Stadium
   Highlanders Southern South Island, including Dunedin. Carisbrook
   Hurricanes Southern and southwestern North Island, including Wellington
   and Taranaki. Westpac Stadium
   South Africa Bulls Pretoria (plus East Rand and Limpopo Province).
   Loftus Versfeld
   Central Cheetahs Bloemfontein (Free State plus Northern Cape). Free
   State Stadium
   Lions Johannesburg (plus Mpumalanga and North West). Ellis Park Stadium
   Sharks Durban (KwaZulu-Natal). Kings Park Stadium
   Stormers Cape Town (plus northern Western Cape). Newlands Stadium

Past winners

   Super 12

   Year Final Losing semi-finalists
   Winner Score Runner-up 1^st losing semi-finalist 2^nd losing
   semi-finalist
   1996
   Details New Zealand
   Auckland Blues 45 - 21 South Africa
   Natal Sharks Australia
   Queensland Reds South Africa
   Northern Transvaal
   1997
   Details New Zealand
   Auckland Blues 23 - 7 Australia
   ACT Brumbies New Zealand
   Wellington Hurricanes South Africa
   Natal Sharks
   1998
   Details New Zealand
   Canterbury Crusaders 20 - 13 New Zealand
   Auckland Blues South Africa
   Costal Sharks New Zealand
   Otago Highlanders
   1999
   Details New Zealand
   Canterbury Crusaders 24 - 19 New Zealand
   Otago Highlanders Australia
   Queensland Reds South Africa
   Stormers
   2000
   Details New Zealand
   Crusaders 20 - 19 Australia
   Brumbies New Zealand
   Highlanders South Africa
   Cats
   2001
   Details Australia
   Brumbies 36 - 6 South Africa
   Sharks South Africa
   Cats Australia
   Reds
   2002
   Details New Zealand
   Crusaders 31 - 13 Australia
   Brumbies Australia
   Waratahs New Zealand
   Highlanders
   2003
   Details New Zealand
   Blues 21 - 17 New Zealand
   Crusaders New Zealand
   Hurricanes Australia
   Brumbies
   2004
   Details Australia
   Brumbies 47 - 38 New Zealand
   Crusaders South Africa
   Stormers New Zealand
   Chiefs
   2005
   Details New Zealand
   Crusaders 21 - 17 Australia
   Waratahs South Africa
   Bulls New Zealand
   Hurricanes

   Super 14

  Year               Final                       Losing semi-finalists
           Winner    Score   Runner-up   1^st losing semi-finalist  2^nd losing
                                                                   semi-finalist
 2006
 Details New Zealand
         Crusaders  19 - 12 South Africa
                            Hurricanes   Australia
                                         Waratahs                  South Africa
                                                                   Bulls

   Total wins
            Team           Wins Runner-up
   New Zealand Crusaders   6    2
   New Zealand Blues       3    1
   Australia Brumbies      2    3
   South Africa Sharks     0    2
   New Zealand Highlanders 0    1
   Australia Waratahs      0    1
   New Zealand Hurricanes  0    1

   Wins by Country
                Country               Wins Runner-up
   Flag of New Zealand  New Zealand   9    5
   Flag of Australia  Australia       2    4
   Flag of South Africa  South Africa 0    2

Trophy

   The Super 14 trophy is sterling silver and has the competition logo on
   a globe which sits atop of a four-sided twisted spiral, standing at 49
   centimetres high and weighing 2.7 kilogram.

   Jens Hansen Gold and Silversmith in Nelson, New Zealand hand made the
   trophy which took over two months to make, the same workshop made the
   gold ring in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

   On February 7th, a new Super 14 trophy was unveiled in Wellington, New
   Zealand for the expanded competition. In the first Super 14 final,
   played at Jade Stadium, in Christchurch, on May 27 2006, the Crusaders
   beat the Hurricanes 19-12.

   The final was characterised by being played in dense fog, rendering
   much of the game invisible to both the television audience and the
   crowd.

Super rugby records

Team records

     * Highest score: 96 – Crusaders v Waratahs (19), 2002
     * Lowest score: 0 – Bulls v Brumbies (15), 1999; Cats v Brumbies
       (64), 2000; Bulls v Highlanders (23), 2005; Brumbies v Blues (17),
       2006; Reds v Brumbies (36)
     * Highest winning margin: 77 – Crusaders v Waratahs (96-19), 2002
     * Highest score away: 60 – Blues v Hurricanes (7), 2002
     * Most consecutive wins: 15 – Crusaders, 2002/03
     * Most consecutive losses: 11 – Bulls, 2002
     * Most tries in a match: 14 – Crusaders v Waratahs, 2002
     * Most tries in a season: 71 – Crusaders, 2005
     * Fewest tries in a season: 15 – Blues, 1999, 2000
     * Most wins in a season: 11 – Crusaders, 2002 regular season
     * Fewest wins in a season: 0 – Bulls, 2002 regular season
     * Most wins in a row at home: 21 - Blues 1996-1998; Crusaders
       2004-2006

Firsts

     * First Super rugby try: Alama Ieremia, Blues v Hurricanes,
       Palmerston North, 1996
     * First Super rugby conversion: Jamie Cameron, Hurricanes v Blues,
       Palmerston North, 1996
     * First Super rugby penalty: Jamie Cameron, Hurricanes v Blues,
       Palmerston North, 1996

Individual records

Career

     * Points: 926 – Andrew Mehrtens, Crusaders
     * Tries: 57 – Joe Roff, Brumbies
     * Conversions: 148 – Matt Burke, Waratahs
     * Penalties: 195 – Andrew Mehrtens, Crusaders

Season

     * Points: 221 – Daniel Carter, Crusaders, 2006 (Previous by Andrew
       Mehrtens [206], in 1998 before expansion)
     * Tries: 15 - Joe Roff, Brumbies, 1997, Rico Gear, Crusaders, 2005
     * Conversions: 39 – Stirling Mortlock, Brumbies, 2000
     * Penalties: 43 – Andrew Mehrtens, Crusaders, 1999

Below the Super 14

   Each respective country competing in the Super 14 has a number of their
   own domestic leagues, which feed into Super franchises. South Africa
   actually used their Currie Cup teams as opposed to creating new
   franchises during the earlier years of the Super 12. However, the
   Currie Cup is now the third tier of rugby in South Africa, below Test
   and Super, it is played after the Super 14 season, and all clubs are
   aligned to a franchise, though it is mainly the big five, the Blue
   Bulls, Golden Lions, Natal Sharks, Free State Cheetahs and Western
   Province which contribute the most the Super 14 sides, and share a
   close identity with.

   In New Zealand, the Air New Zealand Cup is the most prominent domestic
   tournament below the Super 14, in which all the respective Unions are
   also aligned with Super franchises. In Australia however, their
   domestic rugby is not like that of South Africa and New Zealand, as
   they have lacked a national club competition, and have instead had
   state competitions. However, a new national club competition is set to
   be launched in 2007 to bridge the gap between Super 14 and club rugby,
   and will similar to the Currie Cup and Air New Zealand Cup.It will
   accommodate 3 teams from New South Wales, 2 from Queensland and one
   each from Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria.

SANZAR

   SANZAR is a joint union between the South African, New Zealand and
   Australian rugby Unions, that oversees the Super 14 and Tri Nations.
   There has always been rumors that South Africa may one day leave the
   Super 14/Tri Nations and join the Six Nations in the Northern
   Hemisphere, perhaps due to the the fact that the timezone would suit
   the move. Some Super 14 fans claim that the South Africans are
   sometimes at a bit of a disadvantage due to the long tours of
   Australasia.

   The Tri Nations takes place after the Super 14 season, between South
   Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Video games

   The Super 14 competition is featured in the Electronic Arts (EA) Rugby
   series. See Rugby 06.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_14"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
