List of Super Rugby champions

Crusaders and Bulls competing for a line-out in 2006. Between them, the teams have won ten Super Rugby titles as of the 2010 tournament.

Super Rugby is the major professional rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere.^[1] The competition began as Super 12 in 1996, consisting of 12 teams from Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. An extra Australian and South African team were added in 2005 and the name was changed to Super 14. A fifteenth team joined in 2011 and the competition was rebranded as Super Rugby.^[1] The current format consists of three conferences of five teams from each country. Teams play other members of their conference twice (home and away) and four teams from each of the other two conferences once. The top team in each conference and the next best three over all conferences advance to the finals.^[2] In all previous formats there were no conferences and each team played every team once, with the top four progressing to the finals. The tournament is organised and governed by SANZAAR (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentine Rugby). Super Rugby is considered a successor to the Super Six (1992) and Super 10 (1993–1995), although SANZAR did not administer those tournaments.^[3]

Competition structure

1996–2010

Every season, each team played every other Super 12 team (Super 14 from 2006) once, in a round-robin. The venues for regular season matches alternated each year, so that teams would not play one another at the same venue in consecutive seasons unless they met in the play-offs. The tournament used the rugby union bonus points system; teams were awarded four points for a win, two for a draw, and none for a loss. They received bonus points for scoring four or more tries in a match, and/or for a loss by seven or fewer points.^[4]

After each team had completed their regular season matches, the top 4 teams qualified for the semi-finals. Semi-finals were held under a Shaughnessy playoff system; the first placed team in the table hosted the fourth placed, and second hosted third. The winner of each semi-final advanced to the final, held at the home ground of whichever team amassed more points in the round-robin table.^[5]

2011–2015

In 2011, Melbourne Rebels joined the Super Rugby competition, meaning that Australia, New Zealand and South Africa would each be represented by five teams. The tournament format was also changed. Teams are divided into three conferences; one per country.^[6] Each team plays other teams in the same conference home and away, and plays eight further matches against teams from other conferences, for a total of sixteen games.^[7] Each team receives two byes throughout a season; from 2014 no points are added to the team's total on the day a bye is allocated.^[8] The highest placed team in each conference qualifies for the finals stage, along with three highest scoring teams which were not conference winners. The two highest scoring teams advance straight to the semi-finals, while the 3rd to 6th placed teams play-off to decide which two teams advance to the semis. The format of the semi-finals and final is the same as that previously used in the Super 14.^[9] The bonus points system has also been retained, with the single addition that a team receives four points for each bye.^[10]

2016–

2016 saw the tournament expand to 18 teams with the inclusion of an Argentine team and Japanese team. The South African conference was split in two with the Sunwolves in South African conference 1 and Jaguares in South African conference 2. South African conference 1 teams will play Australian and New Zealand teams in alternative years with South African conference 2 teams. Every team plays 16 games in the regular season with the top 8 teams qualifying for the quarter-finals 1 v 8 etc. with each conference winner being seeded 1-4.

Key

Symbol	Meaning
	Team won the season's Super Rugby competition.
Points	The word "points" in the table refers to points scored on the field of play.
Diff	Difference between points scored and points conceded on the field of play.
BP	Bonus points
TP	Table points
Points For	Amount of points scored by a team
Points Against	Amount of points scored against a team

Tournaments

Teams mentioned are those that qualified for the play-off rounds. Results are written so that the score of the team in each row is mentioned first. The highlighted team won that season's Super Rugby final.^[11][12]

Note. For 1996 and 1997, it was the policy of the South African Rugby Union to send the top four teams of the previous year's Currie Cup to the Super 12. This resulted in the Sharks, Transvaal, Northern Transvaal and Western Province playing in 1996 and the Sharks, the Gauteng Lions, Free State Cheetahs and Northern Transvaal playing in 1997. In 1998, South Africa set up four (and later five, then six) Super Rugby regions, similar to the policy adopted by the New Zealand Rugby Union. For these areas, please see Super Rugby franchise areas.^[11]

Super 12 champions (1996–2005)

Year	Duration	Table position	Team	Games				Points			BP	TP	Semi score	Final score	Refs
				played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
1996	28 February – 31 May	1	Reds	11	9	0	2	320	247	+73	5	41	25–43	—	[13]
		2	Blues	11	8	0	3	408	354	+54	9	41	48–11	45–12
		3	Northern Transvaal	11	8	0	3	329	208	+121	6	38	11–48	—
		4	Sharks	11	6	0	5	389	277	+112	9	33	43–25	12–45
1997	1 March – 25 May
		1	Blues	11	10	1	0	435	283	+152	8	50	55–36	23–7	[14]
		2	Brumbies	11	8	0	3	406	291	+115	9	41	33–20	7–23
		3	Hurricanes	11	6	0	5	416	314	+102	10	34	20–33	—
		4	Sharks	11	5	2	4	321	350	–29	6	30	36–55	—
1998	27 February – 30 May	1	Blues	11	9	0	2	388	296	+92	7	43	37–31	13–20	[15]
		2	Crusaders	11	8	0	3	340	260	+80	9	41	36–32	20–13
		3	Coastal Sharks	11	7	0	4	329	263	+66	8	36	32–36	—
		4	Highlanders	11	7	0	4	343	279	+64	6	34	31–37	—
1999	26 February – 30 May	1	Reds	11	8	1	2	233	170	+63	2	36	22–28	—	[16]
		2	Stormers	11	8	0	3	290	244	+46	4	36	18–33	—
		3	Highlanders	11	8	0	3	280	203	+77	3	35	33–18	19–24
		4	Crusaders	11	7	1	3	322	262	+60	3	33	28–22	24–19
2000	25 February – 27 May	1	Brumbies	11	9	0	2	393	196	+197	9	45	28–5	19–20	[17]
		2	Crusaders	11	8	0	3	369	293	+76	7	39	37–15	20–19
		3	Highlanders	11	6	0	5	310	280	+30	8	32	15–37	—
		4	Cats	11	7	0	4	320	334	–14	4	32	5–28	—
2001	23 February – 26 May
		1	Brumbies	11	8	0	3	348	204	+144	8	40	36–6	36–6	[18]
		2	Sharks	11	8	0	3	322	246	+76	6	38	30–12	6–36
		3	Cats	11	7	0	4	285	244	+41	6	34	12–30	—
		4	Reds	11	6	0	5	300	277	+23	8	32	6–36	—
2002	22 February – 25 May
		1	Crusaders	11	11	0	0	469	264	+205	7	51	34–23	31–13	[19]
		2	Waratahs	11	8	0	3	337	284	+53	7	39	10–51	—
		3	Brumbies	11	7	0	4	374	230	+144	10	38	51–10	13–31
		4	Highlanders	11	8	0	3	329	207	+122	6	38	23–34	—
2003	21 February – 24 May
		1	Blues	11	10	0	1	393	185	+208	9	49	42–21	21–17	[20]
		2	Crusaders	11	8	0	3	358	263	+95	8	40	39–16	17–21
		3	Hurricanes	11	7	0	4	324	284	+40	7	35	16–39	—
		4	Brumbies	11	6	0	5	358	313	+45	7	31	21–42	—
2004	20 February – 22 May
		1	Brumbies	11	8	0	3	408	269	+139	8	40	32–17	47–38	[21]
		2	Crusaders	11	7	0	4	345	303	+42	6	34	27–16	38–47
		3	Stormers	11	7	0	4	286	260	+26	5	33	16–27	—
		4	Chiefs	11	7	0	4	274	251	+23	5	33	17–32	—
2005	25 February – 28 May
		1	Crusaders	11	9	0	2	459	281	+178	9	45	47–7	35–25	[22]
		2	Waratahs	11	9	0	2	322	174	+148	8	44	23–13	25–35
		3	Bulls	11	7	0	4	301	229	+72	6	34	13–23	—
		4	Hurricanes	11	8	0	3	281	248	+33	2	34	7–47	—

Super 14 champions (2006–2010)

Year	Duration	Table position	Team	Games				Points			BP	TP	Semi score	Final score	Refs
				played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
2006	February 10 – May 27
		1	Crusaders	13	11	1	1	412	210	+202	5	51	35–15	19–12	[23]
		2	Hurricanes	13	10	0	3	328	226	+102	7	47	16–14	12–19
		3	Waratahs	13	9	0	4	362	192	+170	9	45	14–16	—
		4	Bulls	13	7	1	5	355	290	+65	7	38	15–35	—
2007	February 2 – May 19
		1	Sharks	13	10	0	3	355	214	+141	5	45	34–18	19–20	[24]
		2	Bulls	13	9	0	4	388	223	+165	6	42	27–12	20–19
		3	Crusaders	13	8	0	5	382	235	+147	10	42	12–27	—
		4	Blues	13	9	0	4	355	235	+120	6	42	18–34	—
2008	February 15 – May 31
		1	Crusaders	13	11	0	2	369	176	+193	8	52	33–22	20–12	[25]
		2	Waratahs	13	9	1	3	255	186	+69	5	43	28–13	12–20
		3	Sharks	13	9	1	3	271	209	+62	4	42	13–28	—
		4	Hurricanes	13	8	1	4	310	204	+106	7	41	22–33	—
2009	February 13 – May 30
		1	Bulls	13	10	0	3	338	271	+67	6	46	36–23	61–17	[26]
		2	Chiefs	13	9	0	4	338	236	+102	9	45	14–10	17–61
		3	Hurricanes	13	9	0	4	380	279	+101	8	44	10–14	—
		4	Crusaders	13	8	1	4	231	198	+33	7	41	23–36	—
2010	February 12 – May 29
		1	Bulls	13	10	0	3	436	345	+91	7	47	39–24	25–17	[27]
		2	Stormers	13	9	0	4	365	171	+194	8	44	25–6	17–25
		3	Waratahs	13	9	0	4	385	288	+97	7	43	6–25	—
		4	Crusaders	13	8	1	4	388	295	+93	7	41	24–39	—

Super Rugby champions (2011– 2015)

Year	Duration	Table position	Team	Conference position	Games				Points			BP	TP	Qualifier score	Semi score	Final score	Refs
					played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
2011	February 18 – July 9
		1	Reds	1	16	13	0	3	429	309	+120	6	66	—	30-13	18–13	[28]
		2	Stormers	1	16	12	0	4	400	257	+143	7	63	—	10-29	—
		3	Crusaders	1	16	11	1	4	436	273	+163	7	61	36-8	29-10	13-18
		4	Blues	2	16	10	1	5	405	335	+70	10	60	26-13	13-30	—
		5	Waratahs	2	16	10	0	6	398	252	+146	9	57	13–26	—	—
		6	Sharks	2	16	10	1	5	407	339	+68	7	57	8–36	—	—
2012	February 24 – August 4
		1	Stormers	1	16	14	0	2	350	254	+96	2	66	—	19-26	—	[29][30]
		2	Chiefs	1	16	12	0	4	444	358	+86	8	64	—	20-17	37-6
		3	Reds	1	16	11	0	5	359	347	+12	6	58	17-30	—	—
		4	Crusaders	2	16	11	0	5	485	343	+142	9	61	28-13	17-20	—
		5	Bulls	2	16	10	0	6	472	369	+103	11	59	13-28	—
		6	Sharks	3	16	10	0	6	436	348	+88	11	59	30-17	26-19	6-37
2013	February 16 – August 4
		1	Chiefs	1	16	12	0	4	458	364	+94	10	66	—	20-19	27-22	[31]
		2	Bulls	1	16	12	0	4	448	330	+118	7	63	—	23-26	—
		3	Crusaders	2	16	11	0	5	446	307	+139	8	60	38-9	19-20	—
		4	Brumbies	1	16	10	2	4	430	295	+135	8	60	15-13	26-23	22-27
		5	Reds	2	16	10	2	4	321	296	+25	6	58	9-38	—	—
		6	Cheetahs	2	16	10	0	6	382	258	+24	6	54	13-15	—	—
2014	February 16 – August 2
		1	Waratahs	1	16	12	0	4	481	272	+209	10	58	—	26-8	33-32	[32]
		2	Crusaders	1	16	11	0	5	445	322	+123	7	51	—	38-6	32-33
		3	Sharks	1	16	11	0	5	406	203	+113	6	50	31-27	6-38	—
		4	Brumbies	2	16	10	0	6	412	378	+34	5	45	32-30	8-26	—
		5	Chiefs	2	16	8	2	6	384	378	+6	8	44	30-32	—	—
		6	Highlanders	3	16	8	0	8	401	442	-41	10	42	27-31	—	—
2015	February 13 – July 4
		1	Hurricanes	1	16	14	0	2	458	288	+170	10	66	—	29-9	14-21	[33]
		2	Waratahs	1	16	11	0	5	409	313	+96	8	52	17-35	17-35	—
		3	Stormers	1	16	10	1	5	373	323	+50	3	45	19-39	—	—
		4	Highlanders	2	16	11	0	5	450	333	+117	9	53	24-14	35-17	21-14
		5	Chiefs	3	16	10	0	6	372	299	+73	8	48	14-24	—	—
		6	Brumbies	2	16	9	0	7	369	261	+108	11	47	39-19	9-29	—

Super Rugby champions (2016– )

Year	Duration	Table position	Team	Conference position	Qualifying path	Games				Points			BP	TP	QF score	Semi score	Final score	Refs
						played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff
2016	February 26 – August 6
		1	Hurricanes	1	1st NZ Conf	15	11	0	4	458	314	144	9	53	41-0	25-9	20-3	[34]
		2	Lions	1	1st AF2 Conf	15	11	0	4	535	349	186	8	52	42-25	42-30	3-20
		3	Highlanders	2	NZ/AU wc	15	11	0	4	422	273	149	8	52	15-9	30-42	-
		4	Chiefs	3	NZ/AU wc	15	11	0	4	491	341	150	7	51	60-21	9-25	-
		5	Stormers	1	1st AF1 Conf	15	10	1	4	440	274	166	9	51	21-60	-	-
		6	Crusaders	4	NZ/AU wc	15	11	0	4	487	317	170	6	50	25-42	-	-
		7	Brumbies	1	1st AU Conf	15	10	0	5	425	326	99	3	43	9-15	-	-
		8	Sharks	2	AF wc	15	9	1	5	360	269	91	5	43	0-41	-	-

Winners

By club

Team	Combined	Super 12	Super 14	Super Rugby
Crusaders	7	5	2	0
Blues	3	3	0	0
Bulls	3	0	3	0
Brumbies	2	2	0	0
Chiefs	2	0	0	2
Reds	1	0	0	1
Waratahs	1	0	0	1
Highlanders	1	0	0	1
Hurricanes	1	0	0	1

By country

Country	Winning teams	Total wins
New Zealand	Crusaders Blues Chiefs Highlanders Hurricanes	14
Australia	Brumbies Reds Waratahs	4
South Africa	Bulls	3

References

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