Super Rugby 2022
Gallagher Chiefs
New South Wales Waratahs
Super Rugby 2022
Personalise Wellington Hurricanes Super Rugby 2022 Away Jersey
Otago Highlanders
Canterbury Crusaders
Personalise Canterbury Crusaders Super Rugby 2022 Away Jersey
Queensland Reds
Queensland Reds
Super Rugby Pacific 2022
The 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season will be the 27th Super Rugby season. It is scheduled to run from 18 February to 18 June. The format of the competition is changing with the introduction of a new name, as well as reverting back to a 12-team competition, with a single pool replacing the current conference system, along with the standardization of match schedule and an increase in matchday roster size. The inaugural champions were decided in round 3 on 26 March, where winners of Losi Filipiano and Tamanivalu Tian Sino won their respective matches. The final was contested on 18 June at Fiji National Stadium in Suva.
With the exclusion or withdrawal of the Argentine Jaguares, the Japanese Sunwolves, and the South African Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers sides at the conclusion of the 2020 Super Rugby season, three new teams were announced to make up the 12 team tournament. The Fiji Rugby Union's domestic team, the Fijian Drua, having previously competed in the Australian National Rugby Championship from 2017 to 2019, was announced as one addition to the competition. The newly created Moana Pasifika franchise, representing players from Samoa and Tonga and other Pacific Islands, also successfully put forth a bid to join the competition. The Force also returned to Super Rugby, following their exclusion at
Two weeks before the season kick-off, the competition was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Blues announced their Round 1 and Round 4 home matches (against the Force and Rebels respectively) would be moved to away games in Perth, however, this caused a backlash from Warriors fans who threatened to not support the Warriors due to them playing away games 'behind enemy lines', in Perth. It was announced the New Zealand sides (and Moana Pasifika) would enter a bio-bubble in Queenstown, New Zealand during their entirety of NZ-based matches being played at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin or Wakatipu Rugby Club, Queenstown.
The current teams for the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season are:
ACT Brumbies
The Brumbies are an Australian professional rugby union team based in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. They compete in Super Rugby and are named for the feral horses which inhabit the capital's hinterland, as well as some of the surrounding areas.
The Brumbies were formed in 1996 to provide a third Australian franchise for the newly formed Super 12 (now Super Rugby) competition. It was predicted that the Brumbies, made up of so-called 'reject' – players not wanted by the other two teams – would perform poorly. However, since then, they have enjoyed more success than all the other Australian teams combined, reaching seven finals and winning three.
The Brumbies are traditionally known for their strong tactical kicking, set-piece play, ball retention, and pressuring of opponents in their own half. The Brumbies are one of only two Super Rugby teams to win 200 games.
Queensland Reds
The Queensland Reds are a professional rugby union team based in Brisbane, the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland. They compete in Australia's Super Rugby competition and are one of two Australian teams, along with the New South Wales Waratahs. Their home ground is Lang Park.
The Reds were originally established as one of three Super 12 teams for the inaugural season of the competition, which kicked off in 1996. In 2004 they won the Super 12 title when they defeated the Canterbury Crusaders 27–16 at Christchurch Stadium.
New South Wales Waratahs
We've been in Sydney since the beginning, and that's not something we're ever going to change. The Waratahs have grown and changed along with the city—but we've never forgotten what it was like when we were just starting out. That's why we're proud of our team's roots and our city's history, and that's why we're committed to taking care of our community and fans. We take care of you—you take care of us!
The New South Wales Waratahs have been an important part of Sydney for over a century, dating back to their origins as the Wallaroos in 1903. The team is one of Australia's oldest rugby union clubs.
Canterbury Crusaders
The Crusaders, also known as the Canterbury Crusaders or BNZ Crusaders (thanks to sponsorship by the Bank of New Zealand), are a professional rugby union team based in Christchurch, New Zealand. They compete in the Super Rugby competition.
They are the most successful team in the competition's history and have won ten titles. These titles took place in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The Crusaders were formed in 1996 to represent the upper South Island of New Zealand in Super 12. The Crusaders represent the Buller, Canterbury, Mid-Canterbury, South Canterbury, Tasman and West Coast provincial Rugby Unions.
Their main home ground since 2012 has been Rugby League Park (known for sponsorship reasons as Orangetheory Stadium). Prior to that, they played out of Lancaster Park until it was damaged beyond repair in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
The Crusaders are the most recent Super Rugby champions and have also won both editions of Super Rugby Aotearoa.
Gallagher Chiefs Or Waikato Chiefs
The Chiefs are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Hamilton, New Zealand. The team competes in the Super Rugby competition, previously known as the Super 12 and Super 14, and is one of the competition's five New Zealand teams. Their primary home ground is Waikato Stadium.
Until 2004, the Chiefs were the only New Zealand side never to have qualified for the Super 12 semi-finals. In that year the Chiefs earned their first semi-final berth, and in the end, achieved fourth place (defeated 37–20 in the semi-final by the ACT Brumbies). They subsequently reached 2009 final, but found themselves on the short end of a record 61–17 defeat by the Bulls.
The Chiefs were rewarded with a home final after a strong 2012 season. They defeated the Sharks 37–6, winning their first title. In 2013, they beat the Brumbies 27–22 at Waikato Stadium, to become the first team to win back to back titles in a decade.
Western Force
The Western Force is a professional rugby union team based in Perth, Australia. They currently compete in Super Rugby AU and Super Rugby Trans-Tasman and have previously played in the National Rugby Championship and Global Rapid Rugby.
The team was formed in 2005 as part of the expansion of Super Rugby, which was previously limited to teams from New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. They officially began playing in 2006 and competed in Super Rugby until they were removed from the competition in 2017.
In 2020 they returned to international competition after being invited to play in the domestic Super Rugby AU competition following the cancellation of the 2020 Super Rugby season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Auckland Blues
The Blues are a professional rugby union team based in Auckland, New Zealand. They play in the Super Rugby competition and were established by the NZRU in 1996. As one of the more successful teams in Super Rugby history, the Blues won the competition in its first two seasons (1996 and 1997) and again in 2003. Additionally, the team were finalists in 1998 and semi-finalists in 2007 and 2011.
Wellington Hurricanes
The Hurricanes are a professional rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in Super Rugby. The Hurricanes were formed to represent the lower North Island, including the East Coast, Hawke's Bay, Horowhenua Kapiti, Manawatu, Poverty Bay, Wairarapa-Bush, Wanganui and Wellington unions. They currently play at Sky Stadium (formerly named Westpac Stadium), having previously played at the now-defunct Athletic Park.
In 1996, the Hurricanes had a poor first season in Super 12 and only managed to place last. But the team rebounded in 1997 with a third placing. From 1997 to 2002, though, they struggled to avoid the bottom four of the table. Since 2003, they have made the post-season playoffs seven times out of fourteen seasons—including the 2006 final, which they lost in foggy weather against the Crusaders 19–12. After hosting but failing to win the final in 2015, 2016 was their best season yet. They won 20-3 against the Lions, after again finishing the regular season first and hosting the final.
Fijian Drua
The Fijian Drua joined the Australian National Rugby Championship in 2017, dominating their first season with ten wins and one defeat, defeating the Canberra Vikings in the final. The side finished second in 2018, losing to the Queensland Country side by a single point. The team finished third in 2019 and did not advance from the preliminary finals.
Melbourne Rebels
The Melbourne Rebels (meaning a person who rebels against a cause) is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They were the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia, until 2017 when shares in the franchise were returned to the Victorian Rugby Union. The club shares its name with a former Australian Rugby Championship team, but is unrelated. The team plays home matches at AAMI Park.
The Rebels were created in 2009 as one of two new franchises to join the expanded Super Rugby competition, which increased from 15 teams to 18 teams that year. The Melbourne-based team became the third Victorian side to be admitted into Super Rugby; joining the established Brumbies and Waratahs sides.
In their inaugural season, the Rebels finished 13th on the table, winning only 4 of 16 games. In 2012, they finished in seventh place. In 2013, they improved one position to finish at 6th place, narrowly missing out on making the finals for the first time since inception. However, they did manage to qualify for only their second finals appearance after finishing 5th in 2016, although they lost by 71–19 against eventual
Otago Highlanders
The Highlanders are a New Zealand based rugby team that play in the Super Rugby competition. They were formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island of New Zealand, and include the Otago, North Otago, and Southland unions. The Highlanders take their name from the Scottish immigrants that helped found these regions in the 1840s and 1850s, who were known as 'Highlanders'.
The Highlanders main home ground is Forsyth Barr Stadium, a brand new state-of-the-art stadium that opened during the 2011 Rugby World Cup. They also play some games at other locations throughout their region.
In 1996 the Highlanders were formed as one of five New Zealand Super Rugby sides for the new competition. They finished their inaugural season eighth, and the following season finished last after winning only three of eleven matches. However, in 1998, 1999 and 2000 seasons they qualified for semi-finals; hosting the 1999 competition final against fellow South Island team the Crusaders. They lost the match 24–19, and the following year was again knocked out by the Crusaders—this time in their semi-final. In the following fifteen seasons, they would only finish in the top four once more, in 2002. But in 2015, they have crowned Super Rugby champions after beating the Hurricanes at Westpac Stadium.
Former Highlander, Ben Smith has played a record 129 games for the Highlanders,[needs update] and thirteen other players have played over 50 games for the team. The Highlanders' highest career points scorer is Lima Sopoaga with 866 points, and the highest career try scorer is Waisake Naholo with 45 tries. They are currently coached by Tony Brown and are captained by Aaron Smith.
Moana Pasifika
Moana Pasifika is a rugby union team which was originally created for a one-off match against the Māori All Blacks in December 2020. The team is made up of players from various Pacific island nations as well as New Zealand or Australian born players of Pasifika heritage, including Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands.
On April 14th 2021, New Zealand Rugby confirmed the side had been granted a conditional license to join the Super Rugby competition. On July 12th 2021, the team was granted an unconditional license, confirming them for the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season. The side played its inaugural Super Rugby match on 4th March 2022.
