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Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hemisphere competitions dating back to the South Pacific Championship in 1986, Super Rugby started as the Super 12 in the 1996 season with 12 teams from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The Super 12 was established by SANZAR after the sport became professional in 1995. After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the competition to split into three, the reformed competition in 2021 only included teams from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands.
The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board and the non-racial South African Rugby Union (SACOS), and took up its current name in 2005.
Rugby union in Australia has a history of organised competition dating back to the late 1860s. Although traditionally most popular in Australia's rugby football strongholds of New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT, it is played throughout the nation.
The Australia women's national rugby union team, also known as the Wallaroos, has competed at all Women's Rugby World Cups since 1998, with their best result finishing in third place in 2010.
The National Women's Championship was the highest-tier competition of women's rugby union in Australia through the 2017 season. It was superseded as the top level of the women's sport by the new Super W competition from the 2018 season forward.
The Southern Kings were a South African professional rugby union team that competed in Super Rugby and Pro14. They were based in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape province and played their home matches at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. They were created in 2009, and had their first match against the British & Irish Lions during their 2009 tour. After competing in Super Rugby in 2013, 2016 and 2017, they joined Pro14 prior to the 2017–18 season, along with the Cheetahs.
The Jaguares was an Argentine professional rugby union team based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They were founded in 2015 and are the first Argentine team to play in SANZAAR's Super Rugby competition, participating from the 2016 Super Rugby season onwards. They were the runners up during the 2019 Super Rugby season, losing to the Crusaders 19–3 in the Super Rugby Final, played on 6 July 2019. They participated in Super Rugby until the end of the 2020 Super Rugby season, before they departed the competition having not been named in any of the regionalised formats for the 2021 Super Rugby season. With no competition in sight, players moved to different clubs in Europe and the national group disintegrated. The Jaguares disbanded permanently in December 2022 due to the expansion of Super Rugby Americas, dividing into two new teams, Dogos XV and Pampas XV.
Premiership Women's Rugby, officially known as Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby or The Allianz PWR, is an annual semi-professional women's rugby union club competition at the highest level of the English rugby union system, and is run by the Rugby Football Union (RFU). It is contested by nine clubs who play two series of round-robin matches to determine the four participants of a single-elimination tournament. It began play in the 2017–18 season, superseding the former Women's Premiership, and introducing elements of professionalism in the sport's highest level. In its first six seasons, the competition was known as the Premier 15s. Gloucester-Hartpury are the current champions, while Saracens have won the most championships (3).
The Rugby Football League Women's Super League is the elite women's rugby league club competition in England. Originally competed between four teams in the 2017 season, the league has developed with the 2023 season being contested by 12 teams playing home and away against each other in two groups with subsequent play-offs and Grand Final. In January 2023 it was announced that the league would be reduced to eight teams in the 2024 season.
The Super W is a women's rugby union competition held in Australia. The inaugural season was in 2018, when it replaced the former National Women's Rugby Championship. The NSW Waratahs are the most successful team so far, having won four titles.
The 2019 Super W season was the second year of the women's Super W rugby union competition held in Australia. A change to the finals format was made in 2019 with an additional playoff match added for the teams which finished second and third in regular season. Queensland, as winner of that match over the Brumbies, travelled to Sydney to play in the competition decider against the NSW Waratahs, who were hosts of the final due to finishing top of the ladder in the regular season. The 2019 Super W title was won by NSW Waratahs, defeating Queensland by 8–5 in the final.
Kennedy Cherrington is an Australian rugby league and rugby union footballer who plays as a prop for Parramatta Eels in the NRL Women's Premiership and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NSWRL Women's Premiership.
Courtney Hodder is an Australian rules footballer and former rugby union player currently playing for Brisbane in the AFL Women's (AFLW). She previously played rugby for the Western Force and the Queensland Reds in the Super W and was the top try-scorer in the competition in 2018.
Super Rugby Aupiki is a professional women's rugby union club competition in New Zealand. Its inaugural season was held in March 2022. It is a steppingstone between the Farah Palmer Cup and the Black Ferns. Aupiki translates as ‘the ascent to the upper most realm’.
Michaela Lea Leonard is an Australian rugby union player. She plays at Lock for the Wallaroos and competed at the recent Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. She previously played for the Brumbies before joining the Western Force in the Super W competition. She has also played for Exeter Chiefs and Matatū.
The Queensland Reds Women, or Queensland Reds (Super W), are an Australian women's rugby union team based in Brisbane, Queensland that compete in the annual Super W competition. A female rugby union competition, is considered to be the female equivalent of the Super Rugby, however only holds Australian teams (until 2022). New Zealand holds a similar competition, the Super Rugby Aupiki.
The New South Wales Waratahs Women are an Australian rugby union team that represents New South Wales in the Super W competition. They are the most successful team so far, having won four titles.
The Brumbies Women are an Australian rugby union team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The team competes in the annual Super W competition. They have competed in every edition since Rugby Australia announced that a national women's rugby competition would be launched in 2018.
The Melbourne Rebels Women are an Australian rugby union team that competes in the annual Super W competition, after Rugby Australia announced that a 15-a-side women's rugby competition would be launched in 2018.
The Western Force Women are an Australian rugby union team that competes annually in the Super W competition, and are based in Perth, Western Australia. They have competed in every edition of Super W since its official launch in 2018. They played under the name RugbyWA from 2019 to 2020.
References
- ↑ Perry, Jodan (2 March 2018). "Women's Super W rugby union competition to start without pay for players". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- ↑ Scanlon, Jill (20 April 2018). "NSW women snatch epic Super W final". www.rugby.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2021.