History of Super Rugby
- There were various Southern Hemisphere competitions which were dated back to the South Pacific Championship in the year 1986, where teams from a various number of southern nations were there. Super Rugby was founded in August 1995 which was 23 years ago from now.
- Earlier, it was known by the name Super 12. The countries who had the teams as the part of the Super 12 union were – New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Then, in the year 2006, Super 12 was renamed as Super 14 where there was the addition of two other teams.
- The competition was renamed as Super Rugby which was without any number in the name, in the year 2011. It is because the number of teams in the above three countries increases to the number 15. By the year 2006, matches of Super Rugby were being broadcast nearly in 41 countries.
- In the subsequent years, the union undergoes many changes in the number of teams from these three countries. Well, in the year 2016 the two new teams that were the Jaguares which was from Argentina and the Sun-wolves which was from Japan, joined in this competition, which was playing in the newly separated African groups.
- In the year 2018, the competition undergoes, yet again, with another change in the Super Rugby format. Well, this time eventually by dropping two teams that were Cheetahs and the Kings which are from the South African conference, while the other one from the Australian conference which was known as the Western Force. And finally, the Sup[er Rugby is left with the 15 teams in the competition.
- Every year it is organized in a grand form which is getting bigger each year than the previous one. The logo of the Super Rugby, after removing the numbers, featured a huge “S”, which is blue in colour, along with a white coloured rugby ball in the centre. Also, it has “SupeRugbY” written below the letter “S”. The three stitches of the previous ball are presented.
About SANZAR
SANZAR is the body or an organization which operates and organizes the competitions of the Super Rugby, consists of the unions of South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Argentine; and The Rugby Championship in Rugby Union. This organization came into existence in 1995 to monitor the matches of Super 12 along with the Tri-Nations Tournament. SANZAR is composed of the CEO’s which are from the member unions only and they have a meet once in a year to discuss the strategies of the playing team CEO of the Super Rugby is Greg Peters. Super Rugby divides into two divisions that are 1) Australasian 2) South African.
Different Names of the Competition in different Countries
Currently, it franchise is in countries such as New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Argentina and Japan. The teams from this country participate in the Super Rugby competition. The naming rights for the Super Rugby competition are different in all the five countries.
- In Argentina, the naming rights are with telecommunications, while the expanded competition is known by the name Personal Super Rugby.
- Recently in Japan, the naming rights are with a real estate developer, Mitsubishi Estate, which they acquire in 2018 and due to this, the Super Rugby competition came to known as Mitsubishi Estate Super Rugby. While in 2016 seasons and 2017 seasons the competition doesn’t have any title sponsor in Japan. But, today they all are in the race by proving it to stay in the Super Rugby.
- In South Africa, the naming rights are with telecommunications carrier Vodacom, and that’s why the expanded Super Rugby competition is known as Vodacom Super Rugby. Well, in history in the year 1999, it was the time when cigarette advertising was banned in South Africa so at that time the competition was sponsored by Winfield.
- In New Zealand, naming rights are with the Investec Bank since the year 2011, and thus the competition is known as Investec Super Rugby. The era in which the Super 14 was there, naming rights is with the Rebel Sport who is a famous sporting goods retailer. Therefore, in that era, Rebel Sports Super 14 was the name given to the competition of the Super 14. Earlier the naming rights were acquired by the U-Bix and going forward from this, they were taken by the Telecom New Zealand (TNZ). In the last year of their holding the rights, the Telecom uses Xtra which is also their ISP brand for the label.
- In Australia, the 2017 naming rights were with the Vodafone, a known company in the field of telecommunications, who was also the sponsor of the title of Super Rugby. Due to this, the competition is officially called by the name Vodafone Super Rugby. Earlier to this, the Super Rugby in Australia has the naming right with Suncorp Group. They own it through Asteron Life which is their life insurance brand. In the era of Super 12, their naming rights were with Vodafone also and they sponsor the title of the competition. Whereas, the first season of the Super Rugby, Australia did not have any naming rights partner.
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Records in Super Rugby
There are many records in this Super Rugby as well as many titles but some of the most recognized ones are as follow.
- In the single match, the highest score was 96 points, which was scored by Crusaders who defeated Waratahs by 96–19 in the year 2002.
- New Zealand Crusaders has the highest ratio of winning. Also, even in 2018, the Super Rugby winners were Crusaders. Crusaders have also won the title of the year 2017. Most of the titles are won by Crusaders. Recently they have won a total of 9 titles.
- Following them is Brumbies belonging to Australia who have 6 titles.
