Changes are coming to Super Rugby Pacific next season with an extended 16-round regular season, Sunday afternoon fixtures and a more competitive six-team finals system.
The 2025 season will begin on Friday, February 14, a week earlier than previous years, to accommodate the additional round of Super Rugby Pacific action.
The season draw features family-friendly afternoon fixtures including three Sunday afternoon games with a view to exploring additional Sunday fixtures moving forward.
11 teams ACT Brumbies, Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Fijian Drua, Highlanders, Hurricanes, Moana Pasifika, NSW Waratahs, Queensland Reds and Western Force will compete in the tournament.
Teams will play 14 regular season matches, consisting of seven home games and seven away games, and be allocated two byes.
Each team will play four teams twice, with a focus on rivalry match-ups, and the six remaining teams once.
The top six teams on the table at the end of the regular season will qualify for the three-week Finals Series.
In week one of the Finals Series, Qualifying Finals will be 1 v 6, 2 v 5 and 3 v 4 with the higher-seeded teams to host
The three winners of the Qualifying Finals will progress to the semi-finals. They will be joined by the highest-seeded losing team (the ‘lucky loser’), who will drop one seeding for the semi-final draw. Semi-finals will be 1 v 4 and 2 v 3 with the higher-seeded teams to host. The two winners of the semi-finals will progress to the Grand Final, which will be hosted by the higher-seeded team.
Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Mesley said: “We’re thrilled to reveal the revamped structure, some new features and the start date for the next season of Super Rugby Pacific.
“The fans are always front of mind and while the full draw will be released soon, we wanted to give them an early insight into what they can look forward to in 2025.
“The introduction of three Sunday afternoon fixtures will make it easier for families to experience the excitement of the Super Rugby Pacific, and we can look to build on that offering in future seasons.
“We’re particularly excited about the new Finals Series, which is designed to produce highly competitive matchups while still rewarding the teams that finish at the top of the table.”
