Super Rugby is the largest and pre-eminent professional Rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere. Building off various Southern Hemisphere competitions dating back to 1986, with teams from a number of southern nations, Super Rugby officially started in 1996 with 12 teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The competition was known as Super 12 through to the end of the 2005 season; the name was changed to Super 14 with the addition of two teams for the 2006 season; with expansion to 15 teams in the three countries for the 2011 season, the competition has been rebranded as Super Rugby . read more