Super 12 champions - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Super Rugby is the major professional rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

competition in the Southern Hemisphere

Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...

. The competition began as Super 12 in 1996, consisting of 12 teams from Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. An extra Australian and South African team were added in 2005 and the name was changed to Super 14. A fifteenth team joined in 2011 and the competition was rebranded as Super Rugby. The current format consists of three conferences of five teams from each country. Teams play other members of their conference twice (home and away) and four teams from each of the other two conferences once. The top team in each conference and the next best three over all conferences advance to the finals. In all previous formats there were no conferences and each team played every team once, with the top four progressing to the finals. The tournament is organised and governed by SANZAR

SANZAR

SANZAR is the body which operates Super Rugby and Tri Nations competitions in rugby union. It is a joint venture of the South African Rugby Union, the New Zealand Rugby Union and the Australian Rugby Union, formed in 1996.Created shortly after rugby's move to professionalism in 1995, SANZAR's two...

(South Africa, New Zealand and Australia Rugby). Super Rugby is considered a successor to the Super Six (1992) and Super 10

Super 10 (Southern Hemisphere competition)

The Super 10 was a rugby union tournament featuring ten teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Tonga and Western Samoa, which ran for three years from 1993 to 1995...

(1993–1995), although SANZAR did not administrate those tournaments.

1996–2010

Every season, each team played every other Super 12 team (Super 14 from 2006) once, in a round-robin. The venues for regular season matches alternated each year, so that teams would not play one another at the same venue in consecutive seasons unless they met in the play-offs. The tournament used the rugby union bonus points system

Rugby union bonus points system

The Rugby union bonus points system is a method of deciding table points from a rugby union match. It was implemented in order to encourage attacking play throughout a match, to discourage repetitive goal-kicking, and to reward teams for "coming close" in losing efforts...

; teams were awarded four points for a win, two for a draw, and none for a loss. They received bonus points for scoring four or more tries in a match, and/or for a loss by seven or fewer points.

After each team had completed their regular season matches, the top 4 teams qualified for the semi-finals. Semi-finals were held under a Shaughnessy playoff system

Shaughnessy playoff system

The Shaughnessy playoff system is a method of determining the champion of a sports league that is not in a divisional alignment. It involves the participation of the top four teams in the league standings in a single elimination tournament...

; the first placed team in the table hosted the fourth placed, and second hosted third. The winner of each semi-final advanced to the final, held at the home ground of whichever team amassed more points in the round-robin table.

2011–

In 2011, Melbourne Rebels

Melbourne Rebels

The Melbourne Rebels are a professional rugby union team based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They are the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia...

joined the Super Rugby competition, meaning that Australia, New Zealand and South Africa would each be represented by five teams. The tournament format was also changed. Teams are divided into three conferences; one per country. Each team plays other teams in the same conference home and away, and plays eight further matches against teams from other conferences, for a total of sixteen games. Each team receives two byes throughout a season; four bye points are added to the team's total on the day a bye is allocated. The highest placed team in each conference qualifies for the finals stage, along with three highest scoring teams which were not conference winners. The two highest scoring teams advance straight to the semi-finals, while the 3rd to 6th placed teams play-off to decide which two teams advance to the semis. The format of the semi-finals and final is the same as that previously used in the Super 14. The bonus points system has also been retained, with the single addition that a team receives four points for each bye.

Key

Symbol	Meaning
	Team won the season's Super Rugby competition.
Points	The word "points" in the table refers to points scored on the field of play.
Diff	Difference between points scored and points conceded on the field of play.
BP	Bonus points
TP	Table points

Tournaments

Teams mentioned are those that finished in the top 4, qualifying them for the semi-finals. Scores mentioned are written so that the team in that column is mentioned first. The highlighted team won that season's Super 12 final.

Note. For 1996 and 1997, it was the policy of the South African Rugby Union

South African Rugby Union

The South African Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to the International Rugby Board...

to send the top four teams of the previous year's Currie Cup

Currie Cup

The Currie Cup tournament is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring , featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces...

to the Super 12. This resulted in the Natal Sharks

Natal Sharks

The Natal Sharks are a South African rugby union team that participate in the annual Currie Cup and Super Rugby tournaments. The Sharks home stadium is Kings Park. They draw most of their players from the KwaZulu-Natal Province. The Sharks are the current representative team of the Natal rugby...

, Transvaal

Golden Lions

The Golden Lions is a provincial rugby team based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The team was originally known as Transvaal, before changes to the political landscape in South Africa forced a name change to the Gauteng Lions, before again being changed to the Golden Lions. For sponsorship reason...

, Northern Transvaal

Blue Bulls

The Blue Bulls, for sponsorship reasons known as the Vodacom Blue Bulls, or more popularly by their Afrikaans name die Blou Bulle, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament...

and Western Province

Western Province (rugby team)

DHL Western Province is a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. The team has won the Currie Cup on 32 occasions and has the most supporters of any Currie Cup team...

playing in 1996 and the Natal Sharks, the Gauteng Lions

Golden Lions

, Free State Cheetahs

Free State Cheetahs

The Free State Cheetahs , currently named the Toyota Free State Cheetahs, for sponsorship reasons, are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They are governed by the Free State Rugby Union and are based at the 37,076-capacity Vodacom Park in...

and Northern Transvaal playing in 1997. In 1998, South Africa set up four set Super 12 regions, similar to the policy adopted by the New Zealand Rugby Union. For these areas, please see Super Rugby franchise areas.

Super 12 champions (1996–2005)
Year	Duration	Table position	Team	Games				Points			BP	TP	Semi score	Final score	Refs
Year	Duration	Table position	Team	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff	BP	TP	Semi score	Final score	Refs
1996 1996 Super 12 season The 1996 Super 12 season was the inaugural season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 1996, with each team playing all the others once...	28 February – 31 May	1	Reds Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds represent Queensland in the sport of rugby union in the Southern Hemisphere Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996 they were a representative team selected on merit from the rugby union club competitions in Queensland...	11	9	0	2	320	247
		5	41	25–43	—
		2	Blues	11	8		0	3	408	354
		9	41	48–11	45–12
3	Northern Transvaal Bulls (rugby franchise) The Bulls, for sponsorship reasons known as the Vodacom Bulls, are a South African rugby union team competing in the Super Rugby competition. They are based in Pretoria and play their home matches at Loftus Versfeld...	11	8	0	3		329	208
6	38	11–48	—
4	Natal Sharks Sharks (rugby franchise) The Sharks are a South African rugby union team competing in the Super Rugby competition...	11	6	0	5	389	277
9	33	43–25	12–45
1997 1997 Super 12 season The 1997 Super 12 season was the second season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 1997, with each team playing all the others once...	1 March – 25 May
		1	Blues	11	10	1	0	435	283
		8	50	55–36	23–7
		2	Brumbies Brumbies Rugby The Brumbies are a Super 15 rugby union team based in Canberra, Australia and named for the wild horses which inhabit Canberra's hinterland...	11	8		0	3	406	291
		9	41	33–20	7–23
3	Hurricanes Hurricanes (Super rugby franchise) The Hurricanes are a New Zealand professional Rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in the Super Rugby competition...	11	6	0	5		416	314
10	34	20–33	—
4	Natal Sharks Sharks (rugby franchise) The Sharks are a South African rugby union team competing in the Super Rugby competition...	11	5	2	4	321	350	–29	6	30	36–55	—
1998 1998 Super 12 season The 1998 Super 12 season was the third season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 1998, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams entered the playoff semi finals,...	27 February – 30 May	1	Blues	11	9	0	2	388	296
		7	43	37–31	13–20
		2	Crusaders	11	8		0	3	340	260
		9	41	36–32	20–13
3	Coastal Sharks Sharks (rugby franchise) The Sharks are a South African rugby union team competing in the Super Rugby competition...	11	7	0	4		329	263
8	36	32–36	—
4	Highlanders	11	7	0	4	343	279
6	34	31–37	—
1999 1999 Super 12 season The 1999 Super 12 season was the fourth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 1999, with each team playing all the others once...	26 February – 30 May	1	Reds Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds represent Queensland in the sport of rugby union in the Southern Hemisphere Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996 they were a representative team selected on merit from the rugby union club competitions in Queensland...	11	8	1	2	233	170
		2	36	22–28	—
		2	Stormers Stormers The Stormers, for sponsorship reasons referred to as DHL Stormers, are a South African rugby union team based in Cape Town competing in the Super Rugby competition . Despite their lack of silverware over the years, their home stadium, Newlands, typically draws the highest average attendance figures...	11	8		0	3	290	244
		4	36	18–33	—
3	Highlanders	11	8	0	3		280	203
3	35	33–18	19–24
4	Crusaders	11	7	1	3	322	262
3	33	28–22	24–19
2000 2000 Super 12 season The 2000 Super 12 season was the fifth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2000, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams entered the playoff semi finals,...	25 February – 27 May	1	Brumbies Brumbies Rugby The Brumbies are a Super 15 rugby union team based in Canberra, Australia and named for the wild horses which inhabit Canberra's hinterland...	11	9	0	2	393	196
		9	45	28–5	19–20
		2	Crusaders	11	8		0	3	369	293
		7	39	37–15	20–19
3	Highlanders	11	6	0	5		310	280
8	32	15–37	—
4	Cats Lions (rugby franchise) The Lions, known as the Cats between the 1998 and 2006 seasons, are a South African rugby union franchise that competes in the Super Rugby competition. From 2011 they are known as the MTNLions for sponsorship reasons. They have not achieved great success in this competition, finishing at the bottom...	11	7	0	4	320	334	–14	4	32	5–28	—
2001 2001 Super 12 season The 2001 Super 12 season was the sixth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2001, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams entered the playoff semi finals,...	23 February – 26 May
		1	Brumbies Brumbies Rugby The Brumbies are a Super 15 rugby union team based in Canberra, Australia and named for the wild horses which inhabit Canberra's hinterland...	11	8	0	3	348	204
		8	40	36–6	36–6
		2	Sharks Sharks (rugby franchise) The Sharks are a South African rugby union team competing in the Super Rugby competition...	11	8		0	3	322	246
		6	38	30–12	6–36
3	Cats Lions (rugby franchise) The Lions, known as the Cats between the 1998 and 2006 seasons, are a South African rugby union franchise that competes in the Super Rugby competition. From 2011 they are known as the MTNLions for sponsorship reasons. They have not achieved great success in this competition, finishing at the bottom...	11	7	0	4		285	244
6	34	12–30	—
4	Reds Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds represent Queensland in the sport of rugby union in the Southern Hemisphere Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996 they were a representative team selected on merit from the rugby union club competitions in Queensland...	11	6	0	5	300	277
8	32	6–36	—
2002 2002 Super 12 season The 2002 Super 12 season was the seventh season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2002, with each team playing all the others once...	22 February – 25 May
		1	Crusaders	11	11	0	0	469	264
		7	51	34–23	31–13
		2	Waratahs New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs are an Australian rugby union football team, representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super 15 Super Rugby competition...	11	8		0	3	337	284
		7	39	10–51	—
3	Brumbies Brumbies Rugby The Brumbies are a Super 15 rugby union team based in Canberra, Australia and named for the wild horses which inhabit Canberra's hinterland...	11	7	0	4		374	230
10	38	51–10	13–31
4	Highlanders	11	8	0	3	329	207
6	38	23–34	—
2003 2003 Super 12 season The 2003 Super 12 season was the eighth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2003, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams entered the playoff semi...	21 February – 24 May
		1	Blues	11	10	0	1	393	185
		9	49	42–21	21–17
		2	Crusaders	11	8		0	3	358	263
		8	40	39–16	17–21
3	Hurricanes Hurricanes (Super rugby franchise) The Hurricanes are a New Zealand professional Rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in the Super Rugby competition...	11	7	0	4		324	284
7	35	16–39	—
4	Brumbies Brumbies Rugby The Brumbies are a Super 15 rugby union team based in Canberra, Australia and named for the wild horses which inhabit Canberra's hinterland...	11	6	0	5	358	313
7	31	21–42	—
2004 2004 Super 12 season The 2004 Super 12 season was the ninth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2004, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams entered the playoff semi finals,...	20 February – 22 May
		1	Brumbies Brumbies Rugby The Brumbies are a Super 15 rugby union team based in Canberra, Australia and named for the wild horses which inhabit Canberra's hinterland...	11	8	0	3	408	269
		8	40	32–17	47–38
		2	Crusaders	11	7		0	4	345	303
		6	34	27–16	38–47
3	Stormers Stormers The Stormers, for sponsorship reasons referred to as DHL Stormers, are a South African rugby union team based in Cape Town competing in the Super Rugby competition . Despite their lack of silverware over the years, their home stadium, Newlands, typically draws the highest average attendance figures...	11	7	0	4		286	260
5	33	16–27	—
4	Chiefs Chiefs (Super rugby franchise) The Chiefs are a professional Rugby union team based in Hamilton, New Zealand. Their home ground is Waikato Stadium. The Chiefs play in black, red and yellow coloured jerseys...	11	7	0	4	274	251
5	33	17–32	—
2005 2005 Super 12 season The 2005 Super 12 season was the tenth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2005, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular season, the top four teams entered the playoff semi finals,...	25 February – 28 May
		1	Crusaders	11	9	0	2	459	281
		9	45	47–7	35–25
		2	Waratahs New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs are an Australian rugby union football team, representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super 15 Super Rugby competition...	11	9		0	2	322	174
		8	44	23–13	25–35
3	Bulls Bulls (rugby franchise) The Bulls, for sponsorship reasons known as the Vodacom Bulls, are a South African rugby union team competing in the Super Rugby competition. They are based in Pretoria and play their home matches at Loftus Versfeld...	11	7	0	4		301	229
6	34	13–23	—
4	Hurricanes Hurricanes (Super rugby franchise) The Hurricanes are a New Zealand professional Rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in the Super Rugby competition...	11	8	0	3	281	248
2	34	7–47	—

Super 14 champions (2006–2010)
Year	Duration	Table position	Team	Games				Points			BP	TP	Semi score	Final score	Refs
Year	Duration	Table position	Team	played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	diff	BP	TP	Semi score	Final score	Refs
2006 2006 Super 14 season The 2006 Super 14 season started on Friday 10 February 2006. The Grand Final was held on Saturday 27 May 2006. Super 14 is a provincial rugby union competition with 14 teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. This season was the first of the expansion, which saw two new teams, the...	February 10 – May 27
		1	Crusaders	13	11	1	1	412	210
		5	51	35–15	19–12
		2	Hurricanes Hurricanes (Super rugby franchise) The Hurricanes are a New Zealand professional Rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in the Super Rugby competition...	13	10		0	3	328	226
		7	47	16–14	12–19
3	Waratahs New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs are an Australian rugby union football team, representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super 15 Super Rugby competition...	13	9	0	4		362	192
9	45	14–16	—
4	Bulls	13	7	1	5	355	290
7	38	15–35	—
2007 2007 Super 14 season The 2007 Super 14 season started in February 2007 with preseason matches held from mid-January. It finished on 19 May with the final at ABSA Stadium in Durban, in the first final between two South African teams in the history of Super Rugby...	February 2 – May 19
		1	Sharks	13	10	0	3	355	214
		5	45	34–18	19–20
		2	Bulls	13	9		0	4	388	223
		6	42	27–12	20–19
3	Crusaders	13	8	0	5		382	235
10	42	12–27	—
4	Blues	13	9	0	4	355	235
6	42	18–34	—
2008 2008 Super 14 season The 2008 Super 14 season started in February 2008 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 31 May, when the Crusaders won their seventh Super Rugby title with a 20–12 victory over the Waratahs in front of the Crusaders' home fans. The 2008 season was the third of the expansion,...	February 15 – May 31
		1	Crusaders	13	11	0	2	369	176
		8	52	33–22	20–12
		2	Waratahs New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs are an Australian rugby union football team, representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super 15 Super Rugby competition...	13	9		1	3	255	186
		5	43	28–13	12–20
3	Sharks	13	9	1	3		271	209
4	42	13–28	—
4	Hurricanes Hurricanes (Super rugby franchise) The Hurricanes are a New Zealand professional Rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in the Super Rugby competition...	13	8	1	4	310	204
7	41	22–33	—
2009 2009 Super 14 season The 2009 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2009 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 30 May, when the Bulls won their second Super Rugby title with a decisive 61–17 victory over the Waikato Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria, South Africa. The 2009 season...	February 13 – May 30
		1	Bulls	13	10	0	3	338	271
		6	46	36–23	61–17
		2	Chiefs Chiefs (Super rugby franchise) The Chiefs are a professional Rugby union team based in Hamilton, New Zealand. Their home ground is Waikato Stadium. The Chiefs play in black, red and yellow coloured jerseys...	13	9		0	4	338	236
		9	45	14–10	17–61
3	Hurricanes Hurricanes (Super rugby franchise) The Hurricanes are a New Zealand professional Rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in the Super Rugby competition...	13	9	0	4		380	279
8	44	10–14	—
4	Crusaders	13	8	1	4	231	198
7	41	23–36	—
2010 2010 Super 14 season The 2010 Super 14 season kicked off in February 2010 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 29 May. The 2010 season was the fifth and last season of the expanded Super 14 format. The schedule, which covers 3½ months, featured a total of 94 matches, with each team playing one...	February 12 – May 29
		1	Bulls	13	10	0	3	436	345
		7	47	39–24	25–17
		2	Stormers Stormers The Stormers, for sponsorship reasons referred to as DHL Stormers, are a South African rugby union team based in Cape Town competing in the Super Rugby competition . Despite their lack of silverware over the years, their home stadium, Newlands, typically draws the highest average attendance figures...	13	9		0	4	365	171
		8	44	25–6	17–25
3	Waratahs New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs are an Australian rugby union football team, representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super 15 Super Rugby competition...	13	9	0	4		385	288
7	43	6–25	—
4	Crusaders	13	8	1	4	388	295
7	41	24–39	—

By club

Team	Combined	Super 12	Super 14	Super 15
Crusaders	7	5	2	0
Blues	3	3	0	0
Bulls	3	0	3	0
Brumbies	2	2	0	0
Reds Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds represent Queensland in the sport of rugby union in the Southern Hemisphere Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996 they were a representative team selected on merit from the rugby union club competitions in Queensland...	1	0	0	1

By country

Country	Winning teams	Total wins
New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...	Crusaders Blues	10
South Africa South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...	Bulls	3
Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...	Brumbies Reds Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds represent Queensland in the sport of rugby union in the Southern Hemisphere Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996 they were a representative team selected on merit from the rugby union club competitions in Queensland...	3

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