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2014 Super Rugby Season
The 2014 Super Rugby season is the fourth season of the 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as Asteron Life Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New Zealand and Vodacom Super Rugby in South Africa. Including its past incarnations as Super 12 and Super 14, this is the 19th season for the Southern Hemisphere's premier transnational club competition. The conference games will take place every weekend from 15 February until 12 July (with a three-week break between rounds 16 and 17 for internationals games), followed by the finals series, culminating in the grand final on 2 August. The winners of the 2014 Super Rugby Season were the New South Wales Waratahs Competition format Covering 24 weeks, the schedule features a total of 125 matches. The 15 teams are grouped by geography, labelled the Australian Conference, New Zealand Conference and the South A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Round-robin Tournament
A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & C. Merriam Co), p.1980. A round-robin contrasts with an elimination tournament, in which participants/teams are eliminated after a certain number of losses. Terminology The term ''round-robin'' is derived from the French term ''ruban'', meaning " ribbon". Over a long period of time, the term was corrupted and idiomized to ''robin''. In a ''single round-robin'' schedule, each participant plays every other participant once. If each participant plays all others twice, this is frequently called a ''double round-robin''. The term is rarely used when all participants play one another more than twice, and is never used when one participant plays others an unequal number of times (as is the case in almost all of the major United States professional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crusaders (rugby Union)
The Crusaders (formerly Canterbury Crusaders and BNZ Crusaders due to sponsorship by the Bank of New Zealand) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch, who compete in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in the competition's history and have won 11 titles (1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022), as well as two regionalised titles in 2020 and 2021. Formed in 1996 to represent the upper South Island of New Zealand in the Super 12, the Crusaders represent the Buller, Canterbury, Mid-Canterbury, South Canterbury, Tasman and West Coast provincial Rugby Unions. Their main home ground since 2012 is Rugby League Park (known for sponsorship reasons as Orangetheory Stadium). They formerly played out of Lancaster Park prior to it being damaged beyond repair in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The Crusaders struggled in the first season of the Super 12, 1996, finishing last. Their performance improv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melbourne Rebels
The Melbourne Rebels is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They were the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia, until 2017 when shares in the franchise were returned to the Victorian Rugby Union. The club shares its name with a former Australian Rugby Championship team, but is unrelated. The team plays home matches at AAMI Park. History The era of professionalism in rugby union led to a restructuring of the Super 10 competition after the 1995 World Cup. SANZAR was formed to manage a 12-team provincial union from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. During the early years of 2000s South Africa and Australia pushed for additional teams each. Argentina also expressed interest. Discussions also included a federated Pacific Islands team in the vein of the West Indies cricket team, or individual island nations. Bids for the 13th and 14th franchise opened in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cheetahs (rugby Union)
The Cheetahs (known for sponsorship reasons as the Toyota Cheetahs), is a South African professional rugby union team that played Super Rugby between 2006 and 2017, before joining the Pro14 (Now United Rugby Championship) competition prior to the 2017–18 season. They are based at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein. They have been included with the Lions (Of the URC) to compete in the 2022-23 EPCR Challenge Cup. The franchise area encompasses the western half of the Free State province, the same as that of provincial Currie Cup side the . Between 2006 and 2015, the from the eastern half of the Free State province and from the Northern Cape province were Cheetahs franchise partners, but this ended prior to the 2016 Super Rugby season. The Cheetahs was one of the two new franchises that entered the expanded Super 14 competition in 2006, the other being Australia's Western Force. The Central Union was awarded the fifth South African franchise over the SEC franchise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Queensland Reds
The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union club competitions in Queensland. With the introduction of the professional Super 12 competition they moved to a model where players are contracted to the Reds through the Queensland Rugby Union rather than selected on the basis of club form. From 1996 to 2005 they were one of three Australian teams competing in the Super 12 competition, alongside the New South Wales Waratahs and the ACT Brumbies. Queensland finished as minor premiers in 1996 and 1999. From 2006 to 2010, they competed in the expanded Super 14 competition as one of four Australian sides. Beginning in 2011, they are one of five Australian sides in the expanded and renamed Super Rugby, winning the competition in its first season in its new format (2011). In 2012 they finished first in the Au ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lions (United Rugby Championship)
The Lions (known as the Sigma Lions for sponsorship reasons) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Johannesburg in the Gauteng province. They competed in the Super Rugby competition until 2020, and have competed in the United Rugby Championship since 2021. They are the successor of the teams known as Transvaal (1996), Gauteng Lions (1997) and the Cats (1998–2006). They had varied results in Super Rugby, finishing at the bottom of the table six times (in 1998, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2010 and 2012), but reaching the semifinal stage five times (in 2000, 2001, 2016, 2017 and 2018). They reached their first final in 2016 – where they lost to the 20–3 in Wellington – and repeated the feat in 2017, losing 17–25 to the in Johannesburg. The team reached their 3rd consecutive final in 2018 when they lost against the 38–17 in Christchurch. The team plays its home matches at Ellis Park Stadium. The team faced relegation from the Super 14 after the Southern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stormers
The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a trans-hemispheric competition that also involves sides from Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. They competed in the Super Rugby competition until 2020. They are centred on the Western Province Currie Cup side, but also draw players from the Boland Cavaliers (covering the Cape Winelands and West Coast districts, with home matches in Wellington). Through 2005, they also drew players from the SWD Eagles ( George), which meant that they drew players from all three unions in the Western Cape Province. However, the general realignment of franchise areas resulting from the expansion of the competition resulted in the Eagles being moved to the area of the Southern Spears (later succeeded by the Southern Kings). Prior to 1998, South Africa did not use a franchise system for th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blues (Super Rugby)
The Blues (known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established by the NZRU in 1996. One of the most successful teams in Super Rugby history, the Blues won the competition in its first two seasons, 1996 and 1997, and again in 2003. Additionally, the team were finalists in 1998 and 2022 and semi-finalists in 2007 and 2011. History Formation, Early Years and Immediate Success (1996–97) Along with New Zealand's other Super Rugby sides, the Blues were established by the NZRU to take part in the newly formed Super 12 competition which, involved teams from South Africa and Australia in addition to New Zealand. Each of New Zealand's five sides represented a number of provincial unions, with the Blues representing the Auckland, Counties Manukau and Thames Valley unions, while the neighbouring Waikato ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bulls (rugby Union)
The Bulls, for sponsorship reasons known as the Vodacom Bulls, is a South African professional rugby union team based in Pretoria and they play their home matches at Loftus Versfeld. They compete in the United Rugby Championship, having competed in the Super Rugby competition until 2020. Prior to 1998, the Bulls competed in the then-Super 12 as Northern Transvaal, as in those years South Africa was represented in the competition by its top four Currie Cup sides from the previous season, instead of the modern Super Rugby teams. The side won the Super 14 in 2007, 2009 and 2010, placing them among the most successful teams in Super Rugby history with three titles. They were the most successful team of the Super 14 era (2006–10), winning three out of the five titles. They are the most successful South African team, and the only South African team to win a Super Rugby title. History Early history Prior to the professional Super Rugby competition, Northern Transvaal competed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Force
The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. Following their axing they played in the National Rugby Championship in 2018 and 2019, replacing the Perth Spirit, and Global Rapid Rugby from 2018 to 2020, an Indo-Pacific competition organised by Andrew Forrest. Following the cancellation of both the 2020 Super Rugby season and 2020 Global Rapid Rugby season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Western Force were invited to compete in the 2020 Super Rugby AU season, a domestic competition organised by Rugby Australia to replace the cancelled Super Rugby season. The Force competed in the 2021 Super Rugby AU season and Super Rugby Trans-Tasman, before being confirmed that their return to Super Rugby will be permanent in the revamped 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season. History The bid The bid f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hurricanes (rugby Union)
The Hurricanes ( ; formerly the Wellington Hurricanes) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in Super Rugby. The Hurricanes were formed to represent the lower North Island, including the East Coast, Hawke's Bay, Horowhenua Kapiti, Manawatu, Poverty Bay, Wairarapa-Bush, Wanganui and Wellington unions. They currently play at Sky Stadium (formerly named Westpac Stadium), having previously played at the now-defunct Athletic Park. The Hurricanes had a poor first season in 1996's Super 12, but rebounded in 1997 with a third placing. The team did not reach the play-offs for another five years as they struggled in the bottom four of the table. Since 2003 the Hurricanes have made the post-season play-offs seven times out of fourteen seasons, including the 2006 final, which they lost in foggy weather against the Crusaders 19–12. After hosting but failing to win the final in 2015, the 2016 season was the Hurricanes' best season to date. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Highlanders (rugby Union)
The Highlanders (formerly the Otago Highlanders) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that compete in Super Rugby. The team was formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island in the newly formed Super 12 competition, and includes the Otago, North Otago and Southland unions. The Highlanders take their name from the Scottish immigrants that helped found the Otago, North Otago, and Southland regions in the 1840s and 1850s. Their main ground through the 2011 Super Rugby season was Carisbrook in Dunedin, with home games occasionally being played in Invercargill and Queenstown. The Highlanders moved into Carisbrook's replacement, Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza, for the 2012 season; the stadium opened in time for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but after the Super Rugby season. They finished the inaugural season eighth, and the following season finished last after winning only three of eleven matches. However, in the 1998, 1999 and 2000 season ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
