Super Rugby Pacific has confirmed a six-team finals system for the 2025 season.
It will be an expanded 16-round regular season, with the 2025 season to begin on Friday 14 February, a week earlier than previous years.
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Teams will play four teams twice, with a focus on rivalry match-ups, and the six remaining teams once, with seven home and away games.
From there, the top six sides will qualify for the finals, a reduction on the eight-team format from 2024.
The qualifying finals will see the top-ranked side face the sixth, second plays fifth and third plays fourth.
From here, the three winners of the Qualifying Finals will progress to the Semi-Finals and will be joined by the highest-seeded losing team (the ‘lucky loser’), who will drop one seeding for the Semi-Final draw (e.g, if the top ranked side loses, they will drop to second seed).
The two winners of the Semi-Finals will progress to the Grand Final, which will be hosted by the higher-seeded team.
On top of this, the season draw will feature a greater focus on family-friendly afternoon fixtures, including three Sunday afternoon games, with a view to exploring additional Sunday fixtures moving forward.
“We’re thrilled to reveal the revamped structure, some new features and the start date for the next season of Super Rugby Pacific,” Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Mesley said.
“The fans are always front of mind and while the full draw will be released in the coming days, 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.”
The complete draw will be released in the coming days ahead of the 2025 season.
- 11 teams competing as follows; ACT Brumbies, Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Fijian Drua, Highlanders, Hurricanes, Moana Pasifika, NSW Waratahs, Queensland Reds and Western Force
- Teams will play 14 regular season matches, consisting of seven home games and seven away games, and be allocated two byes
- Teams 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
FINALS WEEK ONE – QUALIFYING FINALS
1st seed vs. 6th seed
2nd seed vs. 5th seed
3rd seed vs. 4th seed FINALS WEEK TWO – SEMI-FINALS
1st seed vs. 4th seed
2nd seed vs. 3rd seed
FINALS WEEK THREE – GRAND FINAL
1st seed vs. 2nd seed
