Changes are set for the upcoming season of Super Rugby Pacific, featuring an extended 16-round regular season, Sunday afternoon matches, and a revamped six-team finals format.
The 2025 season is scheduled to commence on Friday, February 14, a week earlier than in previous seasons, to support the addition of another round of matches. The schedule will include family-friendly afternoon games, with three Sunday fixtures planned, and consideration for more Sunday match-ups in the future.
Key elements of the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific format include:
– Eleven teams will participate: ACT Brumbies, Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Fijian Drua, Highlanders, Hurricanes, Moana Pasifika, NSW Waratahs, Queensland Reds, and Western Force.
– Each team will play 14 regular season matches, comprising seven home and seven away games, while receiving two bye weeks.
– Teams will contest four teams twice, concentrating on rivalry games, and play each of the remaining teams once.
– The top six teams in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season will qualify for a three-week Finals Series.
– In the first week of the Finals Series, the matchups will be 1 vs. 6, 2 vs. 5, and 3 vs. 4, with higher-seeded teams hosting the matches.
– The winners from these matches will move on to the Semi-Finals, joined by the highest-seeded losing team, designated as the ‘lucky loser’, who will drop one seed for the next round.
– Semi-Finals will feature 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3, again with higher seeds hosting.
– The winners of the Semi-Finals will advance to the Grand Final, held at the venue of the higher-seeded team.
Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Mesley expressed excitement about the new structure and features, emphasizing the focus on enhancing the fan experience and the importance of family-friendly scheduling. He highlighted the anticipated competitiveness of the new Finals Series while rewarding top-performing teams.
The updated Finals Series schedule will include matches as follows:
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