New teams, countries, trophy for expanded Super Rugby

Sydney (AFP) - Reigning champions the Otago Highlanders will kick off the 2016 Super Rugby season against the Auckland Blues in a reconfigured competition boasting the first teams from Argentina and Japan, organisers SANZAR said Monday.

The "new era" in Super Rugby will see an expanded 18-team competition featuring four conferences, with some games to be played in Tokyo and Singapore and a new chrome and gold-plated trophy for the winner, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia Rugby (SANZAR) interim chief Brendan Morris said.

"We are in the envious position to be delivering our great brand of rugby to new cities and international markets, unlocking a host of commercial opportunities and delivering the unbridled excitement of Super Rugby to a legion of new and existing fans," he said.

The season will kick off with a double-header on February 26 in which the Highlanders will begin their title defence in Auckland while in Australia, the ACT Brumbies will host the Wellington Hurricanes.

The yet-to-be-named Japanese team will play their first game against the Golden Lions on February 27 at Tokyo's Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium -- the first Super Rugby match to be played in that country.

The Singapore National Stadium will host matches featuring the Japanese-based team in the third, fifth and 12th rounds against the Central Cheetahs, Northern Bulls and Western Stormers respectively, SANZAR said.

The new Argentinian team, which SANZAR said would be revealed along with the Japanese team after the current Rugby World Cup, will play their first game in Bloemfontein against the Cheetahs.

The Southern Kings from South Africa's Eastern Cape, who are re-entering the competition, will kick off with a clash against the Durban-based Sharks at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.

The Super 18 configuration will have an Australasian group comprising an Australian conference (Brumbies, Western Force, Melbourne Rebels, Queensland Reds, NSW Waratahs) and a New Zealand conference (Blues, Waikato Chiefs, Canterbury Crusaders, Highlanders, Hurricanes).

The South African group have two conferences with the Bulls, Cheetahs, Stormers and the Japanese team on one side and the Kings, Lions, Sharks and the Argentinian team on the other.

Each team will play six matches within their own conference, five against the Australasian, four against a South African conference team and have two byes across the 17-week regular competition.

Eight teams will progress into the knock-out finals series -- the four conference winners plus the three next highest-ranked teams from the Australasian Group and the next highest-ranked team from the South African Group.

Morris said officials would continue to work hard to ensure Super Rugby was "the best provincial rugby competition in the world".

"We cannot rest on our laurels. We want to grow our fan base and ensure existing fans stay loving our game," he said.