Tue 14 Sep 2010 | 12:49

Something super is coming to rugby - Super Rugby launch

In case you haven't heard yet, yesterday saw the launch of the newly formed Super 15 tournament, now with an extra team (Melbourne Rebels), a new format, and re-branded as

Super Rugby

.

Theres plenty of change for the tournament, not only with the Rebels joining, but with more games, more derbies, and a longer tournament that is bound to test the depth of each respective squad.

Just so theres no confusion, theyve come up with a new, blue logo, and the 15 teams will come from a new three conference system, made up of South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Each team will play the other four teams in their conference twice and four of the other two conferences away, as well as four teams of the other conferences at home. Still following?

What it means is that each team wont play each other, and two will be missed out, one from each of the other conferences.

There will be more derby matches, and of each of the 16 league matches that a team will play, 12 will be in their home country. The finals will be made up of a three-week, six-team finals series, which the winner of each conference will automatically qualify for.

The other three teams with the highest total competition points, no matter which conference theyre from, will take up the next three spots.

There will be an increase in overall matches of 33%, from 94 to 125. In non-World Cup years there will be a 50% increase in the length of the season, and in World Cup years, only a 31% increase, with it changing from 16 weeks to 21 weeks.

The common perception from players, coaches, and even some fans, is that there is too much rugby at the moment, especially when we look at attendance figures in some parts. While its sure to be entertaining, is this really the best way forward, or are we looking at revenue figures being put ahead of the well being of the sport?

This video gives you a better understanding of whats to come, and shows a little bit of how we got to this point. Excuse the last minute, which for whatever reason just shows that

interesting

new logo. Feel free to share your thoughts below.

Time:

03:11