The 2006 Super 14 season started on 10 February 2006. The Grand Final was held on 27 May 2006. Super 14 is a provincial

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

competition with 14 teams from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. This season was the first of the expansion, which saw two new teams, the Western Force and the Cheetahs, join the Super 12/14. The addition of two new teams led to the name change from the Super 12. It was also the first year for a new Super 14 trophy. The season saw the first joint commercial by the three SANZAR unions since 1996. The commercial was filmed in

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and is set in a laundromat. The ad was attempting to draw interest, with the motto ''More teams, more games and more excitement'' at the end of the commercial. One player from each of the 14 teams was present, except for the Waratahs. A local extra named "Ouri" filled the role of Mat Rogers who injured his back in a test match for the Wallabies against . By the end of round twelve, critics began speculating that the pre-season favourites, the Crusaders, were losing their form after a draw against the winless Western Force and then a shock loss to the Stormer

However they bounced back against the Bulls (rugby franchise), Bulls with a four-try bonus point victory. After a few results fell in their favour they were able to comfortably beat the Brumbies, and finished for the second consecutive season on top of the ladder. The Crusaders won the Super 14 after defeating the Hurricanes in Christchurch in the final, 19–12 in misty conditions. There was 94 matches held over three and a half months, with each team playing one full round robin against the 13 other teams and the playoffs involving two semi-finals and a final. Every team got one bye over the 14 rounds.

Table

South African relegation

Originally, the fifth-placed South African side was to be replaced by the Spears, who were initially planned to compete in the 2007 and 2008 competitions. However, the

South African Rugby Union The South African Rugby Union (SARU) is the governing body for rugby union in South Africa and is affiliated to World Rugby. It was established in 1992 as the South African Rugby Football Union, from the merger of the South African Rugby Board ...

(SARU) revisited the decision to admit the Spears, and announced on 19 April 2006 that the Spears would not enter the competition. On 5 August 2006, the High Court of South Africa threw a potential monkey wrench into the 2007 season when it issued its ruling in the Spears' legal challenge to the decision. It ruled that the Spears had a valid contract with SA Rugby, the commercial arm of SARU, to be included in the 2007 and 2008 Super 14. SA Rugby and SARU are expected to appeal the decision. If the Spears win their court challenge, the Lions, the new name for the Cats, will be relegated for 2007 and will play a test match with the lowest South African team on the 2007 ladder, other than the Spears, for a place in the 2008 competition. On 8 September 2006, the Golden Lions Rugby Union, the company that operates the Cats franchise, announced that the franchise would be known in the future as the Lions.

Results

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Round 11

Round 12

Round 13

Round 14

Finals

Semi finals

Grand final

Player statistics

Leading try scorers

Leading point scorers

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Super 2006 2006 rugby union tournaments for clubs