Super Rugby Aotearoa named the

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

Super Rugby Aotearoa for sponsorship purposes was a professional men's

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 ...

national club competition in

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 ...

. Originally created to supplement the

2020 Super Rugby season The 2020 Super Rugby season was the 25th season of Super Rugby, the international men's rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR involving teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. It was the third tournament in i ...

, which was suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the tournament continued in 2021, with a competition being confirmed later that year, including 12 teams in a brand new competition named Super Rugby Pacific. In its first season, the tournament was a 10-week round robin tournament played by the five New Zealand–based teams of Super Rugby. However, for 2021, the tournament had an additional final between the two highest placed teams in the tournament, with a finals system being used by the similarly created

Super Rugby AU Super Rugby AU, formerly named the Harvey Norman Super Rugby AU for sponsorship purposes, was a rugby union competition organised by Rugby Australia. The competition was created to supplant the 2020 Super Rugby season, which had been suspended ...

tournament in Australia.

Law adaptions

On 2 June, New Zealand Rugby announced that it would implement two optional

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

trials being offered by

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

, including a

golden point The golden point, a sudden death overtime system, is used to resolve drawn matches in a number of sports. The term is borrowed from soccer's now-defunct golden goal. Rugby league Australia The golden point is used to determine a winner (where a ...

format for extra time, and that players who receive a red card can be substituted after 20 minutes. It was also stated that referees would be stricter in applying laws for breakdowns to increase the pace of play.

Broadcasters

Super Rugby Aotearoa is shown by the following broadcasters:

Corporate relations

Sponsorship

The 2020 tournament was run by Rugby New Zealand with the sponsorship of

Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...

which provided television coverage on its

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

channels with

Sky (New Zealand) Sky Network Television Limited, more commonly known as Sky, is a New Zealand broadcasting company that provides pay television services via satellite television, satellite, media streaming services, and broadband internet services. Sky had 1,0 ...

being the

naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...

sponsor. Gilbert is the official supplier of all

rugby ball A rugby ball is an elongated ellipsoidal ball used in both codes of rugby football. Its measurements and weight are specified by World Rugby and the Rugby League International Federation, the governing bodies for both codes, rugby union and rugby ...

Merchandising

Official match-day attire together with other club merchandise is sold through the Super Rugby Aotearoa's stores and website as well as through the clubs and some retailers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Super Rugby Aotearoa Rugby union competitions for provincial teams Fox Sports (Australian TV network) Recurring sporting events established in 2020 2020 establishments in New Zealand Sports leagues established in 2020 Professional sports leagues in New Zealand