Super expansion: Lions head to Tokyo

SANZAR revealed that the new, expanded tournament is to kick off on Friday, February 26 – with three of last season's four semifinalists meeting in an opening day extravaganza.

The Lions will make history by becoming the first team to play a Super Rugby match in Japan – when the new-era, 18-team competition kicks off in February.

They will face the Tokyo-based franchise at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium on the opening Saturday of the season.

The Cheetahs will similarly become the first team to play the new entrant from Argentina, when they host the Buenos Aires-based team in Bloemfontein on the competition's opening day, Friday, February 26.

The identity of the Argentinean and Japanese-based sides will be formally unveiled in the coming months.

To lessen the travel burden on South African teams three of the Japanese entrant's matches against SA teams will be played in Singapore.

Singapore National Stadium will also host matches against the Cheetahs (Round Three), Bulls (Round Five) and Stormers (Round 12).

The Southern Kings also return to the competition with a mouth-watering coastal derby against the Sharks.

The six South African teams are grouped in two African pools along with the new entrants from Japan and Argentina.

The Australasian group features the Australian and New Zealand Conferences each comprising their existing five teams.

Teams will play six matches within their own conference, five against an Australasian Conference, four against a South African Conference and will have two byes across the 17-week regular season.

The African pools play home and away against teams in their pool. They play either home or away against the teams in the other African pool and their programme is completed by matches against all the teams from either the Australian or New Zealand conference.

Africa Conference One – which will play against the Australian conference in 2016 – is made up of the Bulls, Cheetahs, Stormers and the Japanese team.

Africa Conference Two features the Kings, Lions, Sharks and the Argentinian team and will play against the New Zealand conference.

Conference winners will be seeded one to four, based upon overall points from the regular season and the highest-ranked team will play at home in each match-up.

The winners of each pool will earn automatic entry to the knockout Super Rugby finals series.

The next highest-ranked team from the African conference will also be placed in the finals series along with the three next highest-ranked teams from Australasian conference.

"As we stand eagerly on the cusp of a new era of Super Rugby, fans can look forward to the upcoming season with a great deal of optimism and enthusiasm," said SANZAR interim Chief Executive Brendan Morris.

"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.

"As successful as our competition has been in the past, we cannot rest on our laurels," Morris added.

"We want to grow our fan base and ensure existing fans stay loving our game. We will be working hard alongside our national unions, teams, broadcasters and venues to keep finding new and innovative ways to ensure Super Rugby continues to be the best provincial rugby competition in the world both on and off the field."

The new-look competition will also be contested for a new trophy.

The chrome and gold-plated piece is intended to capture the prestige, grandeur and resilience of one of the world's toughest sporting competitions.

The 360-degree design features eight blade legs, representing the eight teams that will qualify for the finals series, arranged to provide an iconic representation of a rugby ball and evoke visual nostalgic links to the former trophy, now eternal property of the Highlanders.

The 13.5 kilogram prize features a flat base which caters for engraving and seamless expansion as more teams etch their name into Super Rugby history as champions of this prestigious competition in the coming years.

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