Super Rugby Pacific has confirmed
a revamped competition structure for the 2027 season
featuring an expanded regular season and a new high-stakes
finals series, following the demise of Moana
Pasifika.
The season will begin on Friday 12 February,
with the competition’s 10 teams going head-to-head across an
extended 17-week regular season.
The extra week
combined with a reduction in byes from two to one means each
team will play 16 regular season matches – two more than
2026.
Just last week New Zealand Rugby confirmed that
Moana
Pasifika would not be involved in next year’s
competition, after several bids to rescue the team were
rejected.
New Zealand Rugby said none were able to
demonstrate the level of committed funding required to meet
NZR’s financial and operational requirements.
The
squads for the first Anzac Day Bledisloe Cup Test will be
named following round nine, effectively transforming the
opening two months of the season into a shoot-out for
national selection.
A rejig of the finals series
for 2027 means the top six teams on the ladder will still
qualify; however, the teams that finish first and second
will get a week off and advance directly to the
semi-finals.
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Teams ranked third and fourth will host
sudden-death elimination finals against the teams finishing
fifth and sixth respectively, with the winners progressing
as away teams for the semi-final fixtures.
Super Rugby
Pacific chief executive Jack Mesley said the refreshed
format had been designed to make the most of the 20-week
competition window while delivering a more compelling finals
series.
“We’re delighted to have developed a structure
that pushes the limits of our competition window to deliver
more games and give every fan more opportunities to see
their favourite teams in action,” Mesley said.
“At the
same time, our new-look finals series ensures teams will be
more desperate than ever to finish in the top two to secure
a week off, and the top four to host a home final, while
every finals game will be a genuine do-or-die contest on the
road to the championship.
“The introduction of the
Anzac Bledisloe to our calendar will help ensure every match
means more, with Test jerseys up for grabs from the moment
we kick off in February.
“Off the back of the success
of Super Round in 2026, we are working diligently to confirm
it remains an integral part of our calendar next
year.
“We’re already looking forward to the
storylines, drama and excitement that this new structure
will help deliver for Super Rugby Pacific in
2027.”
The 2027 Super Rugby Pacific grand final will
be played on Saturday 26 June.
Further details
regarding the 2027 Super Rugby Pacific draw will be
announced in the coming weeks.
2027 Super Rugby
Pacific finals series
Week one – elimination
finals
3 vs. 6
4 vs. 5
Week two –
semi-finals
1 vs. lowest-seeded EF winner
2 vs.
highest-seeded EF winner
Week three – grand
final
Highest-seeded SF winner vs. lowest-seeded SF
winner
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