Super Rugby Pacific expands season, changes finals for 2027

Super Rugby Pacific will undergo a major structural overhaul for its 2027 season, introducing an expanded regular season and a new finals format following the league's contraction to ten teams. The competition will begin on February 12 and conclude with the grand final on June 26.

The changes were confirmed by organizers on Wednesday, July 1, 2026. The regular season will expand from 15 to 17 weeks, with each of the ten teams playing 16 matches, two more than in 2026. This is made possible by reducing the number of competition-wide bye weeks from two to one. The league now comprises five franchises from New Zealand, four from Australia, and one from Fiji, after New Zealand Rugby rejected investor pitches to save the Moana Pasifika team last week.

A significant alteration to the finals series will see the top two teams at the end of the regular season earn a bye and advance directly to the semifinals. Teams finishing third and fourth will host sudden-death elimination finals against the fifth and sixth-placed sides, with the winners advancing as away teams for the semifinals. Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Mesley said the new structure was designed to deliver more games and a more...