Lions handed a ‘Super’ draw
2018 EDITION: SIX OF THEIR FIRST EIGHT GAMES AT HOME
Rudolph Jacobs
South Africa’s flag-bearers, the Lions, were handed a favourable draw when the fixtures of the revamped Super Rugby competition were released yesterday.
With three teams cut, the number of teams has been reduced to 15, divided into three conferences – the New Zealand, Australian and South African conferences.
There will be 120 regular season matches and each team plays 16 matches – eight home and eight away – with two byes, while there will be an eight-team, seven-match finals series with the final set for August 4.
The Lions will kick off their campaign on February 17 with a home fixture against the Sharks and will play six of their first eight matches on home ground.
Their Australasian tour only starts on the weekend of April 21 with two matches scheduled in Australia and two in New Zealand.
The Stormers host the Jaguares the same day in what will be the only matches on the opening weekend, with the Bulls having a bye in round one and the Sharks having a bye in round two.
The South African Conference kicks off a week earlier than in Australia and New Zealand, which allows an bye week for all four local teams between the final pool match before the June Test break, and the opening Springbok Test against England.
This will be the last time that Super Rugby will break for the June Tests, as 2019 is a Rugby World Cup year and in 2020, the mid-year Tests will move to July.
Each team will play 16 conference matches – eight matches within their own conference (home and away) and four matches against teams from each of the other conferences (home or away).
The elimination finals series will comprise eight teams, facing off in seven matches from July 2021 until the final on August 4.