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Super Rugby Aupiki

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the Australian competition, see Super Rugby Women's.

Super Rugby Aupiki
Upcoming season or competition:
Current sports event 2025 Super Rugby Aupiki season
SportRugby union
Founded2022; 3 years ago (2022)
First season2022
No. of teams4
CountryNew Zealand
Most recent
champion(s)		Blues Women
(2024)
TV partner(s)Sky
Related
competitions		Super Rugby Women's
Farah Palmer Cup
Official websitesuperrugby.co.nz

Super Rugby Aupiki is a professional women's rugby union club competition in New Zealand. Its inaugural season was held in March 2022. It is a stepping stone between the Farah Palmer Cup and the Black Ferns. Aupiki translates as ‘the ascent to the upper-most realm’.[1][2][3][4]

Format

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In 2022, the four teams were supposed to have three regular season matches with one home and away game, and one Super Round fixture. The top two teams at the end of the three rounds would contest the final.[5][6][7] The competition was reformatted as a round robin fixture because of the impact of COVID-19. All the squads were strongly affected with player isolations and COVID-19 cases. The inaugural champion was crowned based on their competition points after the final round.[8]

The 2023 season was played over a period of five weeks with ten games in total. Each team played three regular season matches and two play-off matches.[9]

In 2024, the competition was extended from three regular season matches and two play-off matches to a complete home and away round-robin format, followed by a final. This meant that each of the four teams played at least six games during the regular season – three at home and three away. The two highest ranked teams at the end of the regular season contested the final at the home ground of the highest placed team. The new competition format resulted in a total of thirteen matches played over a seven-week period.[10]

The season fixtures for the 2025 Super Rugby Aupiki season were released on 20 November 2024, consisting of six rounds and a grand final to decide the season champions. The 2025 Super Rugby Aupiki champions will play the champions of the Australian Super Rugby competition, Super Rugby Women's, at the end of the season. This new competition is called the Super Rugby Champions Final.[11][12][13] It will be the first edition of the new competition.

History

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2022

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The Chiefs Manawa won the inaugural title of the 2022 Super Rugby Aupiki season. They defeated the Blues Women 35–0 in the final round of the competition.[14][15][16][17]

2023

[edit]

Matatū were crowned 2023 Super Rugby Aupiki champions after beating Chiefs Manawa 33–31 in a hard-fought match.[18][19] Matatū won their first title and also handed defending champions, Chiefs Manawa, their first-ever loss in the competition.[18][19]

2024

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The 2024 tournament was won by Blues Women, who defeated Chiefs Manawa 24–18 in the final in Auckland, earning them their first Super Rugby Aupiki title.[20]

Teams

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There are four teams that compete in the competition. The three teams based in the north are aligned with their Super Rugby franchises, namely the Blues, Chiefs and Hurricanes. The southern team, Matatū, is governed by the Crusaders and also includes the Highlanders region.[21][22][3]

class=notpageimage|
Location of Super Rugby Aupiki teams
Team Coach City Stadium Capacity First season
Blues Women Willie Walker Auckland, Auckland Region Eden Park 50,000 2022
Chiefs Manawa Crystal Kaua Hamilton, Waikato FMG Stadium Waikato 25,800 2022
Hurricanes Poua Victoria Grant Wellington, Wellington Region Sky Stadium 34,500 2022
Matatū Blair Baxter Christchurch, Canterbury Apollo Projects Stadium 17,600 2022

Champions

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The following sides have won Super Rugby Aupiki titles.

Season Champions Final Runners-up
2022 Chiefs Manawa No final[a] Hurricanes Poua
2023 Matatū 33–31 Chiefs Manawa
2024 Blues Women 24–18 Chiefs Manawa

Players

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All four sides contract 28-players for the Super Rugby Aupiki season.[23] All players will be paid for participating within the tournament, with all players being on professional or semi-professional contracts.[21]

Television

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Matches in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition are televised by Sky Sport in New Zealand.[23]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ A Round-robin tournament determined the final standings.

References

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  1. ^ "Green light for Super Rugby Aupiki". allblacks.com. 6 October 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Green light for Super Rugby Aupiki". superrugby.co.nz. 6 October 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Super Rugby Aupiki: New Zealand Rugby announces new four-team women's competition". NZ Herald. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Sky is 100% behind Super Rugby Aupiki - Sky". www.sky.co.nz. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  5. ^ McLeod, Alex (17 January 2022). "Super Rugby Aupiki draw released for inaugural 2022 season". www.rugbypass.com. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Sky Super Rugby Aupiki set to light up rugby landscape in March". superrugby.co.nz. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  7. ^ "New Super Rugby Aupiki competition to feature a Super Round". Stuff. 21 January 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Sky Super Rugby Aupiki update". superrugby.co.nz. 2 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Sky Super Rugby Aupiki set to entertain in 2023". allblacks.com. 8 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Sky Super Rugby Aupiki 2024 format confirmed". New Zealand Rugby (Press release). 10 October 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  11. ^ Williamson, Nathan (20 November 2024). "Crossover trans-Tasman Final confirmed as 2025 Super Rugby Women's Draw announced". Rugby.com.au. Rugby Australia. Archived from the original on 25 November 2024.
  12. ^ Meikle, Hayden (21 November 2024). "Transtasman final for women's teams". Otago Daily Times. Allied Press. Archived from the original on 25 November 2024. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  13. ^ Lester, Ned (20 November 2024). "Super Rugby Aupiki and Super W champions set to square off in 2025". Rugbypass. Archived from the original on 20 November 2024.
  14. ^ Chapman, Grant (20 March 2022). "Super Rugby Aupiki: Chiefs Manawa dominate Blues to stay unbeaten, claim inaugural championship". Newshub. Archived from the original on 9 April 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Chiefs Manawa crowned Sky Super Rugby Aupiki champs". superrugby.co.nz. 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  16. ^ Reive, Christopher (20 March 2022). "Super Rugby Aupiki: Chiefs storm away to claim inaugural title". NZ Herald. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  17. ^ Pearson, Joseph (20 March 2022). "Chiefs Manawa overwhelm gallant Blues in decider to win first Super Rugby Aupiki title". Stuff. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  18. ^ a b Chapman, Grant (25 March 2023). "Super Rugby Aupiki: Matatū shock defending champions Chiefs Manawa to snatch women's crown". Newshub. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  19. ^ a b Reive, Christopher (25 March 2023). "Matatū win Aupiki final in dramatic fashion". NZ Herald. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  20. ^ "Blues storm home with late show to beat Chiefs Manawa for first Super Rugby Aupiki title". stuff.co.nz. 13 April 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  21. ^ a b "Super Rugby Aupiki: Players will be paid in NZ Rugby's new elite women's competition". Stuff. 5 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  22. ^ "South Island Women's team named for Super Rugby Aupiki". Super Rugby NZ. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  23. ^ a b "Green light for Super Rugby Aupiki". SANZAAR. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
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