Sunday rugby, triple-headers, regional championships and a new competition name on the rugby calendar are all part of a major makeover for the opening provincial competition of the South African season.
The SuperSport Rugby Challenge will kick off on the weekend of April 22/23 and will feature the country's 14 provincial unions together with Namibia's Welwitschias in a refreshing 13-week tournament that is set to take rugby in a whole new direction.
Professional rugby will also make a starring appearance at well-known community rugby centres for televised rugby festivals.
Venues such as the Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth, Bill Jardine Stadium in Johannesburg, and the venue of last year's club rugby Gold Cup final, Impala Rugby Club in Rustenburg, will host matches.
As part of the new look, the SuperSport Rugby Challenge will SuperStack matches with as many as three games hosted back-to-back at a single venue - one of which will be a local club rugby match.
The competition will also be divided into three regions - north, south and central - with local bragging rights up for grabs.
The tournament will comprise six-pool matches every weekend for 10 weeks, followed by seven knockout games. The 15 teams are divided into three geographical pools, with each playing home and away against the other four teams in their pool over the 10-week period.
The top two teams from each Pool, together with the two third-placed teams with the most log points, will qualify for the quarter-finals, which take place on Sunday, July 2, followed by the semi-finals a week later and the final on Sunday, July 16.
The SuperSport Rugby Challenge will be officially launched at Bill Jardine Stadium on Tuesday, April 11 when the full details and other innovations will be revealed.
The SuperSport Rugby Challenge Pools are:
• North: Blue Bulls, Golden Lions, Falcons, Pumas, Welwitschias
• Central: Free State Cheetahs, Griffons, Griquas, Leopards, Sharks XV
• South: Boland Cavaliers, Border Bulldogs, EP Kings, SWD Eagles, Western Province
