MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Super Rugby Pacific has ditched its much-maligned eight-team finals format and replaced it with a six-team playoff system featuring a "lucky loser" from 2025, organisers said on Friday.
The shake-up follows the Melbourne Rebels' collapse at the end of the 2024 season, which reduced the provincial competition to 11 teams.
The eight-team finals system was introduced in 2022 along with new sides Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika but was unpopular with some fans and pundits for being too generous to underperforming teams.
The new format will entail a three-week postseason, with the three highest-finishing teams hosting matches the first weekend.
The winners progress to the semi-finals along with the highest-seeded losing team, the 'lucky loser'. The highest-seeded winner from the semis hosts the grand final decider on the third weekend.
"We’re particularly excited about the new Finals Series, which is designed to produce highly competitive match-ups while still rewarding the teams that finish at the top of the table," Super Rugby Pacific boss Jack Mesley said in a statement.
The draw has yet to be confirmed but the regular season will feature 16 rounds starting from Feb. 14, 2025, with each team playing 14 matches and having two bye weeks.
The Auckland Blues are the defending champions after beating the Waikato Chiefs in the 2024 final at Eden Park.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
