Super XV 2012 Preview

The 2012 edition of Southern Hemisphere Rugby's provincial rugby showpiece, the Super XV is due to kick off in Auckland on Friday February 24th with the home Blues hosting last year's beaten finalists the Crusaders.

The competition pits teams from the top three nations on the IRB international rankings, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa against each other over the coming five months to determine Southern Hemisphere provincial/state superiority. The conference system introduced in 2011 gives an added twist, teams play home and away against other teams from their country; and play four home and four away games versus teams from each other country. This also means that that each season a team misses out on playing two teams (one from each “foreign” conference).

For the first time this season the competition takes a mid-season break in June for the International window when a number of Northern Hemisphere nations tour, rather than finishing before players switch focus to the international game.

The end of 2011 saw a significant number of players retiring or moving to better remunerated teams in Europe and Japan, so the time is ripe for new players to make a name for themselves.

Here is v2's guide to the teams (links to be added):
Australia
New Zealand
South Africa

That's the NZ conferences finished. I think I'll set up separate docs for the SA and Aus ones