Super 10 (rugby union)

1994 Super 10 season
1994 Super 10 season
Date	31 March – 14 May 1993
Champions	Queensland (1st title)
Runners-up	Natal
Matches played	21

1993 Super 10 season
1993 Super 10 season
Date	3 April – 22 May 1993
Champions	Transvaal (1st title)
Runners-up	Auckland
Matches played	21

Super 10
	Super 10 logo used 1993–1995
Sport	Rugby union football
Inaugural season	1993
Replaced by	Super12 (1996)
Number of teams	10
Country	Australia (2 teams) ; New Zealand (4 teams) ; South Africa (3 teams); Tonga (1995) ; Western Samoa (1993–94)
Holders	Queensland (1995)
Most titles	Queensland (2 titles)
Broadcast partner	Network Ten Australia; SABC Top Sport; Television New Zealand;
Related competition	Currie Cup (SA); NPC Division One (NZ); Shute Shield (AUS); Hospital Cup (AUS); Pacific Tri-Nations;

The Super 10 was a rugby union football tournament featuring ten teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Tonga, and Western Samoa. The competition ran for three years from 1993 to 1995 and was the predecessor of Super 12 and Super 14, now known as Super Rugby.

History edit

The Super 10 replaced the Super 6 and the previous South Pacific Championship and CANZ Series tournaments which had been organized by the Australian and New Zealand rugby unions during the 1980s and early 1990s. With South Africa being readmitted into international sport due to the dismantling of apartheid (both The Wallabies and the All Blacks toured South Africa during 1992), there was an opportunity to launch an expanded competition also featuring South Africa's top provincial teams. The South African Broadcasting Corporation's Top Sport channel committed to a three-year sponsorship of the competition, allowing it to be launched.

The official declaration of professionalism in rugby union in August 1995 led to a reworking of the competition. SANZAR, a partnership between the South African Rugby Union, the New Zealand Rugby Union and the Australian Rugby Union was formed, and in association with Rupert Murdoch's News Limited, they created the Super 12. That fully professional competition featured teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa only, with one more team from each country being admitted, and was launched in 1996

Past winners edit

Winners by year:

Year	Final
Year	Winner	Score	Runner-up
1993	Transvaal	20 – 17	Auckland
1994	Queensland	21 – 10	Natal
1995	Queensland	30 – 16	Transvaal

Format edit

The ten teams for the competition were arranged as follows:

Two Australian teams (New South Wales and Queensland).
Four New Zealand teams (the top four teams from the previous year's National Provincial Championship).
Three South African teams (the top three teams from the previous year's Currie Cup).
The winner of the previous year's Pacific Tri-Nations between Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa.

The ten teams were split into two pools to minimize the logistical problems caused by the travel required and the time zone differences between the participating countries. Each team played the other four teams in their pool once, with four competition points being awarded for a win, two for a draw, and one for a loss by seven points or less. Bonus points for scoring four or more tries were not introduced until the formation of the Super 12.

The top team in each pool met in a final to decide the championship.

1993 season edit

For the inaugural competition, New Zealand were represented by NPC champions Waikato, along with Auckland, Otago and North Harbour. South Africa were represented by Currie Cup champions Natal, along with Transvaal and Northern Transvaal. Samoa were the representatives from the Pacific Tri-Series.^[1]

Pool A edit

Standings edit

Pool A standings
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1	Auckland	4	4	0	0	125	59	+66	16	6	0	0	16
2	Natal	4	3	0	1	129	63	+66	16	4	0	0	12
3	Western Samoa	4	2	0	2	80	113	−33	8	15	0	0	8
4	Queensland	4	1	0	3	75	89	−14	6	8	0	1	5
5	Otago	4	0	0	4	63	148	−85	9	22	0	0	0
Auckland progressed to the final.

Matches edit

	3 April 1993	Otago	22–63	Auckland

	4 April 1993	Western Samoa	27–19	Queensland

	16 April 1993	Queensland	21–22	Auckland

	17 April 1993	Natal	56–13	Western Samoa

	24 April 1993	Auckland	18–10	Western Samoa

	24 April 1993	Otago	13–35	Natal

	30 April 1993	Auckland	22–6	Natal

	1 May 1993	Queensland	20–8	Otago

	8 May 1993	Natal	32–15	Queensland

	8 May 1993	Otago	20–30	Western Samoa

Pool B edit

Standings edit

Pool B standings
Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1	Transvaal	4	4	0	0	121	53	+68	9	2	0	0	16
2	New South Wales	4	2	0	2	57	84	−27	4	10	0	1	9
3	Northern Transvaal	4	2	0	2	109	109	0	12	7	0	0	8
4	North Harbour	4	1	0	3	82	99	−17	5	9	0	2	6
5	Waikato	4	1	0	3	75	99	−24	7	9	0	0	5
Transvaal progressed to the final.

Matches edit

	3 April 1993	Waikato	29–24	North Harbour

	4 April 1993	Northern Transvaal	22–42	Transvaal

	16 April 1993	New South Wales	17–13	Waikato

	17 April 1993	Transvaal	39–13	North Harbour

	23 April 1993	Northern Transvaal	45–20	New South Wales

	24 April 1993	Transvaal	30–15	Waikato

	1 May 1993	North Harbour	16–17	New South Wales

	1 May 1993	Waikato	18–28	Northern Transvaal

	7 May 1993	North Harbour	29–14	Northern Transvaal

	8 May 1993	New South Wales	3–10	Transvaal

Final edit

	22 May 1993	Transvaal	20–17	Auckland

1994 season edit

For the second edition of the competition, New Zealand were represented by NPC champions Auckland, along with Waikato, Otago and North Harbour. South Africa were represented by Currie Cup champions Transvaal, along with Natal and Eastern Province. Samoa were the representatives from the Pacific Tri-Series.^[2]