‘Lucky loser’ concept introduced as Super Rugby Pacific reveals changes to finals format
Friday, 13 September 2024
Super Rugby Pacific will have a new finals format in 2025, with six from 11 teams reaching the play-offs.
The previous eight-team format was maligned. The new structure includes a “lucky loser” completing the semifinal line-up.
Other changes included an extended regular season and more afternoon kick-offs.
Super Rugby is tweaking itself again and will feature a new six-team finals format where a “lucky loser” will make the semifinals.
The format changes for Super Rugby Pacific in 2025 were announced on Friday and 11 teams will participate next season after the demise of the Melbourne Rebels.
The regular season, starting on February 14, is extending to 16 rounds and each team will play 14 matches and have two byes.
The draw is yet to be confirmed and is also set to include more afternoon kick-offs, including at least three fixtures on Sundays. Each team will play four sides twice and the other six once, with a focus on rivalries.
The biggest change, however, is to the structure of the play-offs, where the highest-ranked losing team in week one will get another life.
The previous format, which was maligned for allowing eight from 12 teams to qualify for the finals, has been ditched after its introduction when the expanded Super Rugby competition was relaunched in 2022.
The new format will see the top six teams qualify for a three-week finals series featuring six matches:
- In week one, the highest-seeded teams will host in matches between 1st v 6th, 2nd v 5th and 3rd v 4th;
The winners of these three matches will advance to the semifinals and be joined by the highest-seeded losing team, known as “the lucky loser”;
In week two, the 1st seed will host the 4th seed and the 2nd seed will host the 3rd seed, with the winners progressing to the grand final;
In week three, the highest-seeded team will host the decider.
In Super Rugby’s revamped finals system, for example, if the three top seeds were to win in week one, the fourth seed would be spared elimination and reach the semifinals, despite tasting defeat.
The change should give teams a greater advantage for finishing higher in the table in the regular season.
The concept of a “lucky loser” in the play-offs, where teams can be beaten but not eliminated from title contention, is not unheard of.
The NRL adopted something similar, the McIntrye final eight system, until changing its structure for their four-week finals in 2012, where only two of the top four teams get another chance if they lose in week one.
The previous system was in place from 1994 to 2011 and the two lowest-seeded teams were eliminated each week.
Jack Mesley, the Super Rugby Pacific chief executive, said they looked at various six-team models.
One format that has been used before in Super Rugby with six teams saw the top two progress straight to the semifinals, with two matches in week one between 3rd v 6th and 4th v 5th. The winners advanced to the last four and the losers were eliminated.
Mesley said they wanted as many matches as they could have with the new model.
“One well-trodden path is give [the teams ranked] 1 and 2 the week off in the first week,” he said.
“What we wanted to do was ensure we had as much premium content for fans as possible. That’s where the new structure has been formatted from.
“There is as much finals content as we can have featuring as many clubs.”
If the teams finishing first and second were to have a bye in week one, and advance straight to the semifinals, there would be one less match (five) than the structure which has been implemented (six).
With the Rebels gone, the competition will have five Kiwi teams (the Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders and Hurricanes), four Aussie sides (the Brumbies, Force, Reds and Waratahs), Moana Pasifika and Fijian Drua.
The Blues are the defending champions after beating the Chiefs in last season’s Eden Park final for their first major title since 2003.
2025 Super Rugby Pacific finals
Week one, qualifying finals
1st v 6th
2nd v 5th
3rd v 4th
Week two, semifinals
1st seed v 4th seed
2nd seed v 3rd seed
Grand final
Winner of semifinal one v winner of semifinal two