Super Rugby Pacific schedule: Crusaders to host Waratahs, Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes at One New Zealand stadium in 2026
Thursday, 28 August 2025
The champion Crusaders will host their first Super Rugby Pacific match at their new covered One New Zealand Stadium against the Waratahs on Friday, April 24 – kicking off the revived super round, and also a new era for the competition’s winningest team.
The 15-time champions had their 2026 schedule revealed on Thursday, with their first three home matches at Apollo Projects Stadium, in Addington, as the one-time temporary venue finally gets put to bed. Their home opener is against the Brumbies on Sunday, February 22, eight days after they kick off their season at the Highlanders on Friday, February 13.
They will play their 120th, and final, game at Apollo on Friday, April 3 against the Fijian Drua to end a 14-year stay in the post-earthquake “temporary” venue.
The Crusaders’ last four home matches will be under the roof, starting with the Waratahs clash to open the Anzac weekend super round spectacular in Christchurch, and then three straight Friday night Kiwi derbies to conclude the campaign, against the Blues (May 8), Chiefs (May 22) and Hurricanes (May 29).
In the other super round clashes the Hurricanes will meet the Brumbies and the Blues match up against the Reds on Saturday (April 25), while on the Sunday the Highlanders take on Moana Pasifika and the Chiefs battle the Drua. All count as home games for the New Zealand teams.
The post-season will again be a three-week finals format, a la 2025, with one major tweak. After feedback from clubs, the “lucky loser” to make it through as the highest-ranked team defeated in the quarterfinals will now automatically be seeded fourth for the semifinals, and meet the top qualifiers.
It’s very much a season of two halves for the ‘Saders, who have won eight of the last nine titles in Super Rugby, as they farewell their limited old venue, and then step into the brave new world of playing under the permanent roof of the state-of-the-art Te Kaha Stadium, which will be in the final stages of completion right up until its introduction.
Where it gets interesting, and a point acknowledged on Thursday by coach Rob Penney, is that the stadium move is going to essentially remove what many believe was the Red and Blacks’ primary advantage at the business end of the Super Rugby season.
No one plays wet-weather, mid-winter rugby as effectively as the Crusaders do, and for a long, long time it has been their key edge as they have proven unbeatable at home in finals footy. They have never lost a post-season match in Christchurch.
Now, with the move under the roof of Te Kaha, they will no longer have that advantage, and it will be incumbent upon them to make the necessary tactical and mindset tweaks to adjust to that.
Penney conceded plenty of thought had already been given to that prospect.
“There are not many fully covered stadiums around the globe that host rugby, and we’ve searched far and wide, and talked with some great people,” said the Crusaders coach.
“As always, there will be some evolution, not revolution – subtle changes will come in. Over time we’ll adjust to what will be a change of conditions at the back end of a competition. But the joy of not having to look at the weather map to see what’s coming is going to be unreal.”
The draw features 77 round-robin matches held across a 16-round regular season, before culminating in the six-team finals series. All teams will have two byes through their campaigns.
Penney was happy with the draw served up for the Crusaders, which sees them start and finish with a heavy run of Kiwi opponents, and face their only road trip with a testing double at the Reds and Force on April 11 and 18, respectively.
He was also rapt to draw the Waratahs as such an auspicious opponent to christen the new stadium. “What a massive occasion … we’ve had some challenges there, going back a long way. The rivalry is intense and awesome, and a really good way to launch Te Kaha stadium.”
The opening round of the season might be dubbed rivalry week. As well as the Crusaders visiting Dunedin to kick things off, the Blues host the Chiefs on Saturday night, Moana Pasifika visit the Fijian Drua earlier that day, and the Waratahs and Force host the Reds and Brumbies, respectively, on Friday and Saturday.
In features for the other New Zealand teams, the Blues, who have yet to confirm their Auckland venue, will have just two home games over the second half of their season; the Chiefs will start and finish with a trio of games against Kiwi rivals the Blues, Crusaders and Highlanders, and meet Moana in Tonga on April 11; the Hurricanes, who sit out the first round, will have a testing road double against the Drua in Lautoka (Feb 28) and Waratahs in Sydney (March 6); and the Highlanders face a daunting start and finish, opening against the Crusaders and Chiefs (both at home) and wrapping up at the Chiefs and Hurricanes.
Super Rugby Pacific 2026
February 13 to May 30: 77 round robin matches across a 16-round regular season
Season openers
* Friday February 13: Highlanders v Crusaders, Dunedin
* Saturday February 14: Fijian Drua v Moana Pasifika, Fiji; Blues v Chiefs, Auckland
* Friday February 20: Hurricanes (bye in first round) v Moana Pasifika, Wellington
Matches at One New Zealand Stadium, Christchurch
* Friday April 24: Crusaders v Waratahs (start of Super Round)
* Saturday April 25: Hurricanes v Brumbies, Blues v Reds
* Sunday April 26: Highlanders v Moana Pasifika, Chiefs v Fijian Drua
* Friday May 8: Crusaders v Blues
* Friday May 22: Crusaders v Chiefs
* Friday May 29: Crusaders v Hurricanes
Playoffs
Week one, qualifying finals (June 5-6): 1 v 6, 2 v 5, 3 v 4. The top-ranked team will host each qualifying final
Week two, semifinals (June 12-13): Three qualifying winners plus the highest ranked loser. Teams will be re-ranked, with 1 v 4 and 2 v 3. Highest ranked loser is automatically ranked 4
Week three, final (June 20): Top-ranked semifinal winner hosts the other semifinal winner