Overview

• Chief executive Jack Mesley said the proposed Rugby360 competition could carry significant implications for club and international rugby if it proceeds.
• Reporting describes R360 targeting a 16-round season split across April–June and August–September with efforts to lure marquee players, a schedule that would overlap Super Rugby.
• Super Round will return next season after a one-year absence with Christchurch named as host for the first time.
• The finals format will shift so the highest-ranked losing team from the qualifying finals advances as the fourth seed and plays away in the semi-finals and any subsequent grand final.
• Super Rugby will focus on consolidating its 11-team competition in the Pacific, with expansion to the United States, Japan or South America deprioritised and a South African return seen as highly unlikely.