2013 Super Rugby season explained

The 2013 Super Rugby season was the third season of the new 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tournament was won by the Chiefs, who defeated the Canberra-based Brumbies 27–22 in the competition final. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as FxPro Super Rugby in Australia, Investec Super Rugby in New Zealand and Vodacom Super Rugby in South Africa. Including the past incarnations as Super 12 and Super 14, this was the 18th season of the Southern Hemisphere's premier domestic competition. Conference matches took place every weekend from 15 February until 13 July – with a break between rounds 17 and 18 for internationals games – followed by the play-offs series that culminated in the final on 3 August.

The 2013 season saw the Southern Kings of South Africa enter the competition for the first time, having replaced the under-performing Lions.^[1] The Kings achieved three victories in their inaugural tournament, but finished last following the regular season, and were defeated by the Lions in a two-leg play-off for a position in the South African conference for the 2014 season.

Competition format

Covering 25 weeks, the schedule featured a total of 125 matches. The 15 teams were grouped by country, labelled the Australian Conference, New Zealand Conference and the South African Conference. The regular season consisted of two types of matches:^[2]

• Internal Conference Matches – Each team played the other four teams in the same conference twice, home and away.
• Cross Conference Matches – Each team played four teams of the other two conferences away, and four teams of the other two conferences home, thus missing out on two teams (one from each of the other conferences). Each team played two home and two away games against teams from each of the other countries, making a total of eight cross conference games for each team.

The top team of each conference, plus the next top three teams in table points regardless of conference (wild card teams), moved on to the finals. The top two conference winners, based on table points, received first-round byes. In the first round of the finals, the third conference winner was the #3 seed and hosted the wild card team with the worst record, and the best wild card team hosted the second-best wild card team. In the semi-finals, the #2 conference winner hosted the higher surviving seed from the first round, and the #1 conference winner hosted the other first-round winner. The final is hosted by the top remaining seed.^[3]

In addition, a two-legged promotion/relegation play-off took place at the end of the season between the bottom team in the South African Conference and the Lions, with the winner qualifying for Super Rugby in 2014.

Standings

Australian Conference

Pos	Team	Rnd	W	D	L	Bye	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1	Brumbies	18	10	2	4	2	430	295	+135	43	31	5	3	60
2	Reds	18	10	2	4	2	321	296	+25	31	23	4	2	58
3	Waratahs	18	8	0	8	2	411	371	+40	45	34	1	4	45
4	Rebels	18	5	0	11	2	382	515	−133	44	65	4	5	37
5	Force	18	4	1	11	2	267	366	−99	26	34	0	5	31

New Zealand Conference

Pos	Team	Rnd	W	D	L	Bye	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1	Chiefs	18	12	0	4	2	458	364	+94	50	38	8	2	66
2	Crusaders	18	11	0	5	2	446	307	+139	44	31	5	3	60
3	Blues	18	6	0	10	2	347	364	−17	40	36	6	6	44
4	Hurricanes	18	6	0	10	2	386	457	−71	41	49	4	5	41
5	Highlanders	18	3	0	13	2	374	496	−122	40	55	4	5	29

South African Conference

Pos	Team	Rnd	W	D	L	Bye	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1	Bulls	18	12	0	4	2	448	330	+118	41	34	5	2	63
2	Cheetahs	18	10	0	6	2	382	358	+24	38	32	2	4	54
3	Stormers	18	9	0	7	2	346	292	+54	30	18	1	5	50
4	Sharks	18	8	0	8	2	384	305	+79	40	31	3	5	48
5	Southern Kings	18	3	1	12	2	298	564	−266	27	69	2	0	24

Overall standings

Pos	Team	Rnd	W	D	L	Bye	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts
1	Chiefs	18	12	0	4	2	458	364	+94	50	38	8	2	66
2	Bulls	18	12	0	4	2	448	330	+118	41	34	5	2	63
3	Brumbies	18	10	2	4	2	430	295	+135	43	31	5	3	60
4	Crusaders	18	11	0	5	2	446	307	+139	44	31	5	3	60
5	Reds	18	10	2	4	2	321	296	+25	31	23	4	2	58
6	Cheetahs	18	10	0	6	2	382	358	+24	38	32	2	4	54
7	Stormers	18	9	0	7	2	346	292	+54	30	18	1	5	50
8	Sharks	18	8	0	8	2	384	305	+79	40	31	3	5	48
9	Waratahs	18	8	0	8	2	411	371	+40	45	34	1	4	45
10	Blues	18	6	0	10	2	347	364	−17	40	36	6	6	44
11	Hurricanes	18	6	0	10	2	386	457	−71	41	49	4	5	41
12	Rebels	18	5	0	11	2	382	515	−133	44	65	4	5	37
13	Force	18	4	1	11	2	267	366	−99	26	34	0	5	31
14	Highlanders	18	3	0	13	2	374	496	−122	40	55	4	5	29
15	Southern Kings	18	3	1	12	2	298	564	−266	27	69	2	0	24

Source: sanzarrugby.com

Legend:

	Conference leaders, qualify to finals.
	Wildcard teams, qualify to finals.
	Qualifies to relegation play-offs.

• Rnd = Round completed (games played plus byes), W = Games won, D = Games drawn, L = Games lost, Bye = Number of byes, PF = Points for, PA = Points against, PD = Points difference, TF = Tries for, TA = Tries against, TB = Try bonus points, LB = Losing bonus points, Pts = Log points, Q = Qualification

Points breakdown:

• 4 points for a win
• 2 points for a draw
• 4 points for a bye (this does not apply to teams not scheduled to play in split rounds, e.g. New Zealand and South African teams in the Australian-only Round 1).
• 1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less
• 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match

The overall standings classification system:^[4]

• Three conference winners/leaders in log points order
• Three wildcard teams in log points order
• The remaining nine teams in log points order
• When teams are level on log points, they are sorted by:
  • number of games won
  • overall points difference
  • number of tries scored
  • overall try difference

Round-by-round

Team progression – 2013 Super Rugby season

Team	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	R11	R12	R13	R14	R15	R16	R17	R18	R19	R20
Chiefs		style="background:#D8FFEB"	5 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	10 (2nd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	12 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	17 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	21 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	25 (2nd)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	29 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	29 (2nd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	30 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	35 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	40 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	44 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	48 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	52 (1st)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	56 (1st)	style="background:#ECECEC"	56 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	61 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	61 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	66 (1st)
Bulls		style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	9 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	13 (2nd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	13 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	14 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	15 (10th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	19 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	23 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	28 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	32 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	37 (3rd)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	41 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	46 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	50 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	54 (2nd)	style="background:#ECECEC"	54 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	59 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	63 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	63 (2nd)
Brumbies	style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	9 (1st)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	13 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	18 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	23 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	23 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	27 (1st)	style="background:#97DEFF"	29 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	33 (1st)	style="background:#97DEFF"	35 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	40 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	41 (1st)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	45 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	46 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	50 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	54 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	59 (1st)	style="background:#ECECEC"	59 (3rd)	style="background:#ECECEC"	59 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	60 (3rd)
Crusaders		style="background:#FFE6BD"	4 (9th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	4 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	6 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	11 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	16 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	20 (5th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	21 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	22 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	26 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	30 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	34 (7th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	38 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	42 (5th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	42 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	46 (6th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	46 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	51 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	56 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	60 (4th)
Reds	style="background:#FFCCCC"	0 (15th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (8th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	8 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	12 (5th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	13 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	17 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	22 (4th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	26 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	31 (4th)	style="background:#97DEFF"	33 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	37 (4th)	style="background:#97DEFF"	39 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	44 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	44 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	45 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	50 (4th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	54 (4th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	54 (4th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	54 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	58 (5th)
Cheetahs		style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (15th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	5 (13th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	9 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	13 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	18 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	22 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	23 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	27 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	31 (6th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	35 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	36 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	40 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	45 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	46 (6th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	46 (5th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	46 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	50 (6th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	54 (6th)
Stormers		style="background:#FFCCCC"	0 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (12th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	5 (10th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	9 (10th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	14 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	15 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	16 (11th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	20 (11th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	24 (11th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	28 (10th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	29 (10th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	30 (10th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	30 (11th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	34 (11th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	38 (11th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	38 (11th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	42 (10th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	46 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	50 (7th)
Sharks		style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	8 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	12 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	12 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	17 (3rd)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	21 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	25 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	26 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	27 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	28 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	29 (9th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	29 (11th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	33 (10th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	34 (11th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	38 (10th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	38 (10th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	42 (9th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	43 (10th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	48 (8th)
Waratahs	style="background:#FFE6BD"	4 (5th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	4 (10th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	8 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	8 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	9 (13th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	13 (11th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	17 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	17 (10th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	21 (10th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	25 (10th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	25 (11th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	30 (8th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	34 (8th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	38 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	39 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	40 (8th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	44 (7th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	44 (7th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	44 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	45 (9th)
Blues		style="background:#D8FFEB"	5 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	10 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	11 (6th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	15 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	16 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	17 (9th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	22 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	27 (5th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	31 (2nd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	32 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	36 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	41 (5th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	41 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	42 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	43 (7th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	43 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	44 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	44 (9th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	44 (10th)
Hurricanes		style="background:#FFCCCC"	0 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (13th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	5 (11th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	9 (8th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	13 (10th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	18 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	23 (5th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	23 (8th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	27 (8th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	28 (9th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	28 (11th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	33 (9th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	34 (9th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	38 (9th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	39 (9th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	39 (9th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	39 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	41 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	41 (11th)
Rebels	style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	4 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	5 (9th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	5 (12th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	9 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	9 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	9 (13th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	14 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	15 (14th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	19 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	20 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	22 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	24 (12th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	28 (12th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	32 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	32 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	32 (12th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	32 (12th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	32 (12th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	37 (12th)
Force	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (14th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	5 (14th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	9 (11th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	9 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	10 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	11 (13th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	15 (12th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	16 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	16 (13th)	style="background:#97DEFF"	18 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	19 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	19 (14th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	23 (14th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	27 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	27 (13th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	27 (13th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	27 (13th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	31 (13th)
Highlanders		style="background:#FFCCCC"	0 (14th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	4 (10th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	4 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	5 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	5 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	6 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	6 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	6 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	6 (15th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	10 (15th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	14 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	16 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	16 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	17 (15th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	22 (15th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	22 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	22 (15th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	27 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	29 (14th)
Southern Kings		style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (3rd)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	8 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	8 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	8 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	8 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	8 (14th)	style="background:#97DEFF"	11 (14th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	15 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	15 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	15 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	15 (14th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	20 (13th)	style="background:#FFE6BD"	24 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	24 (13th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	24 (14th)	style="background:#ECECEC"	24 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	24 (14th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	24 (15th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	24 (15th)
The table above shows a team's progression throughout the season. For each round, their cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets. Note: Due to the Lions tour, only Australian teams will play in Rounds 1 and 17 and only New Zealand and South African teams in Rounds 18 and 19. Therefore, until the completion of Round 19, Australian teams will have played more games and will be in an artificially higher position.
Key:	Win	Draw	Loss	Bye	No game

Regular season

Round 20

Finals

See main article: 2013 Super Rugby Final.

Final

Promotion/relegation play-offs

The Promotion/Relegation series is not an official part of the Super Rugby competition as organised by SANZAR. Instead, it was introduced by SARU to give the sixth South African franchise an opportunity to qualify for Super Rugby.

Results

• Lions are promoted to Super Rugby for 2014.
• Southern Kings are relegated from Super Rugby for 2014.

Players

Leading try scorers

Top 10 try scorers (including ties)

Pos	Name	Team	Tries
1			10
2			8
			8
			8
			8
6			7
			7
8			6
			6
			6
			6
			6
			6
			6
			6
			6

Source: South African Rugby Union

Leading point scorers

Top 10 overall point scorers

Pos	Name	Team	Points
1			248
2			233
3			186
4			172
5			171
6			170
			170
8			166
9			142
10			139

Source: South African Rugby Union

Referees

The following refereeing panel was appointed by SANZAR for the 2013 Super Rugby season:^[5]

Attendances

Team	Main stadium	Capacity	Total attendance	Average attendance	% capacity
		50,000	162,742	20,342	43%
		25,800	162,473	16,247	68%
		34,500	86,840	10,855	33%
		18,000	134,679	14,964	83%
		30,728	106,427	13,303	45%
		52,500	254,693	31,836	60%
		25,011	128,319	14,257	57%
		44,000	135,593	16,949	38%
		29,500	98,646	12,330	41%
		20,500	103,545	12,943	63%
		52,000	179,246	22,405	43%
		51,792	277,601	30,844	59%
		48,000	257,022	32,127	66%
		46,000	165,017	20,627	44%
		51,900	294,340	36,792	70%

See also

• Super Rugby

External links

• Web site: SANZAR Super Rugby site.
• Web site: Australia Super Rugby site.
• Web site: New Zealand Super Rugby site.
  • Web site: 2013 Super Rugby Media Guide.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Kings to play Super Rugby. 16 August 2012 . Sport24. 16 August 2012.
2. Web site: Super Rugby Conferences. SANZAR. 7 September 2011.
3. Web site: Super Rugby Finals Format. SANZAR. 7 September 2011.
4. Web site: Team with 'Most Wins' will finish higher in Super Rugby . SANZAR . 12 June 2011 . 13 June 2011.
5. Web site: Ref team for Super Rugby 2013 announced. South African Rugby Union. 20 December 2012. 1 January 2013.