Super Rugby franchise areas
The Super Rugby competition in rugby union, including teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands and, in the past, from Argentina, Japan and South Africa, is based on a "franchise" system of teams. The original member countries – Australia, New Zealand and South Africa – all have several regional franchises, while the expansion countries – Argentina, Fiji, Japan and the Pacific Islands – have/had one franchise each. The article covers specific detail as to the areas covered by each Super Rugby team. Bold denotes stadiums that are current primary stadiums for the franchises.
Current franchise areas
Australia
The Australian Super Rugby franchises have evolved from traditional state and territory representative sides. For most of the history of rugby in Australia, the domestic game has been structured around regional club competitions. The strongest of these are based in the state and territory capitals of Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra. During the amateur era prior to 1996, these competitions fed into the representative teams of New South Wales, Queensland and Australian Capital Territory, respectively, and those teams became Australia's three original Super Rugby franchises.
Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia had similar representative teams and club structures but the game was generally not as strong in those states due to Australian rules football being the dominant code. Western Australia obtained the country's fourth franchise with the Western Force joining in 2006 and Victoria's Melbourne Rebels joined in 2011 as the fifth franchise. At the end of 2017, however, the Western Force lost its licence and was removed from the competition because the ARU decided to reduce the number of Australian teams in Super Rugby from five to four.
Since 1968, several Australian provincial competitions were created that did not continue, including the Wallaby Trophy in the 1960s and 1970s and, more recently, the Ricoh National Championship, APC and ARC. The last continent-wide competition was the NRC, which was launched as a national competition from 2014 to 2020, however in 2025 Super Rugby AUS was launched.
As well as Australian teams signing players from regional club competitions many players are signed straight from schoolboy rugby with strong competitions such as Queensland's GPS and New South Wales' AAGPS providing a large number of professional players.
While Australian Super Rugby teams do have general feeder areas, players from such areas can play for any side that offers them a contract. Examples include James O'Connor playing for the Western Force having played school rugby in Queensland and Matt Toomua playing for the ACT Brumbies having also played school rugby in Queensland.
| Conference | Club | Location | Feeder Area Regional club competitions | Home Ground | First season | Championships |
| Australia | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Australia | ACT Brumbies | Canberra | Principal Regional club Competition: ACTRU Premier Division |
| 1996 | 2 4 Australian Conference 1 Super Rugby AU |
| Australia | New South Wales Waratahs | Sydney | Principal Regional club Competition:Shute Shield |
| 1996 | 1 3 Australian Conference |
| Australia | Queensland Reds | Brisbane | Principal Regional club Competition:Queensland Premier Rugby |
| 1996 | 1 Super 6 2 Super 10 1 2 Australian Conference 1 Super Rugby AU |
| Australia | Western Force | Perth | Principal Regional club Competition:Premier Grade |
| 2006 | 0 |
| Australia | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Former franchises
All regions have provincial club competitions with a representative teams in the Australian Rugby Shield, from 2000 to 2008, and in NRC Division 2, from 2018 to 2020.
- South Australia — a substantial market with Australian rules football as the main sport. Rugby Union South Australia had an arrangement with the Melbourne Rebels for its players to be eligible for that franchise's academy team.
- Tasmania — a small market and not geographically concentrated. Australian rules football is the main football code.
- Northern Territory — Australia's least populous state or territory, with no major league sporting teams based in it.
- Victoria — formerly represented by the Melbourne Rebels.
Super Rugby AU
Fiji
Fiji has a single franchise. It was included in Super Rugby for the 2022 Super Rugby season and represents all of Fiji Rugby Union ; the team consists of players from various teams that participate in the Skipper Cup, represents the Fiji national side or Fiji Sevens national side. Many of the players who represent the side have returned from stints internationally in Europe or elsewhere. In the past, Fiji has also a team in Australia's National Rugby Championship and Global Rapid Rugby. For the 2022 season, the Drua were confirmed as being based in Lennox Head, New South Wales, Australia due to travel restrictions as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Team | Location | Feeder area and provincial teams | Home ground | First Season |
| Fijian Drua | Suva, Rewa Province | Skipper Cup | 2022 |
New Zealand
Blues
Chiefs
Hurricanes
Crusaders
Highlanders
In New Zealand, each of the country's five Super Rugby teams are linked with several unions in the country's two domestic competitions, the professional National Provincial Championship and amateur Heartland Championship. For all practical purposes, all Super Rugby players will be drawn from the National Provincial Championship sides. The specific unions linked to each franchise are:
| Conference | Club | Location | Feeder Area | Home Ground | First season | Championships |
| New Zealand | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| New Zealand | Blues | Auckland | National Provincial Championship Provinces:
| 1996 | 4 1 Super Rugby Trans-Tasman | |
| New Zealand | Chiefs | Hamilton | National Provincial Championship Provinces:Heartland Championship Provinces:
| 1996 | 2 2 New Zealand Conference | |
| New Zealand | Crusaders | Christchurch | National Provincial Championship Provinces:Heartland Championship Provinces:
| 1996 | 13 5 New Zealand Conference 1 Australasian Group 2 Super Rugby Aotearoa | |
| New Zealand | Highlanders | Dunedin | National Provincial Championship Provinces: Heartland Championship Provinces:
| 1996 | 1 | |
| New Zealand | Hurricanes | Wellington | National Provincial Championship Provinces:Heartland Championship Provinces:
| 1996 | 1 2 New Zealand Conference 1 Australasian Group |