Super Rugby

In the world of business, the stretch of water between New Zealand and Australia is one of the most expensive to transport goods. This weekend it is rugby union that has the highest stakes.

Super Rugby 2014 semi-finals showed us that there is now little doubt that the best two teams will line up in the Super Rugby final next weekend with solid wins in the semi-finals.

After beating the Brumbies, the Waratahs have joined the final with the Crusaders, who crushed the Sharks in Christchurch.

After much rugby debate about the quality of Super 15 rugby last week on the pages of Talking Rugby Union, we are approaching the business end of the season.

Scott Donaldson, our New Zealand reporter, looks at the issue of loyalty in rugby, as he continues his coverage of domestic rugby in the country.

We have all heard of home field advantage, but a South African sports scientist has attempted to quantify just how much difference factors like travel and home advantage have on a game.

The Sharks beat the Crusaders 30­-25 in May this year, with the Sharks reduced to 14 players after Jean Deysel was shown a red card.

The 2014 Super Rugby season has been one of, if not the tightest year of the competition to date.

There are only six teams left in Super 15 Rugby 2014 and of those teams, only four teams are playing this weekend. Scott Donaldson previews the weekend action.

In the final round of Super Rugby action there was a number of surprising and high-scoring victories in all corners of the southern hemisphere as the teams took their final positions ahead of the play-offs.

Aviva Premiership new-boys London Welsh have landed the highest profile signing of the off-season so far with the signature of former All Black and World Cup winner Piri Weepu.

Super Rugby 2014 is reaching a remarkable climax with a number of teams jostling for top six finals berths.

Talking Rugby Union’s southern hemisphere correspondent Scotty Donaldson wraps up the penultimate round of the 2014 Super Rugby competition with a selection of the round’s and competition’s best players…

With the weekend’s southern hemisphere action now finished, we at Talking Rugby Union wanted to bring you a round-up and analysis of all the games.

Form or class? Super Rugby is back and it seems like a distant memory since Round 16 finished. The excitement of seeing England, France, Scotland and Wales take the international field have long gone.

The Chiefs' hopes of winning a third successive Super Rugby title suffered another hammer blow on Friday as they lost 29-25 to the Highlanders in Dunedin.

Dan Carter's return to rugby ended in forgettable fashion as his Crusaders side went down 16-9 to the Hurricanes in Wellington.

The Waratahs brushed aside the Brumbies with a bonus point win as Alofa Alofa crossed twice in a 39-8 victory in Sydney.

Super 15 Rugby Round 17 featured four local derby matches, including two upsets with the Blues thrashing of the Force and the Hurricanes home win over the Crusaders

Sean Hedger will be at the helm of the Melbourne Rising team that will compete in the inaugural National Rugby Championship (NRC), kicking off in mid/late August 2014, after being named as Head Coach.