Super 10 (rugby union)

The Super 10 was a rugby union football tournament featuring ten teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Tonga, and Western Samoa. The competition ran for three years from 1993 to 1995 and was the predecessor of Super 12 and Super 14, now known as Super Rugby.

History
The Super 10 replaced the Super 6 and the previous South Pacific Championship and CANZ Series tournaments which had been organized by the Australian and New Zealand rugby unions during the 1980s and early 1990s. With South Africa being readmitted into international sport due to the dismantling of apartheid (both The Wallabies and the All Blacks toured South Africa during 1992), there was an opportunity to launch an expanded competition also featuring South Africa's top provincial teams. The South African Broadcasting Corporation's Top Sport channel committed to a three-year sponsorship of the competition, allowing it to be launched.

The official declaration of professionalism in rugby union in August 1995 led to a reworking of the competition. SANZAR, a partnership between the South African Rugby Union, the New Zealand Rugby Union and the Australian Rugby Union was formed, and in association with Rupert Murdoch's News Limited, they created the Super 12. That fully professional competition featured teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa only, with one more team from each country being admitted, and was launched in 1996

Past winners
Winners by year:

Format
The ten teams for the competition were arranged as follows:


 * Two Australian teams (New South Wales and Queensland).
 * Four New Zealand teams (the top four teams from the previous year's National Provincial Championship).
 * Three South African teams (the top three teams from the previous year's Currie Cup).
 * The winner of the previous year's Pacific Tri-Nations between Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa.

The ten teams were split into two pools to minimize the logistical problems caused by the travel required and the time zone differences between the participating countries. Each team played the other four teams in their pool once, with four competition points being awarded for a win, two for a draw, and one for a loss by seven points or less. Bonus points for scoring four or more tries were not introduced until the formation of the Super 12.

The top team in each pool met in a final to decide the championship.

1993 season
For the inaugural competition, New Zealand were represented by NPC champions, along with , and. South Africa were represented by Currie Cup champions, along with and. were the representatives from the Pacific Tri-Series.

1994 season
For the second edition of the competition, New Zealand were represented by NPC champions, along with , and. South Africa were represented by Currie Cup champions, along with and. were the representatives from the Pacific Tri-Series.

1995 season
For the third edition of the competition, New Zealand were represented by NPC champions, along with , and. South Africa were represented by Currie Cup champions, along with and. were the representatives from the Pacific Tri-Series.