Super Rugby Aupiki

Super Rugby Aupiki is a professional women's rugby union club competition in New Zealand. Its inaugural season was held in March 2022. It is a steppingstone between the Farah Palmer Cup and the Black Ferns. Aupiki translates as ‘the ascent to the upper most realm’.

Format
In 2022, the four teams were supposed to have three regular season matches with one home and away game, and one Super Round fixture. The top two teams at the end of the three rounds would contest the final. The competition was reformatted as a round robin fixture because of the impact of COVID-19. All the squads were strongly affected with player isolations and COVID-19 cases. The inaugural champion was crowned based on their competition points after the final round.

The 2023 season is expected to be played over a period of five weeks with ten games in total. Each team will play three regular season matches and two play-off matches.

Expansion in 2024 will see a seven week season comprising six weeks of home and away round-robin matches for each club and a final to be played between the two top teams at the conclusion of the regular season. In addition, a four week formal pre-season period will be played which will include two pre-season matches.

History
The Chiefs Manawa won the inaugural title of the 2022 Super Rugby Aupiki season. They defeated the Blues Women 35–0 in the final round of the competition.

2023
Matatū were crowned 2023 Super Rugby Aupiki champions after beating Chiefs Manawa 33–31 in a hard-fought match. Matatū won their first title and also handed defending champions, Chiefs Manawa, their first-ever loss in the competition.

2024
The 2024 season will see an expansion of squad sizes to 30 players for each Aupiki team and an increase in the season to seven weeks consisting of six weeks of home and away rounds plus a final. Also included in the expansion of the competition were a more than doubling of player payments to include a four-week pre-season and eight-week player preparation period. The pre-season period will include two pre-season matches for each Aupiki club; possibly with Australian Super W teams. This will give the finalists a total of nine professional matches for the first time in New Zealand domestic women’s rugby history.

Teams
There are four teams that compete in the competition. The three teams based in the north are aligned with their Super Rugby franchises, namely the Blues, Chiefs and Hurricanes. The southern team, Matatū, is governed by the Crusaders and also includes the Highlanders region.

Champions
The following sides have won Super Rugby Aupiki titles.

Players
All four sides will contract 28-players for the inaugural Super Rugby Aupiki season. All players will be paid for participating within the tournament, with all players being on professional or semi-professional contracts.

Television
Matches in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition will be shown by Sky Sport in New Zealand.