This year promises to be very convoluted and gimmicky for Super Rugby:
Since the Australasian group has two more teams than the South African group (which includes all three new franchises including the Japanese and Argentinian team), the Australasian group gets 5 playoff spots and South African group gets 3.
With the awkward setup there's no way to have a fair and balanced schedule and playoff structure, and I think the South African teams benefit the most here. The South African conference as a whole was pretty bad last year. If each conference leader didn't get an automatic playoff berth then South Africa would've had no teams in last year's playoffs (Crusaders got screwed!). So now with the expansion there is a pretty good chance that 3 South African teams make the playoffs having an easier schedule than the New Zealand and Australian teams. Hopefully the Sunwolves and Jaguares can stick it to them.
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