The Super 14 is the only international club Rugby Union competition in the Southern Hemisphere featuring teams from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. It was born out of the success of the 1995 World Cup and a desire to take rugby into a fully professional era. With the introduction of pay TV coming at around the same time, News Corporation bought the television rights and the Super 12 (as it was then) was born.

At the same time as Super 12 rugby was announced, the Tri-Nations was also inaugurated - a yearly home and away series between the national teams of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. These three teams would dominate world rugby until England won the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

The Super 12 was made up of five teams from New Zealand, four from South Africa and three from Australia. South Africa decided to field the top four teams from its domestic Currie Cup, while New Zealand combined some provincial teams. At the time Australia only had two state teams, Queensland and New South Wales, and used the players who were unwanted by both states to form the ACT Brumbies.

The format of the Super 12 was simple - a round robin followed by semi finals and a final. The inaugural Super 12 tournament was won by the Auckland Blues in front of their home crowd against the Natal Sharks. The Blues' dominance continued in 1997 when they recorded the competition's first-ever unbeaten record, 10 wins and one draw in the round robin, followed by wins in the semi-final and final to claim their second title.

In 1998 the Blues failed to defend their title when they lost the final to the Canterbury Crusaders, who would go on to win the title again in 1999 and 2000. For the 2000 season all Super 12 teams were renamed, having previously been referred to by a region and nickname. Teams were now referred to only by nicknames, so the Waikato Chiefs became simply the Chiefs.

In 2001 New Zealand teams’ stranglehold on the Super 12 title was finally broken when the ACT Brumbies claimed the title. Also in 2001, no New Zealand team made the semi-finals. The year 2002 saw New Zealand teams return to prominence as the Crusaders won all their 11 games and then went on to win the first final at home.

The Crusaders would make the final again in 2003 and 2004, only to lose to the Blues and the Brumbies respectively.But the Crusaders were back on top in 2005, this time beating the Waratahs.

In 2006 the television rights for the Super 12 came up for renewal. News Corp had been very happy with the success of the competition and opted to expand it to 14 teams, with a new team for both Australia and South Africa. And so the Super 14 was born. Its sister competition, the Tri-Nations, was also expanded to include a third round.

Super Rugby, a term used to refer to the Super 12 and Super 14, has produced some fantastic action but has also been lampooned by some Northern Hemisphere journalists. They claim the teams have poor defences due to some of the high scoring games, or that Super 14 places too much emphasis on back play. These claims are largely dismissed in the Southern Hemisphere as jealousy and certain writers wanting to return to the days of 6-3 scorelines.

Currently the Super 14 is contested by five teams from New Zealand (Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Crusaders and Highlanders), four from Australia (Reds, Waratahs, Brumbies and Force) and five from South Africa (Cheetahs, Sharks, Bulls, Lions, Stormers).

The 2007 Super 14 has already been one of the most competitive Super Rugby tournaments ever, partly due to the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) holding back 22 top players from the first half of the Super 14 for a conditioning programme. With the return of several top All Blacks only a week away, the 2007 Super 14 is about to get a whole lot better.

How does the Super 14 compare with Northern Hemisphere club competitions like England's Guinness Premiership and the French League? Let Sportingo have your views.