New Zealand Rugby backs new Super Rugby development program to help rising stars like Oli Mathis
Friday, 13 February 2026
Each New Zealand club will have a five-game program.
Crusaders-Highlanders will start the ball rolling in Timaru on Saturday.
At least two fixtures will be curtain-raisers for Super Rugby clashes.
New Zealand Rugby has moved to fill what it believes is a gap in its player pathways, launching Super Rugby development program that will offer players some meaningful rugby over the next two months.
In the first iteration of the program there will be no points or competition table - more on that later - but it will be a more structured set of games than the ad-hoc development matches of recent years.
NZ Rugby believes the program will have several benefits, but primarily it identified a need to generate meaningful game time for players who were falling into the cracks between under 20s rugby and Super Rugby.
“We had pretty a extensive pathways review over the last 18 months and one of the things that fell out of it was that there needs to be a good competition for an age group that has finished in that 20s space but isn't quite ready for Super,” NZ Rugby high performance player development manager Matt Sexton told The Post.
“And also for Super Rugby clubs to enable meaningful game time for players in their squads.
“Now they’ve got up to 48 contracted player and only 23 are going to get a run each week.
“So, it's a really good opportunity. There needs to be some playing opportunities for those guys that aren't regularly in that 23.”
Players such as Crusaders flanker Oli Mathis and the Hurricanes hooker Vernon Bason fit firmly within this category, but the reality is that future Super Rugby stars and future All Blacks will be peppered throughout the Super development teams.
The program starts this weekend, and each Super Rugby club will play five games each between now and April 11 - one game against every other Super Rugby club and two against a regional rival.
For example, the Crusaders and Highlanders will play each other twice, and the Blues, Hurricanes and Chiefs once.
At least two of the fixtures will serve as curtain raisers for Super Rugby clashes - the Blues v Chiefs development sides on Saturday, and the Highlanders v Hurricanes development sides in round five.
The fixtures won’t be televised, and it will be up to the home team to decide to provide a streaming service or not - an additional cost factor.
There also won’t be a points table or competition winner as such, which has the potential to lessen the stakes of some games.
But Sexton said the focus this year was mainly on getting the structure up and running.
“It's the first iteration and we didn't want to complicate things,” Sexton said.
“Having a competition, especially in this first year, just adds a level of complication to things and perhaps might compromise some of the things that we're trying to achieve around development and game time.
“But that’s not to say that won't happen in the future.”
The development opportunities won’t be restricted to players.
For example, newly appointed Canterbury NPC coach Alex Robertson will head up the Crusaders development team and other provincial coaches are set to play a role within their Super regions.
Sexton also kept the door open for some standout under-20s players - those on national development contracts - to play a role.
“There's probably a bit of a food chain that will happen within the Super clubs,” he said.
“Fully contracted players - they'll get first bite of the cherry.
“And then there's this wider training group now that's made up of about 12 players.
“And then on the back of that, there'll be some high-potential under-20 players that might get some opportunities.
“We’re pretty excited about those opportunities, especially for those under-20 guys that may be heading into World Cup [in Georgia later this year].
“Playing alongside seasoned professionals really accelerates their development.”