with the expansion to 15 teams, the competition format was dramatically changed. the league phase, originally a single round-robin, was replaced by a three-conference format, with each conference consisting of teams in one of the participating countries. each team plays home-and-away against the other teams in its conference, plus single games against four teams in each other conference. the finals series was also changed. in the super 12 and super 14 eras, this was a knockout series involving the top four finishers. the knockout format was retained for super rugby, but now involves the three conference winners plus the top three non-winners without regard to conference. currently, five new zealand teams participate in the competition, these being crusaders, blues, hurricanes, chiefs and highlanders.