Super Rugby (rendered in the current competition logo as "SupeRugby", also colloquially referred to as "Super 15") is the largest and pre-eminent professional men's rugby union football competition in the Southern Hemisphere. Building off various Southern Hemisphere competitions dating back to the South Pacific Championship in 1986, with teams from a number of southern nations, Super Rugby officially started with the 1996 season with 12 teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.