In the (old) Super 12 and Super 14 format, each team played each other team once in a round robin followed by a knockout finals series featuring the top four finishers. Starting in 2011, the teams were divided into Australian, New Zealand, and South African conferences; each team playing the other teams in its conference, home and away, and four teams from each of the other conferences once. The finals format also changed dramatically. The winner of each conference receives a finals berth, with the top two conference winners earning a first-round bye. The other conference winner is joined in the first round by the three non-conference winners with the best overall records without regard to affiliation. These four teams are then paired into knockout matches, with the winners advancing to a semi-final against one of the top two teams. The semi-final winners then advance to the final, hosted by the top surviving seed.