The Vodacom Super Rugby tournament kicks off on Thursday, 23 February ... and we can't wait!
To make sure you always know the score as this exciting tournament plays out, here we share some of our favourite Super Rugby apps, tools and sites. Enjoy!
All Out Rugby
Navigate to the Super Rugby 101 page on All Out Rugby, and you'll have a tournament guru at your fingertips. With the competition changing almost every year, it can be tricky to stay on top of who's playing who, in which conferences, and how the playoffs work.
All Out Rugby is here for you, sharing essential info, such as:
- There will be 18 teams playing this year.
- Six of them are South African: The Kings, Stormers, Lions, Cheetahs, Blue Bulls and Sharks.
- One Japanese team and one Argentinian team will play: the Sunwolves and the Jaguares respectively.
- The two conferences will consist of the Australasian side (the New Zealand and Australian teams, all 10 of them) and the South African side (our six teams plus the Sunwolves and the Jaguares).
For more on the playoffs structure, plus all fixtures, logs and results, go to www.alloutrugby.com. Make sure you get there before Friday, 24 February, when the first side in the South African conference takes to the field as the Sharks face the Reds at home in Brisbane.
Superbru
There's no better way to get invested in the tournament than by living it through Superbru. Over 1 million users have enjoyed Superbru games, which allow them to predict winning teams and the number of points by which they'll win, competing in groups (or pools) against friends, or public ones against strangers. Points are given for every winning team you pick correctly, and bonus points if you get the number of points right, too. At the end of the tournament, the winner of each pool (the person who has predicted most accurately) wins great prizes.
What we also really enjoy about Superbru is the Fantasy section. You get to create your own rugby team from existing players, from any Super Rugby side, and every time one of your players takes to the field, you'll be glued to the screen - because every try or penalty or conversion they make in real life means more points for you ... but you'll also get points taken off for any misconduct or cards they get given. So choose wisely, and then make sure you watch every single game they play.
Check out the introductory video if you're new to Superbru, and then get playing!
Bulls Mobile App
Love them or hate them, you have to admit that when it comes to tech, the Vodacom Blue Bulls are way ahead of the pack. They've got this super-useful app to their names, and it keeps their fans up to date with all their latest movements and developments.
It acts as a one-stop fan zone - this is what you can expect when you download it:
- The latest, most compelling team info in real time (you do NOT want to watch a Bulls game without the app open on your phone)
- Bulls-specific features like Bulletjies (the youngsters aspiring to be Blue Bulls when they grow up) fixtures and profiles of the Bulls Babes cheerleaders
- You can purchase merchandise from the online Bulls Shop
- You'll see Bulls video content that you can't get anywhere else
If you're a Bulls fan and you haven't downloaded the app yet, you'd better get cracking. Download it for iOS here and for Android here.
DStv Now
This app puts DStv in your pocket. If you're a Premium subscriber, download the app to be able to stream all the Super Rugby games live on your phone or tablet, so that you don't miss a single game, no matter where you are.
And if you don't want to use too much mobile data, you can use the app to set your Explora to record a game that you realise you might miss, so that you can watch it at home. (Your Explora needs to be connected to the internet for this feature to work.)
All you need to do is register a DStv Connect account, link your DStv Premium PVR smart card, and then watch!
