- Bayern hit nine, Real Madrid and Liverpool win as new Champions League kicks off
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- 'Happy' Mbappe strikes on Madrid Champions League debut win over Stuttgart
- Man Utd hit Barnsley for seven in League Cup rout
- Dolphins quarterback Tagovailoa facing concussion layoff
- Stylish Liverpool strut past Milan in confident Champions league opener
- Kane scores four as Bayern put nine past Zagreb in the Champions League
- Mbappe strikes on Madrid Champions League debut win over Stuttgart
- More than 3,600 food packaging chemicals found in human bodies
- Harris calls Trump as assassination scare sparks tensions
- Dow edges down from record as some eye a smaller Fed rate cut
- Sommer vows Inter will 'defend with all we have' to stop Haaland
- Report links meatpacking companies to 'war on nature' in Brazil
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- Smith grateful to McCullum for launching his England career
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- Villa make perfect start on Champions League return after 41-year absence
- Israeli supply chain infiltration likely behind Hezbollah pager blasts: analysts
- Rodgers backs Celtic to be 'really competitive' in Champions League
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- Storm Boris toll rises to 22 in central Europe
- Nine dead, 2,800 wounded as Lebanon's Hezbollah hit by pager blasts
- Boeing, union resume talks as strike empties Seattle plants
- Over 3,600 food packaging chemicals found in human bodies
- Australia's Zampa accepts Ashes chances remote as 100th ODI looms
- UN General Assembly debates call for end to Israeli occupation
- Marseille complete signing of French international Rabiot
- Easterby to fill in as Ireland coach while Farrell is with the Lions
- Hezbollah in Lebanon hit by wave of deadly pager blasts
- Postecoglou taken aback by criticism of his second season success claim
- US, European stocks rise on retail sales, rate cut expectations
- Fendi sees Roaring 20s at Milan Fashion Week in challenging times
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr part ways with coach Castro
- Scottish government backs Glasgow to stage troubled 2026 Commonwealth Games
- Storm Boris toll rises to 21 in central Europe
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- Inflation slows again in Canada to 2%
- US, European stocks rise on eve of Fed rate decision
- EU bans Algerian spread toasted on social media
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs charged with racketeering, sex trafficking
- Trump returns to campaign trail after assassination scare
- Activist urges repatriation of Native Americans dead in Paris 'human zoo'
- US retail sales see slight rise, beating expectations
- US Fed begins two-day meeting set to end with rate cut
- Exploding Hezbollah pagers wound hundreds across Lebanon
- Runners-up Yokohama thrashed 7-3 in AFC Champions League goal fest
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs to plead not guilty to racketeering, sex trafficking
- Jihadist group claims rare attack on Mali capital
- 'I am a rapist,' Frenchman tells trial over mass rape of wife
Super Rugby revamps format for 2025 knock-out stages
The head of Super Rugby said Friday there would be new additions for the 2025 season including a six-team format in the knock-out stages and a "lucky loser" slot in the semi-finals.
The changes come after the top competition for clubs in New Zealand and Australia was reduced to 11 teams following the demise of the debt-ridden Melbourne Rebels this year.
The 2025 season, which kicks off next February, has been expanded to 16 rounds with each team playing 14 matches and having two byes.
The top six teams in the table at the end of the regular season will qualify for the finals, held over three weekends.
The winners from the first three games in the knock-out stages will progress to the last four, joined by the highest-ranked losing team - the "lucky loser".
"We're particularly excited about the new finals series, which is designed to produce highly competitive matchups while still rewarding the teams that finish at the top of the table," Super Rugby chief Jack Mesley said in a statement.
There will also be three Sunday afternoon games next season, Mesley added. The fixtures draw has yet to be announced.
Auckland Blues are the reigning champions after hammering the Waikato Chiefs 41-10 in this year's grand final at Eden Park last June.
P.Silva--AMWN