The 15 participating teams were divided into three geographical conferences: the Australian Conference (consisting of four Australian teams and the
Japanese ), the New Zealand Conference (consisting of five New Zealand teams), and the South African Conference (consisting of four South African teams and the from
Argentina). In the group stages, there were 18 rounds of matches, with each team playing 16 matches and having two rounds of byes, resulting in a total of 120 matches. Teams played eight inter-conference matches and eight cross-conference matches; they played all the other teams in their conference twice — once at home and once away — and play once against four of the teams in the other two conferences. The top team in each of the three conferences qualified for the quarterfinals, as do the next five teams with the best records across the three conferences, known as wildcards. The conference winners and best wildcard team hosted the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal winners progressed to the semifinal, and the winners of the semifinals progressed to the final. ==Standings==