Tournament Format
The league season takes place between September and May, with each team playing every other team on a home and away basis. At the conclusion of the regular season, the top four placed teams enter the semi-final stage, with the winner of the first vs fourth and second vs third playoffs entering the Final (known as the "Grand Final" in 2010 and 2011). The venue for the Final is chosen by the highest placed team in the regular season. League matches traditionally avoided the traditional international weekends in November and during the Six Nations Championship, however this will no longer necessarily be the case from the 2010–11 season onwards due to the increased number of games. Two Italian teams – the ex-Super 10 team Benetton Rugby Treviso, and a new team, Aironi – joined the league starting with the 2010–11 season. The Welsh, Irish and Scottish rugby unions now use the league as the sole determinant for European qualification, and the Italian union uses it as the sole determinant for Heineken Cup qualification.
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