Editing Playoffs (section)

==Rugby union==

===England===

==== Premiership ====
In the [[Premiership Rugby|Gallagher Premiership]], the top four qualify for the play-offs, where they are not referred to by that name. The tournament is a [[Shaughnessy playoff system|Shaughnessy playoff]]: the team that finished first after the league stage plays the team that finished fourth, while the team that finished second plays the team that finished third in the Semi-Finals, with the higher-ranked team having home advantage. The winners of these semi-finals qualify for the Premiership Final at [[Twickenham Stadium|Twickenham]], where the winner will be champions of the league.

====Championship====
Through the 2016–17 season, the second-level [[RFU Championship]] used play-offs—but unlike the Premiership, the Championship officially used the term "play-offs". At the end of the league stage, top teams advanced to a series of promotion play-offs. From the first season of the Championship in [[2009–10 RFU Championship|2009–10]] to [[2011–12 RFU Championship|2011–12]], the top eight teams advanced; from [[2012–13 RFU Championship|2012–13]] through to [[2016–17 RFU Championship|2016–17]], the top four advanced. A relegation play-off involving the bottom four teams existed through the 2011–12 season, but was scrapped from 2012 to 2013 on.

The original promotion play-offs divided the eight teams into two groups of four each, with the teams within each group playing a home-and-away mini-league. The top two teams in each group advanced to a knockout phase. In 2010, the semi-finals were one-off matches; in 2011, they became two-legged. The top team in each pool played the second-place team from the other group in the semi-finals; the winners advanced to the two-legged final, where the ultimate winner earned promotion to the Premiership (assuming that the team met the minimum criteria for promotion).

In the first year of the play-offs in 2010, all eight teams started equal. After that season, it was decided to reward teams for their performance in league play. in 2011 and 2012, the top two teams at the end of the league stage carried over 3&nbsp;competition points to the promotion play-offs; the next two teams carried over 2; the next two carried over 1; and the final two teams carried over none. (Points were earned using the standard [[rugby union bonus points system|bonus points system]].)

The relegation play-offs, like the first stage of the promotion play-offs, were conducted as a home-and-away league, with the bottom team at the end of league play relegated to [[National League 1]]. As with the 2010 promotion play-offs, that season's relegation play-offs started all teams equal. in 2011 and 2012, each team in the relegation play-offs carried over 1&nbsp;competition point for every win in the league season.

Beginning with the 2012–13 season, the pool stage of the promotion playoffs was abolished, with the top four sides directly entering the semi-finals. The format of the knockout stage remained unchanged from 2012, with two-legged semi-finals followed by a two-legged final. At the other end of the table, the bottom club is now automatically relegated.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/18102034 |title=Championship: RFU to abolish play-off pool stages |website=BBC Sport |date=May 17, 2012 |access-date=May 17, 2012}}</ref>

Effective with the 2017–18 season, the promotion play-offs were scrapped for a minimum of three seasons, to be replaced with automatic promotion for the club finishing atop the league at the end of the home-and-away season (provided said club meets minimum Premiership standards).<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://www.premiershiprugby.com/news/play-off-system-removed-from-greene-king-ipa-championship-from-next-season/ |title=Play-off system removed from Greene King IPA Championship from next season |publisher=Premiership Rugby Limited |date=March 3, 2017 |access-date=March 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309171650/http://www.premiershiprugby.com/news/play-off-system-removed-from-greene-king-ipa-championship-from-next-season |archive-date=March 9, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===France===
The highest level of French rugby union, the [[Top 14]], expanded its playoffs starting with the [[2009–10 Top 14 season|2009–10 season]] from a four-team format to six teams. In the new system, the top two teams after the double round-robin season receive first-round byes. The first-round matches involve the third- through sixth-place teams, bracketed so that 3 hosts 6 and 4 hosts 5. The winners then advance to face the top two teams in the semifinals, which are held at nominally neutral sites (a traditional feature in the French playoffs)—although in the [[2011–12 Top 14 season|2011–12 season]], the semifinals were held at [[Stadium Municipal|Stadium de Toulouse]], occasionally used as a "big-game" venue by traditional Top 14 power [[Stade Toulousain]]. The winners of these semifinals qualify for the final at [[Stade de France]] (though in 2016, the final was at [[Camp Nou]] in [[Barcelona]] due to conflict with [[UEFA Euro 2016]]), where the winner will be champions of the league and receive the [[Bouclier de Brennus]]. Before 2009–10, the playoffs format was identical to that of the English Premiership with the exception of neutral sites for the semifinals.

Beginning in [[2017–18 Top 14 season|2017–18]], only the bottom club is automatically relegated to [[Rugby Pro D2]]. The second-from-bottom Top 14 side plays a one-off match against the runner-up of the Pro D2 playoffs for the final place in the next Top 14 season.

Pro D2 adopted the Top 14 playoff system effective in [[2017–18 Rugby Pro D2 season|2017–18]], though with all matches held at the higher seed's home field. The playoff champion earns automatic promotion; the runner-up enters a one-off match for potential promotion to Top 14. Previously, Pro D2 used a four-team playoff, involving the second- through fifth-place teams, to determine the second of two teams promoted to the next season's Top 14, with the regular-season champions earning automatic promotion. Under this system, the promotion semifinals were held at the home fields of the second- and third-place teams, and the promotion final was held at a neutral site.

=== United Rugby Championship ===
The [[United Rugby Championship]] (URC), originally known as the Celtic League and later as Pro12 and Pro14, adopted a four-team playoff starting with the [[2009–10 Celtic League|2009–10 season]]. The format was essentially identical to that of the English Premiership. Through the 2013–14 season, the final was held at a ground chosen by the top surviving seed, with the caveat that the venue must have a capacity of at least 18,000. In [[2012–13 Pro12|2012–13]], top seed [[Ulster Rugby|Ulster]] could not use its regular home ground of [[Ravenhill Stadium|Ravenhill]] for that reason (the ground was later expanded to meet the requirement). The league changed to using a predetermined site for its championship final in [[2014–15 Pro12|2014–15]].

With the addition of two South African sides in [[2017–18 Pro14|2017–18]], the league split into two conferences and expanded its playoffs to six teams. The top team of each conference earns a bye into the semifinals, where they will host the winners of matches between the second- and third-place teams from the other conferences (with the second-place team hosting the third-place team from the opposite conference).

After the [[2020–21 Pro14|2020–21 season]], both South African sides left the league and were replaced by the country's four former Super Rugby franchises, with the competition being rebranded as the URC. The league split into four regionally based pools—one each for Ireland, South Africa, and Wales, plus a joint Italian–Scottish pool. While the top team of each pool at the end of the regular season will receive a trophy branded as a regional "Shield" and automatic qualification for the following season's European Rugby Champions Cup, all teams are combined into a single table for purposes of playoff qualification. The top eight teams advance to knockout playoffs, with the higher seed hosting all matches leading up to the championship final, which continues to be held at a predetermined site.

=== New Zealand ===
Both domestic competitions in New Zealand rugby — the semi-professional [[National Provincial Championship (2006–present)|National Provincial Championship]] (known by several sponsored names) and the nominally amateur [[Heartland Championship]] — use a playoff system to determine their champions, although the term "playoff" is also not used in New Zealand, with "finals" used instead.

==== National Provincial Championship ====
In the [[2006 Air New Zealand Cup]], the first season of the revamped domestic structure in that country, the top six teams after Round One of the competition automatically qualified for the finals, officially known as Round Three. Their relative seeding was determined by their standings at the end of the Top Six phase of Round Two. The teams that finished below the top six entered repechage pools in Round Two, with the winner of each pool taking up one of the final two finals slots. The seventh seed was the repechage winner with the better record, and the eighth seed was the other repechage winner.

From [[2007 Air New Zealand Cup|2007]] onward, the former Rounds One and Two were collapsed into a single pool phase of play in which all teams participated. In 2007 and [[2008 Air New Zealand Cup|2008]], the top eight teams advanced to the playoffs; in what was intended to be the final season of the Air New Zealand Cup format in [[2009 Air New Zealand Cup|2009]], the Shaughnessy format was used, with the top four advancing to the finals. The [[New Zealand Rugby Union]] (NZRU) ultimately decided to stay with the previous format for the rebranded [[2010 ITM Cup]], with the same four-team playoff as in 2009. Starting in [[2011 ITM Cup|2011]], the NZRU split the ITM Cup into two seven-team leagues, the top-level Premiership and second-level Championship, and instituted promotion and relegation in the ITM Cup (a feature of the country's former [[National Provincial Championship (1976–2005)|National Provincial Championship]]). The competition was renamed the Mitre 10 Cup in 2016.

The playoffs in each season format have consisted of a single-elimination tournament. The teams are bracketed in the normal fashion, with the higher seed receiving home-field advantage. In 2007 and 2008, the playoff was rebracketed after the quarterfinals, with the highest surviving seed hosting the lowest surviving seed and the second-highest surviving seed hosting the third surviving seed. The winners of these semifinals qualify for the Cup Final (2006–10) or Premiership/Championship Final (2011–), held at the home ground of the higher surviving seed. From 2011 onward, the winner of the Championship Final is promoted to the Premiership, replacing that league's bottom team.

Because the 2011 season ran up against that year's [[2011 Rugby World Cup|Rugby World Cup]] in New Zealand, the competition window was truncated, with only the top two teams in each division advancing to the final match. The Shaughnessy finals series returned to both divisions in 2012, and is currently used in non-World Cup years.

==== Heartland Championship ====
In the [[Heartland Championship]], teams play for two distinct trophies — the more prestigious [[Meads Cup]] and the Lochore Cup. The 12 Heartland Championship teams are divided into two pools for round-robin play in Round One, with the top three in each pool advancing to the Meads Cup and the bottom three dropping to the Lochore Cup.

Round Two in both the Meads and Lochore Cups is an abbreviated round-robin tournament, with each team playing only the teams it did not play in Round One. The top four teams in the Meads Cup pool at the end of Round Two advance to the Meads Cup semifinals; the same applies for the Lochore Cup contestants.

The semifinals of both cups are seeded 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3, with the higher seeds earning home field advantage. The semifinal winners advance to their respective cup final, hosted by the higher surviving seed.

=== Super Rugby ===
Throughout the pre-2011 history of [[Super Rugby]]—both in the Super 12 and Super 14 formats—the competition's organiser, [[SANZAAR|SANZAR]] (renamed SANZAAR in 2016), held a Shaughnessy playoff involving the top four teams. The top two teams on the league ladder each hosted a semifinal, with the top surviving team hosting the final.

In May 2009, SANZAR announced that it would adopt an expanded playoff when the competition added [[Melbourne Rebels|a new Australian team]] for the 2011 season. Through 2015, the Super Rugby playoff involved six teams—the winners of each of three conferences (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa conferences), plus the three non-winners with the most competition points without regard to conference affiliation.

The top two conference winners received a first-round bye; each played at home against the winner of an elimination match involving two of the four other playoff teams. As in the previous system, the final was hosted by the top surviving seed.

Further expansion of the competition in 2016 to 18 teams, with [[Southern Kings|one extra entry]] from South Africa and new teams based in [[Jaguares (Super Rugby)|Argentina]] and [[Sunwolves|Japan]], saw the playoff bracket expand to eight teams. The teams were split into African and Australasian groups, with the Argentine and Japanese teams joining the African group. Each group in turn was divided into two conferences (Australia, New Zealand, Africa 1, Africa 2). Conference winners received the top four playoff seeds, and were joined by the top three remaining Australasian teams and the top remaining team from the African group on table points, again without regard to conference affiliation. The higher seed still hosted all playoff matches, including the final.

With the contraction of the league to 15 teams for 2018, with one Australian and two South African teams being axed, the playoff format changed yet again. The number of conferences was reduced from four to three—Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, with the Argentine team joining the South Africa conference and the Japanese team joining the Australia conference. The playoff will remain at eight teams, with the three conference winners joined by five "wildcards", specifically the top remaining teams without regard to conference affiliation. The conference winners and the top wildcard will host quarterfinals, with all remaining matches hosted by the higher seed.