The competition was organised by the South African Rugby Union and featured all fourteen South African provincial unions plus Namibian side the Welwitschias and the Zimbabwe Academy.

The competition was played at roughly the same time as Super Rugby each season, and featured a combination of Super Rugby players returning from injury, reserve players attempting to maintain their fitness levels and younger players trying to break through to the Super Rugby or Currie Cup sides.

It therefore served as an important developmental competition for South African rugby.

Some fixtures were moved to a neutral venue as part of a "SuperStack" initiative, where three matches—including a local amateur club match—were played at one site, with free entry available at these festivals to help promote rugby amongst all social strata.

The winner and runner-up of each section would qualify to the Quarter Finals, along with the two third-placed teams with the best records.