To mangle an oft-quoted line by Churchill, Super Rugby is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

There’s no other way of looking at the new-fangled Super Rugby tournament that starts in 2016. It’s a complex system that blends 18 teams playing across five countries separated by thousands of kilometres.

The important bit to know is that there will be 18 teams, with the Jaguares, Sun Wolves and Kings joining the party. There will be four conferences in two groups:

Australasian Group: Australian Conference (Brumbies, Force, Rebels, Reds, Waratahs), New Zealand Conference (Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders Highlanders, Hurricanes).

South African Group: Africa Conference 1 (Bulls, Cheetahs, Stormers, Sun Wolves), Africa Conference 2 (Kings, Lions, Sharks, Jaguares).

There will be 15 regular season games per team (8 home/7 away or vice-versa over a two-year cycle), with two byes per team, for 135 regular season and 7 finals matches.

Eight-team knockout Super Rugby Finals Series will be staged over three weeks (five qualifiers from the Australasian group and three from the South African group).

The four Conference winners automatically qualify for the Finals Series, along with the next three highest-ranked Australasian group teams and the next highest-ranked South African Group team.

If this all sounds as clear as mud, I suggest you take a look at this cracking SuperSport video, which uses the Lions as an example of how things will pan out: