Sports Illustrated 2012 issue

It has become an annual tradition for Sports Illustrated to devote its February edition almost entirely to Super Rugby, the southern hemisphere’s biggest and best-loved provincial rugby competition.

2012 is no different: more than 58 pages have been dedicated to profiles of all 15 teams, analysis and game plans, statistical information and fixtures, as well as interviews with five leading players from the five South African franchises.

What is different, however, is the cover strategy for 2012. To satisfy South African rugby fans’ passion for their teams, Sports Illustrated’s February issue features three different covers matching the headline cover star to the region in which he plays. The regional distribution sees Bulls captain Pierre Spies front and centre for magazines distributed in Gauteng and the north; Sharks popular prop Beast Mtawarira as the focal figure for magazines headed for KwaZulu-Natal and the coastal regions; and Stormers lock Andries Bekker taking centre stage for readers in the Western, Southern and Northern Cape.

This is the first time in Sports Illustrated’s 25-year history that the magazine has published multiple covers – editor Ami Kapilevich: “The Super Rugby competition is so huge that we thought it deserved more than just one cover. It’s also a tip of the hat to some of the most special and eagerly anticipated players in the country at the moment – one from each franchise.”