Heartland Championship

Heartland Championship
Current season or competition:
2022 Heartland Championship
Heartland Championship logo
SportRugby union
Inaugural season2006
Country New Zealand (NZR)
HoldersSouth Canterbury (Meads Cup)
East Coast (Lochore Cup)
Most titlesWhanganui (6 titles)
Websiteprovincial.rugby
Related competitionsFarah Palmer Cup
National Provincial Championship

The Heartland Championship competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two successor competitions to the country's former domestic competition, the National Provincial Championship (NPC). The country's 27 provincial teams were split into two separate competitions. Thirteen of the original teams, plus one merged side created from two other teams, entered the new top-level professional competition, the Air New Zealand Cup (later known as the ITM Cup, Mitre 10 Cup and currently the NPC). The remaining 12 sides entered the new Heartland Championship, whose teams contest two distinct trophies, both named after famous New Zealand players:

Format

The Heartland Championship is held annually, and starts in August. Rugby teams from 12 provincial unions compete.

Points are earned during the competition based on the following schedule:

  • 4 points for a win
  • 2 points for a draw
  • 0 points for a loss
  • 1 bonus point for scoring 4 or more tries, regardless of the final result
  • 1 bonus point for a loss by 7 points or less

Prior to 2011

Prior to the 2011 Competition, the tournament was conducted in three rounds. This was similar to the structure of the 2006 Air New Zealand Cup, but that competition collapsed its first two phases into one effective in 2007. At the start of Round One, the 12 teams would split into seeded pools of six teams each, Pool A and Pool B. Seedings were also based on positions in the previous year's competition. During Round One, each team would play the other teams in its pool once. All teams would have either two or three home fixtures, with the three highest seeds in each pool at the start of the season receiving the extra home fixture.

All teams would advance to Round Two. The top three teams in each pool advance to the Meads Cup, while the bottom three teams enter the Lochore Cup.

Round two saw each team in both the Meads and Lochore Cups playing the three teams that it did not play during Round One. The three teams with the most competition points in Round One would play two home fixtures and one away, while the other three teams would play one home fixture and two away.

All competition points from Round One carried over to Round Two, and the competition points earned in both rounds determined the teams that advanced to the semifinals of each Cup in Round Three. The top four teams in the Meads and Lochore Cup competitions at the end of Round Two advanced to the semifinals.

Round Robin

This round sees the 12 teams playing 8 games each. 1st to 4th on the ladder at the end of the 8 weeks will play off for the Meads Cup, while 5th to 8th play off for the Lochore Cup.

Finals

The Meads and Lochore Cup winners are both determined in four-team single-elimination tournaments. The semifinal matchups are seeded 1-4 and 2-3, with the higher seed receiving home field advantage. The highest surviving seed hosts each Cup final.

Teams

The Heartland Championship is contested by the following teams:

Team Union Established Location Venue Colours
Buller Buller Rugby Union 1894; 129 years ago (1894) Westport Victoria Square Buller Rugby (colours).png
East Coast Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby Union 1922; 101 years ago (1922) Ruatoria Whakarua Park Ecoast.png
Horowhenua Kapiti Horowhenua Kapiti Rugby Football Union 1893; 130 years ago (1893) Levin Levin Domain Hkapiti.png
King Country King Country Rugby Union 1922; 101 years ago (1922) Te Kuiti Owen Delany Park Kcountry.png
Mid Canterbury Mid Canterbury Rugby Union 1904; 119 years ago (1904) Ashburton Ashburton Showgrounds Mcantab.png
North Otago North Otago Rugby Football Union 1927; 96 years ago (1927) Oamaru Whitestone Contracting Stadium Northotago.png
Poverty Bay Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union 1890; 133 years ago (1890) Gisborne More FM Rugby Park Povertybay.png
South Canterbury South Canterbury Rugby Football Union 1888; 135 years ago (1888) Timaru Fraser Park Scantab.png
Thames Valley Thames Valley Rugby Union 1922; 101 years ago (1922) Paeroa Boyd Park Thamesvalley.png
Wairarapa Bush Wairarapa Bush Rugby Football Union 1971; 52 years ago (1971) Masterton Trust House Memorial Park Wbush.png
West Coast West Coast Rugby Union 1890; 133 years ago (1890) Greymouth John Sturgeon Park Wcoast.png
Whanganui Whanganui Rugby Football Union 1888; 135 years ago (1888) Whanganui Cooks Gardens Whanganuicolors.png

Prior to 2006, East Coast, North Otago, Poverty Bay and Wanganui competed in Division Two of the NPC, alongside Counties-Manukau, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu, Nelson Bays and Marlborough (all promoted to the Air New Zealand Cup, Nelson Bays and Marlborough merging to form Tasman). The remaining teams competed in Division Three of the NPC.

Champions

Year Meads Cup Winner Lochore Cup Winner
2006 Wbush.png Wairarapa Bush Povertybay.png Poverty Bay
2007 Northotago.png North Otago Povertybay.png Poverty Bay
2008 Whanganuicolors.png Wanganui Povertybay.png Poverty Bay
2009 Whanganuicolors.png Wanganui Northotago.png North Otago
2010 Northotago.png North Otago Wbush.png Wairarapa Bush
2011 Whanganuicolors.png Wanganui Povertybay.png Poverty Bay
2012 Ecoast.png East Coast Buller Rugby (colours).png Buller
2013 Mcantab.png Mid Canterbury Scantab.png South Canterbury
2014 Mcantab.png Mid Canterbury Whanganuicolors.png Wanganui
2015 Whanganuicolors.png Wanganui Kcountry.png King Country
2016 Whanganuicolors.png Wanganui Northotago.png North Otago
2017 Whanganuicolors.png Wanganui Mcantab.png Mid Canterbury
2018 Thamesvalley.png Thames Valley Hkapiti.png Horowhenua-Kapiti
2019 Northotago.png North Otago Scantab.png South Canterbury
2020 No competition held due to COVID-19
2021 Scantab.png South Canterbury Whanganuicolors.png Wanganui
2022 Scantab.png South Canterbury Ecoast.png East Coast

Meads Cup winners

Team Titles Runners-up Years
Whanganuicolors.png Wanganui
6
5
2008, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017
Northotago.png North Otago
3
1
2007, 2010, 2019
Mcantab.png Mid Canterbury
2
2
2013, 2014
Scantab.png South Canterbury
2
2
2021, 2022
Ecoast.png East Coast
1
1
2012
Thamesvalley.png Thames Valley
1
1
2018
Wbush.png Wairarapa Bush
1
1
2006
Buller Rugby (colours).png Buller
2
Hkapiti.png Horowhenua-Kapiti
1

Lochore Cup winners

Team Titles Runners-up Years
Povertybay.png Poverty Bay
4
2006, 2007, 2008, 2011
Northotago.png North Otago
2
3
2009, 2016
Scantab.png South Canterbury
2
3
2013, 2019
Buller Rugby (colours).png Buller
1
3
2012
Hkapiti.png Horowhenua-Kapiti
1
1
2018
Kcountry.png King Country
1
1
2015
Whanganuicolors.png Wanganui
2
1
2014, 2021
Ecoast.png East Coast
1
2022
Wbush.png Wairarapa Bush
1
2010
Mcantab.png Mid Canterbury
1
1
2017, 2022
Wcoast.png West Coast
2

Osborne Taonga

In 2021 a new challenger trophy for the Heartland Championship teams, named after 16-test All Black Bill Osborne was announced. It would follow similar rules to the Ranfurly Shield.

The Osborne Taonga was designed and created by Otaki-based Kaiwhakaairo (carver) and artist Jason Hina (Ngā Rauru Kiitahi, Te Atihaunui ā Pāpārangi, Ngāti Apa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kauwhata and Ngāti Raukawa) and fellow carver Bill Doyle, who created the Tū Kotahi Aotearoa trophy.

Ian Kirkpatrick Medal

From 2022, the Heartland Championship Player of the Year award will be awarded a medal named after the former All Blacks captain, Ian Kirkpatrick.

The 2022 winner was Sam Parkes (East Coast) and the other finalists were Siu Kakala (South Canterbury) and Semi Vodosese (Whanganui).

Heartland Championship representative team

Each year a New Zealand Heartland XV is selected to recognise the top performing players in the Championship. The team selected plays various fixtures and in some years goes on an overseas tour.

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-04-21 19:24 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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