ITM Cup
| ITM Cup | |
|---|---|
Current season or competition: 2015 ITM Cup | |
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ITM Cup Logo introduced for 2010 | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
| Instituted | 2006 (as Air New Zealand Cup) |
| Inaugural season | 2006 |
| Chair | Gordon Buswell |
| Number of teams | 14 |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Holders | Taranaki (2014: 1st title) |
| Most titles | Canterbury (6 titles) |
| Website | www.ITMCup.co.nz |
| Broadcast partner |
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| Related competition |
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The ITM Cup (colloquially referred to as "National Provincial Championship" or "NPC") is the highest level of New Zealand domestic professional rugby union competition, contested annually from late August to early November and managed by the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU). Building off competitions dating back to the National Provincial Championship in 1976, with teams from a number of provinces, the ITM Cup officially started with the 2006 season with 14 teams after the National Provincial Championship (NPC) was split into this professional competition and the amateur Heartland Championship competition. The competition was known as the Air New Zealand Cup to the end of the 2009 season; the name changed to the ITM Cup for the 2010 season after ITM, the trading name of Independent Timber Merchants Co-operative Ltd., a New Zealand building supplies retailer took over as lead sponsor.[1]
Format and sponsorship
Format
The ITM Cup competition has changed a number of times. There have been up to three Divisions, with promotion/relegation between Divisions. Since 2006 there have been semi-finals and a final in each Division. Winners receive four competition points; if the game was a draw two points are awarded to each team. The Rugby union bonus points system is also used, where any team scoring four or more tries or losing by less than seven points receives an extra competition point. The top four teams at the end of the round-robin phase then played semifinals – the first placed team hosting the fourth team, and the second team hosting the third team. The two winners played the final at the home ground of the top surviving seed.
In 2013, the ITM Cup has two Divisions, the Premiership and the Championship, each with seven teams. All teams play all other teams in their own Division and four teams from the other Division. This keeps up some of the traditional provincial rivalries.
Naming rights
ITM has naming rights starting with the 2010 season, and the competition is the ITM Cup. During the Air New Zealand Cup era, airline and flag carrier of New Zealand Air New Zealand had naming rights and the competition was referred to as the Air New Zealand Cup.
History
| Season | Champions |
|---|---|
| 1976 |  Bay of Plenty |
| 1977 |  Canterbury |
| 1978 |  Wellington |
| 1979 |  Counties Manukau |
| 1980 |  Manawatu |
| 1981 | Wellington |
| 1982 |  Auckland |
| 1983 | Canterbury |
| 1984 | Auckland |
| 1985 | Auckland |
| 1986 | Wellington |
| 1987 | Auckland |
| 1988 | Auckland |
| 1989 | Auckland |
| 1990 | Auckland |
| 1991 |  Otago |
| 1992 |  Waikato |
| 1993 | Auckland |
| 1994 | Auckland |
| 1995 | Auckland |
| 1996 | Auckland |
| 1997 | Canterbury |
| 1998 | Otago |
| 1999 | Auckland |
| 2000 | Wellington |
| 2001 | Canterbury |
| 2002 | Auckland |
| 2003 | Auckland |
| 2004 | Canterbury |
| 2005 | Auckland |
The 2006 reorganisation of New Zealand provincial rugby replaced the NPC's former three-division setup with two competitions. This differs from the original two-division setup used in the NPC from its creation in 1976 to 1984 in two key ways. The two current competitions are nationwide, while the original NPC Division two was split on a North Island/South Island basis; and the NZRU ruled that there would initially be no promotion or relegation between the Air New Zealand Cup and Heartland Championship, a feature that had always been present in the former NPC. The number of teams was reduced to 26, as the Marlborough and Nelson Bays unions merged to form the new Tasman union.
The 2006 expansion of the Super 12 and Tri Nations Series had a major effect on the Air New Zealand Cup. This expansion created the Super 14, adding two extra fixtures to that competition, and also added two more Tri-Nations matches for the All Blacks in non-World Cup years. Because of these changes, it was intended for players in the All Blacks selection pool to make only limited appearances in the Air New Zealand Cup.
Pre Air New Zealand Cup: National Provincial Championship
Before 2006, a number of competitions involving regional and provincial rugby union teams had taken shape in New Zealand. The earliest of these was the National Provincial Championship, which was launched in 1976 and continued until 2006.
National Provincial Championship
The competition was launched as the National Provincial Championship in 1976. The competition, was the major domestic rugby competition in New Zealand. The National Provincial Championship saw many alterations to its format and brand. It was first contested in 1976, and although the basic format of Division One was much the same from then until the 2006 reorganisation, there were a number of changes to the lower divisions. The only change before 2006 was in 1998, when the number of teams in each division was changed to ten in Division One, nine in Division Two, and eight in Division Three. Having an even number of teams in Division One removed the necessity for byes. Starting that year, automatic promotion/relegation between the top two divisions was ended. In its place, the winner of Division Two played a promotion-relegation match against the bottom club in Division One to determine whether the clubs would switch places. Through 2002, this match was hosted by the bottom team in Division One, but the site was changed in 2003 to the home field of the Division Two champion. Auckland were the most successful team in the championship, having won 15 of the 30 series.
Air New Zealand Cup
The inaugural 2006 season was played by 14 teams over 13 weeks from 28 July until the grand final on the 21 October. The inaugural format saw the season split into two rounds. In round one teams split into two pools and played everybody in their pool as well as a bye week. In round two the top three teams from each pool went into the top six, which faced every team they did not play in round one Every other team was split into either Repechage A and Repechage B, and the winners of each repechage filled the two remaining spots for the quarterfinals with the top six. The quarterfinals were followed by semifinals and a grand final. The new competition saw the introduction of four teams elevated from Division two of the 2005 NPC; Counties Manukau, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu and Tasman (the amalgamation of the Nelson Bays and Marlborough unions). The competition was won by Waikato 37–31, after they beat Wellington in the Grand final in front of a capacity crowd of 25,000 fans at Waikato Stadium. The leading try-scorer was emerging star Richard Kahui from Waikato with eight tries, and the leading point-scorer was Jimmy Gopperth from Wellington with 121 points.
The 2007 season saw the NZRU dumping the pool system. The new format opened with a 10 week round-robin where each team missed out on playing three of the other teams. The finals format was not changed from 2006, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and a grand final. The champion was Auckland, defeating Wellington in Wellington's second successive grand final. Auckland finished the season at the top of the points table with a record 48 competition points, winning all ten matches. Jimmy Gopperth again finished as leading points scorer with a record 155, while Brent Ward from Auckland was the top try scorer with eight tries.
The 2008 champion was Canterbury, handing Wellington its third consecutive grand final defeat in a low-scoring 7-6 game. Blair Stewart from Southland was the leading points-scorer, with 105 points, while Wellington's Hosea Gear was top try scorer with a record 14 tries. In August, the New Zealand Rugby Union announced that the Tasman and Northland teams would be relegated to lower competition after the completion of the season for failure to meet criteria which included financial stability, population, training, development, playing history, and administration. This decision was reversed in September, with Tasman and Northland remaining in the competition for two more years [2]
2009 saw more changes in the format. The season, which ran from 30 July to 25 October, was changed to a straight round-robin tournament where every team faced the others once over 13 weeks. Quarter-finals were dropped, with the top four regular season teams advancing directly to the semi-finals and the winners from each semi moving to the grand final. Regular season points were earned as per the Rugby Union Bonus Points System; 4 points for a win, 2 points for a draw and 1 point for scoring 4 tries or for losing by 7 points or less. Semi-finals were played between four teams, the teams are seeded first to fourth and the two highest seeded teams play at home against the two lowest seeded teams meaning first plays fourth and second plays third. The highest seed still remaining in the grand final played at home.
ITM Cup
The 2010 ITM Cup was the 34th provincial rugby union competition, the fifth since the competition reconstruction in 2006 and the first under the new sponsor of ITM, involving the top 14 provincial unions. It ran for 15 weeks, with 13 used for a round robin and 2 for the finals, from 29 July to 5 November.
Changes in 2011 see the 14 teams split into two divisions, with the top seven playing in the Premiership, the rest in the Championship. The two divisions play each other, though their ten-game round-robin season sees each team playing only four games per year against teams in the 'other' division. Other key principles introduced was that the competitions must include Super Rugby players, have a stand-alone window, feature a full round-robin and playoffs, have promotion/relegation, guarantee four and five home games per team, be completed within a 10–12 week window and conclude by the end of October.
Current teams
The ITM Cup consists of 14 teams of 26 players each. Each team is under the governance of a union, e.g. Auckland is governed by the Auckland Rugby Football Union; each team is the top male representative team that the union has to offer. The teams have not changed since 2006 launch of the competition, though the changes in 2011 means that they can be moved between the Premier and Champion divisions:
Champions
| Year | Attendance | Final | Losing semi-finalists | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Score | Runner-up | 1st losing semi-finalist | 2nd losing semi-finalist | ||||
| 2006 Details |
25,000 | Waikato |
37 – 31 | Wellington |
Auckland |
Otago | ||
| 2007 Details |
16,000 | Auckland |
23 – 14 | Wellington |
Canterbury |
 Hawke's Bay | ||
| 2008 Details |
21,200 | Canterbury |
7 – 6 | Wellington |
 Southland |
Hawke's Bay | ||
| 2009 Details |
12,000 | Canterbury |
28 – 20 | Wellington |
Hawke's Bay |
Southland | ||
| 2010 Details |
10,500 | Canterbury |
33 – 13 | Waikato |
Wellington |
Auckland | ||
| 2011 Details |
14,000 | Canterbury |
12 – 3 | Waikato |
Bay of Plenty |
 Taranaki | ||
| 2012 Details |
12,000 | Canterbury |
31 – 18 | Auckland |
Taranaki |
Wellington | ||
| 2013 Details |
15,100 | Canterbury |
29 – 13 | Wellington |
Counties Manukau |
Auckland | ||
| 2014 Details |
21,000 | Taranaki |
36 – 32 |  Tasman |
Auckland |
Canterbury | ||
Total wins
| Team | Championships | Runners-up | Semi-finalists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| Waikato | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Auckland | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Taranaki | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Wellington | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Tasman | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Hawke's Bay | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Southland | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Otago | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Counties Manukau | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bay of Plenty | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Division Winners
Since 2011 teams have played in two separate divisions, with teams playing each team in their own conference once (home and away) and in the other conferences playing four or five teams. The winner of the Premiership division is awarded the ITM Cup, and the Championship division winner wins promotion to the Premiership division and win their division trophy.
| Year | Premiership | Championship |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Canterbury | Hawke's Bay |
| 2012 | Canterbury | Counties Manukau |
| 2013 | Canterbury | Tasman |
| 2014 | Taranaki | Manawatu |
Trophies
The Air New Zealand Cup was unveiled by New Zealand Rugby Union Deputy Chief Executive Steve Tew and Air New Zealand Chief Executive Rob Fyfe at the official launch of the Air New Zealand Cup competition in Auckland. The trophy stands 45 cm tall and weighs 3.9 kilograms. It was hand forged from 2.7 kilograms of sterling silver by master silversmith Thorkild Hansen. The inside of the cup is gilded with gold. Waihi stone carver Jeff Beckwith handcrafted the polished stone base from black basalt quarried from the Bombay Hills.[3]
Ranfurly Shield
The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is perhaps the most prestigious trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First presented to Auckland in 1902, the Shield is based on a challenge system, rather than a league or knockout competition as with most football trophies. The holding union must defend the Shield in challenge matches, and a successful challenger becomes the new holder of the Shield. The Shield holder at the end of each season is required to accept at least seven challenges for the following year. All home games during league play, but not during knockout playoffs, in the ITM Cup or Heartland Championship are automatic challenges. The remaining Shield defences must be made up of challenges from unions in the other domestic competition. For example, since North Harbour, an Air New Zealand Cup team, held the Shield at the end of the 2006 Cup season despite losing their home quarter-final to Otago, they were forced to defend the Shield against Heartland Championship teams during the 2007 pre-season. Having successfully done so, all their home fixtures in the round-robin phase were Shield defences until they lost the shield to Waikato. The Shield is currently held by Hawke's Bay, who won it from Counties Manukau in the 2014 ITM Cup.
Inter union trophies
- Kel Tremain Memorial Trophy, Hawke's Bay v Manawatu
- Brian Purdy Battle of the Bridge Memorial Battle of the Bridge Trophy, Auckland v North Harbour
- The Newstalk 1ZB Trans Harbour Trophy, Auckland v North Harbour
- John F Henning Trophy, Taranaki v Wellington
- The Lion Red Challenge Cup, Counties Manukau v North Harbour
- John Drake Memorial Trophy, Auckland v Bay of Plenty
- Coronation Cup, Manawatu v Wellington
- Stan Thomas Trophy, Auckland v Waikato
- Payne Trophy, Canterbury v Otago
- Harry Saundercock Trophy, Canterbury v Wellington
- Peter Burke Trophy, Bay of Plenty v Taranaki
- Donald Stuart Memorial Shield, Otago v Southland
- Supporters' Club Cup, Auckland v Canterbury
- Fred Lucas Memorial Trophy, Auckland v Wellington
- Lindsay Colling Memorial Trophy, Auckland v Otago
- The Kevin Gimblett Memorial Trophy, Canterbury v North Harbour
- Ryan Wheeler Memorial Trophy, Taranaki v Waikato
Club competitions
Each respective province competing in the ITM Cup has a number of their own club leagues, which feed into ITM Cup teams. In New Zealand, the ITM Cup is the most prominent domestic competition below the Super Rugby, in which all the respective Unions are also aligned with Super Rugby sides.
Squad lists
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See also
- Heartland Championship
- National Provincial Championship
- Ranfurly Shield
- List of New Zealand rugby union teams
Notes and references
- ↑ "ITM Cup the new prize of national provincial rugby" (Press release). New Zealand Rugby Union. 15 March 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
- ↑ "Northland and Tasman saved from axe". Stuff.co.nz. 26 September 2008. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
- ↑ "Stunning New Air New Zealand Cup Unveiled". 14 July 2006. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
External links
- Official website of the ITM Cup
- Air New Zealand Cup News from Prime Rugby
- ANZ Rugby News
- NPC Rugby News
- Summary of the 2006 Air New Zealand Cup format at allblacks.com (PDF)
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