2017 Heartland Championship

The 2017 Heartland Championship, was the twelfth edition of the Heartland Championship, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur rugby unions in New Zealand. The tournament included a round-robin stage in which the twelve teams played eight games each and then the top four advanced to the Meads Cup semifinals, while fifth to eighth advanced to the Lochore Cup semifinals.

2017 Heartland Championship
Date26 August 2017 (2017-08-26)–28 October 2017 (2017-10-28)
CountriesNew Zealand New Zealand
Final positions
ChampionsWanganui (Meads Cup)
Mid Canterbury (Lochore Cup)
Runner-upHorowhenua-Kapiti (Meads Cup)
West Coast (Lochore Cup)
Tournament statistics
Matches played54
2016
2018

In both of these knockout stages the top seeds (first and fifth) played at home against the lowest seeds (fourth and eighth), the second highest seeds (second and sixth) played at home against the third highest seeds (third and seventh) and the final had the higher seed play at home against the lower seed.

Wanganui won the Meads Cup for the third time in a row and the sixth time overall.

It was the first win in the Lochore Cup for Mid Canterbury. They had previously won the Meads Cup in 2013 and 2014. As a result, Mid Canterbury joined North Otago, Wairarapa Bush and Wanganui as the provinces to have won both the Meads Cup and Lochore Cup.[1]

During the Heartland Championship, former All Blacks Piri Weepu, Alby Mathewson and Regan King played for Wairarapa Bush, King Country and Mid Canterbury respectively.[2]

Teams

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The 2017 Heartland Championship was contested by the following teams:

Team Super Rugby partner Hometown
Buller Crusaders Westport
East Coast Hurricanes Ruatoria
Horowhenua-Kapiti Hurricanes Levin
King Country Chiefs Taupō
Mid Canterbury Crusaders Ashburton
North Otago Highlanders Oamaru
Poverty Bay Hurricanes Gisborne
South Canterbury Crusaders Timaru
Thames Valley Chiefs Paeroa
Wairarapa Bush Hurricanes Masterton
Wanganui Hurricanes Wanganui
West Coast Crusaders Greymouth

Standings

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Following the round-eight-week regular season South Canterbury was the top qualifier with 36 points from winning seven games, after losing their first game to Buller.[3]

Pos. Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 South Canterbury 8 7 0 1 273 190 +83 7 1 36
2 Horowhenua-Kapiti 8 7 0 1 227 107 +120 3 1 32
3 Buller 8 6 0 2 250 203 +47 3 1 28
4 Wanganui 8 5 0 3 279 125 +154 3 3 26
5 Mid Canterbury 8 5 0 3 275 224 +51 2 1 26
6 West Coast 8 5 0 3 209 201 +8 5 1 26
7 Wairarapa Bush 8 4 0 4 235 178 +57 5 4 25
8 Poverty Bay 8 4 0 4 185 229 −44 4 0 20
9 Thames Valley 8 3 0 5 209 174 +35 4 4 20
10 King Country 8 1 0 7 206 323 −117 5 3 12
11 Wairarapa Bush 8 1 0 7 174 313 −139 4 2 10
12 East Coast 8 0 0 8 98 353 −255 0 0 0
Meads Cup qualification
Lochore Cup qualification
In the case of a two-team tie on points the ranking of teams is decided by:
  • (1) the winner of the round robin match between the two provinces; then
  • (2) highest point difference; then
  • (3) most tries scored; then
  • (4) a coin toss.

In the case of a three-team or more tie on points the ranking of teams is decided by:

  • (1) the province with the most wins against other tied provinces in the Round Robin; then
  • (2) if two teams remain tied they shall be ranked according to the criteria listed above, but if more than two teams remain tied, they shall be ranked according to criteria (2) to (4) only.

Finals

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Meads Cup

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Although they qualified 4th, Wanganui won their Meads Cup semi-final away to South Canterbury[4] and followed up with a win over Horowhenua-Kapiti at Levin.

Lochore Cup

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Mid Canterbury who finished the regular season fifth and therefore top qualifier for the Lochore Cup accounted for Poverty Bay in their semi-final and West Coast in the final by comfortable points margins.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "2017 Heartland Championship". www.globalrugbyresults.com.
  2. ^ "Mitre 10 Heartland Championship 2017 kicks off - RUGBY HEARTLAND". rugbyheartland.co.nz. August 24, 2017.
  3. ^ "Heartland 2017 Draw - RUGBY HEARTLAND". rugbyheartland.co.nz. June 30, 2017.
  4. ^ "Finalists confirmed in NPC and Heartland competitions". Club Rugby.
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