2021 Heartland Championship

2021 Heartland Championship
Date21 September 2021 (2021-09-21)–14 November 2021 (2021-11-14)
CountriesNew Zealand New Zealand
Final positions
ChampionsSouth Canterbury (Meads Cup)
Whanganui (Lochore Cup)
Runner-upThames Valley (Meads Cup)
North Otago (Lochore Cup)
Tournament statistics
Matches played51
← 2019
2022 →

The 2021 Heartland Championship, was the 15th edition of the Heartland Championship, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur provincial unions in New Zealand. There was no Heartland Championship held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

The tournament included a round-robin regular season in which the twelve teams played eight games each. In past seasons the top eight teams from the regular season would then advance to the semifinals:

  • The teams ranked first to fourth play for the Meads Cup
  • The teams ranked fifth to eighth play for the Lochore Cup
  • The bottom four teams are eliminated.

However, in the 2021 Heartland season there were no semifinals played and the top two teams played a final for the Meads Cup while the 3rd and 4th ranked teams played for the Lochore Cup.[1]

2021 was the first year that the Osborne Taonga, a new trophy named after 16-test All Black Bill Osborne, was played for. It was awarded to the winner of a play off between the 5th and 6th ranked teams from the regular season. In the following seasons it will then be challenged for by Heartland teams, following similar rules to the Ranfurly Shield.

Teams

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Locations of teams in the 2016 Heartland Championship

The 2018 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 and Te Kuiti
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

Regular season standings

In the regular season, South Canterbury topped the standings with the maximum 40 points after winning all eight games.[2][3]

Pos. Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1 South Canterbury 8 8 0 0 365 124 +241 8 0 40
2 Thames Valley 8 7 1 5 291 148 +143 5 0 33
3 Whanganui 8 6 0 2 286 149 +137 5 1 30
4 North Otago 8 5 0 3 220 198 +22 4 1 25
5 Poverty Bay 8 4 0 4 263 223 +40 5 3 24
6 Mid Canterbury 8 5 0 3 226 209 +17 4 0 24
7 Horowhenua-Kapiti 8 5 0 3 214 197 +17 3 1 24
8 East Coast 8 3 0 5 242 258 −16 6 2 20
9 West Coast 8 3 0 5 181 219 −38 2 2 16
10 Wairarapa Bush 8 2 0 6 139 254 −115 1 1 10
11 Buller 8 0 0 8 126 320 −194 2 0 2
12 King Country 8 0 0 8 113 367 −254 1 0 1
Meads Cup qualification
Lochore Cup qualification

All Black captain Sam Cane played for King Country.[4]

East Coast had the services of former All Blacks Rico Gear, Hosea Gear and Ma'a Nonu.[5]

Finals

Meads Cup

In the Meads Cup final South Canterbury, the top ranked team from the regular season played at their home ground against the second placed team, Thames Valley. South Canterbury won the fixture by 35 points to 16.

The 2021 Heartland season was:

  • the first year that South Canterbury won the Meads Cup.
  • the 5th time a team had gone unbeaten during the regular season. South Canterbury joined Buller who achieved this in 2014 and Wanganui who were unbeaten in 2008, 2016 and 2018.
  • the first time a team had achieved maximum 40 points.

Lochore Cup

In the Lochore Cup Whanganui, the third placed team from the regular season, played at their home ground against the fourth ranked North Otago.

Whanganui prevailed in the final by 22 points to 16.

Osborne Taonga

The 5th ranked team from the regular season, Poverty Bay, was the inaugural winner of this trophy after beating the 6th placed Mid Canterbury by 33 points to 26. Poverty Bay therefore earned the right to defend the trophy in the 2022 season.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Finalists locked in for Bunnings Heartland Championship". Provincial Rugby. November 6, 2021.
  2. ^ "2021 Heartland Championship Draw - RUGBY HEARTLAND". rugbyheartland.co.nz. January 29, 2021.
  3. ^ "2021 Heartland Championship". www.globalrugbyresults.com.
  4. ^ "Bunnings Heartland Championship: Mainfreight Rugby (EP 4, 2021)". Provincial Rugby. October 15, 2021.
  5. ^ "Top Gear: How ex-All Black reignited provincial rugby battlers". NZ Herald. May 26, 2022.