2008 Air New Zealand Cup Explained

2008 Air New Zealand Cup
Countries: New Zealand
Date:31 July – 25 October
Champions:Canterbury
Runnersup:Wellington
Matches:77
Attendance:530226
Top Point Scorer:Blair Stewart (105)
Top Try Scorer:Hosea Gear (14)
Prevseason:2007
Nextseason:2009

The 2008 National Provincial Championship was the third season of the National Provincial Championship (known as the Air New Zealand Cup for sponsorship reasons), a provincial rugby union competition involving 14 teams from New Zealand, since it was reorganised in 2006. Matches started on 31 July 2008, and continued until the final on 25 October 2008.

This season was the third of the expanded competition, which succeeded the First Division of the National Provincial Championship. It started with a 10-week round robin in which each team played against all but three of the others in the competition. This was followed by a knockout playoff involving eight teams, made up of quarterfinals, semifinals and the final.

On 11 August 2008, the New Zealand Rugby Union initially announced that Tasman and Northland would both be relegated from the Air New Zealand Cup after the completion of the 2008 season. Both teams failed to meet criteria which included financial stability, population, player training and development, playing history, and administration. This decision was reversed towards the end of the 2008 season, with Tasman and Northland remaining in the competition for two more years.[1]

Canterbury won their sixth national provincial title by defeating Wellington 7–6 at Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington. It was the third consecutive season that Wellington have finished runners-up.

Standings

width=10px bgcolor="#ccffcc"Qualified for the quarterfinals

The top eight teams in pool play advanced to the quarterfinals.

width=20 abbr="Position"width=175Teamwidth=20 abbr="Played"Pldwidth=20 abbr="Won"Wwidth=20 abbr="Drawn"Dwidth=20 abbr="Lost"Lwidth=20 abbr="Points for"PFwidth=20 abbr="Points against"PAwidth=25 abbr="Points difference"PDwidth=20 abbr="Bonus Points 1"BP1width=20 abbr="Bonus Points 2"BP2width=20 abbr="Points"Pts
1Wellington10901353161+1928044
2Canterbury10901270101+1695142
3Hawke's Bay10703265183+825134
4Bay of Plenty10604185152+332328
5Southland10604225249-243125
6Waikato10415258235+235225
7Tasman10415188200-122323
8Taranaki10415201209-83223
9Northland10406212227-153322
10Otago10415207231-242222
11Auckland10505149193-442022
12North Harbour10307225285-613419
13Counties Manukau10217140317-1771213
14Manawatu10118149283-134219

Table notes

NB:

  1. The winner of the last match between the two provinces if played this season then,
  2. Highest points differential then,
  3. Most tries scored then,
  4. A coin toss.

Results

Round 1

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
width=22%Datewidth=22%Venuewidth=22%Attendance
Northland18–10Waikato31 July 2008Homeworld Stadium, Whangarei3,000
Tasman (1 BP)7–8Bay of Plenty31 July 2008Lansdowne Park, Blenheim2,500
Wellington (1 BP)30–6Hawke's Bay1 August 2008Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington7,148
Taranaki20–13North Harbour (1 BP)1 August 2008Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth6,300
Canterbury (1 BP)24–25Manawatu2 August 2008Lancaster Park, Christchurch7,500
Southland (1 BP)23–25Otago2 August 2008Rugby Park Stadium, Invercargill7,500
Counties-Manukau17–6Auckland3 August 2008Growers Stadium, Pukekohe6,500

Round 2

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
width=22%Datewidth=22%Venuewidth=22%Attendance
North Harbour (1 BP)27–30Wellington (1 BP)7 August 2008North Harbour Stadium, Albany3,500
Manawatu5–18Southland8 August 2008FMG Stadium, Palmerston North7,000
Waikato (1 BP)14–16Tasman8 August 2008Waikato Stadium, Hamilton7,100
Otago (1 BP)13–20Canterbury9 August 2008Carisbrook, Dunedin5,000
Bay of Plenty (1 BP)45–3Counties-Manukau9 August 2008International Stadium, Rotorua6,300
Hawke's Bay (1 BP)43–31Northland9 August 2008McLean Park, Napier4,000
Auckland(RS) 22–6Taranaki10 August 2008Eden Park, Auckland9,500

Round 3

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
width=22%Datewidth=22%Venuewidth=22%Attendance
Manawatu (1 BP)38–38Waikato (1 BP)14 August 2008FMG Stadium, Palmerston North4,000
Otago23–18Northland (1 BP)15 August 2008Carisbrook, Dunedin3,500
Wellington (1 BP)64–7Counties-Manukau15 August 2008Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington6,260
Bay of Plenty (1 BP)38–31North Harbour (2 BP)16 August 2008Baypark Stadium, Tauranga9,200
Hawke's Bay (1 BP)16–20Southland16 August 2008McLean Park, Napier5,600
Canterbury (1 BP)34–3Auckland16 August 2008Lancaster Park, Christchurch9,000
Tasman33–23Taranaki17 August 2008Trafalgar Park, Nelson5,600

Round 4

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
width=22%Datewidth=22%Venuewidth=22%Attendance
Counties-Manukau8–22Otago21 August 2008Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland1,000
Northland (1 BP)10–15Bay of Plenty22 August 2008Homeworld Stadium, Whangarei14,200
Southland7–26Wellington (1 BP)22 August 2008Rugby Park Stadium, Invercargill7,500
Auckland(RS) 25–3Manawatu23 August 2008Eden Park, Auckland7,500
Tasman6–41Hawke's Bay (1 BP)23 August 2008Lansdowne Park, Blenheim3,500
Taranaki0–14Canterbury23 August 2008Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth6,400
North Harbour15–10Waikato (1 BP)24 August 2008North Harbour Stadium, Albany3,800

Round 5

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
width=22%Datewidth=22%Venuewidth=22%Attendance
Southland (1 BP)31–8Counties-Manukau28 August 2008Rugby Park Stadium, Invercargill7,000
Taranaki (1 BP)39–21Northland29 August 2008Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth4,000
Otago10–19Hawke's Bay29 August 2008Carisbrook, Dunedin4,500
Wellington (1 BP)48–12Bay of Plenty30 August 2008Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington15,242
Manawatu (1 BP)17–20North Harbour30 August 2008FMG Stadium, Palmerston North7,000
Waikato (1 BP)34–13Auckland30 August 2008Waikato Stadium, Hamilton9,500
Canterbury (1 BP)44–15Tasman31 August 2008Lancaster Park, Christchurch8,000

Round 6

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
width=22%Datewidth=22%Venuewidth=22%Attendance
Hawke's Bay18–14Taranaki (1 BP)4 September 2008McLean Park, Napier6,300
Bay of Plenty (1 BP)31–20Otago5 September 2008Baypark Stadium, Tauranga13,500
Manawatu13–36Wellington (1 BP)5 September 2008FMG Stadium, Palmerston North8,000
Auckland(RS) 13–9Southland6 September 2008Eden Park, Auckland7,500
Northland10–31Tasman (1BP)6 September 2008Homeworld Stadium, Whangarei6,000
North Harbour9–36Canterbury (1BP)6 September 2008North Harbour Stadium, Albany3,900
Waikato20–15Counties-Manukau (1 BP)7 September 2008Waikato Stadium, Hamilton12,000

Round 7

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
width=22%Datewidth=22%Venuewidth=22%Attendance
Taranaki14–3Manawatu11 September 2008Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth4,800
Bay of Plenty (1 BP)20–25Auckland12 September 2008International Stadium, Rotorua8,000
Northland (1 BP)3–5Canterbury12 September 2008Homeworld Stadium, Whangarei4,200
Tasman21–21Otago13 September 2008Trafalgar Park, Nelson6,700
Southland (1BP)43–7North Harbour13 September 2008Rugby Park Stadium, Invercargill6,482
Wellington (1BP)45–33Waikato (1 BP)13 September 2008Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington13,122
Counties-Manukau14–45Hawke's Bay (1 BP)14 September 2008Growers Stadium, Pukekohe4,850

Round 8

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
width=22%Datewidth=22%Venuewidth=22%Attendance
Canterbury (1 BP)37–20Bay of Plenty18 September 2008Lancaster Park, Christchurch9,500
Tasman (1 BP)3–6Southland19 September 2008Lansdowne Park, Blenheim4,500
Otago (2BP)27–31Taranaki (1BP)19 September 2008Carisbrook, Dunedin2,000
Counties-Manukau (1BP)27–14Manawatu20 September 2008Growers Stadium, Pukekohe3,700
Hawke's Bay (1BP)24–15Waikato20 September 2008McLean Park, Napier7,800
Auckland(RS) 0–27Wellington (1BP)20 September 2008Eden Park, Auckland16,000
North Harbour (1BP)24–35Northland (1BP)21 September 2008North Harbour Stadium, Albany2,500

Round 9

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
width=22%Datewidth=22%Venuewidth=22%Attendance
Bay of Plenty24–22Southland (1BP)25 September 2008Baypark Stadium, Tauranga8,100
Waikato (1 BP)39–10Otago26 September 2008Waikato Stadium, Hamilton8,500
Taranaki13–13Counties-Manukau26 September 2008Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth6,500
North Harbour (1BP)22–29Auckland (1BP)27 September 2008North Harbour Stadium, Albany5,700
Wellington(RS) 26–20Tasman (1BP)27 September 2008Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington14,143
Canterbury (1BP)31–7Hawke's Bay27 September 2008Lancaster Park, Christchurch10,065
Northland (1 BP)45–24Manawatu (1 BP)28 September 2008Homeworld Stadium, Whangarei4,200

Round 10

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
width=22%Datewidth=22%Venuewidth=22%Attendance
Waikato (1BP)45–41Taranaki (2BP)2 October 2008Waikato Stadium, Hamilton8,500
Southland6–25Canterbury3 October 2008Rugby Park Stadium, Invercargill9,000
Hawke's Bay (1BP)46–12Bay of Plenty3 October 2008McLean Park, Napier7,327
Manawatu7–36Tasman (1BP)4 October 2008FMG Stadium, Palmerston North5,000
Counties-Manukau (1BP)28–57North Harbour (1 BP)4 October 2008 (1BP)Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland800
Otago (1BP)36–21Wellington4 October 2008Carisbrook, Dunedin3,500
Auckland13–21Northland5 October 2008Eden Park, Auckland6,540

Knockout stage

Quarterfinals

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
width=22%Datewidth=22%Venuewidth=22%Attendance
Canterbury48–10Tasman10 October 2008Lancaster Park, Christchurch7,500
Wellington50–30Taranaki11 October 2008Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington13,164
Bay of Plenty11–45Southland11 October 2008Baypark Stadium, Tauranga6,800
Hawke's Bay31–28Waikato12 October 2008McLean Park, Napier10,866

Semifinals

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
width=22%Datewidth=22%Venuewidth=22%Attendance
Wellington28–19Southland17 October 2008Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington11,517
Canterbury31–21Hawke's Bay18 October 2008Lancaster Park, Christchurch7,000

Final

HomeScoreAwayMatch information
width=22%Datewidth=22%Venuewidth=22%Attendance
Wellington6–7Canterbury25 October 2008Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington21,237

Statistics

Points scorers

width=20 abbr="Position"Poswidth=125Playerwidth=125Teamwidth=20Pts
1Blair StewartSouthland105
2Matt BerquistHawke's Bay97
3Mike DelanyBay of Plenty93
4Willie RipiaTaranaki93
5Jimmy GopperthNorth Harbour90

Try scorers

width=20 abbr="Position"Poswidth=125Playerwidth=125Teamwidth=20Tries
1Hosea GearWellington14
2Zac GuildfordHawke's Bay8
3=James PatersonCanterbury7
3=Lote RaikabulaManawatu7
3=Karne HeskethOtago7
3=Paul PerezTaranaki7

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Northland and Tasman saved from axe. Johnstone. Duncan. 2008-09-27. stuff.co.nz. 2009-02-06.
  2. Web site: Competitions review: new competitions information summary. 2005-06-02. New Zealand Rugby Union. 2009-02-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20110503222025/http://files.allblacks.com/comms/mb/New_Competitions_Information_Summary_2005.pdf. 2011-05-03. dead.

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