| 2010 Heartland Championship | |
|---|---|
| Defending champions (2009) | Whanganui – Meads Cup[1] |
| North Otago – Lochore Cup | |
| Pool stage | |
| Duration | 28 August – 16 October |
| Round 1 | Matches played: 30 |
| Round 2 | Matches played: 18 |
| Semifinals | |
| Date | 23 October |
| Grand finals | |
| Date | 30 October |
| Champions (2010) | North Otago – Meads Cup |
| Wairarapa-Bush – Lochore Cup | |
The 2010 Heartland Championship was the fifth edition of the New Zealand provincial rugby union competition, since the 2006 reconstruction. The teams represented the 12 amateur rugby unions.
In Round 1, the teams were split into two pools of 6 teams in a round-robin format (30 games, from 30 August to 25 September).
In Round 2, the first three teams in each pool of Round 1 competed for the Meads Cup, the others competed for the Lochore Cup. Each team met the teams from the other pool of Round 1 in a round-robin format (18 games, from 2 October to 16 October). The first four teams in Round 2 went on to the semifinals, the winners of which went on to the grand final on 31 October.
The winning teams were Whanganui in the Meads Cup, and Wairarapa-Bush in the Lochore Cup.[1] [2]
| Qualified for Meads Cup | ||
| Qualified for Lochore Cup |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TD | BP1 | BP2 | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wanganui | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 159 | 76 | 83 | 23 | 8 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 23 | |
| 2 | South Canterbury | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 107 | 76 | 31 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 17 | |
| 3 | Thames Valley | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 102 | 76 | 26 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15 | |
| 4 | Horowhenua-Kapiti | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 97 | 121 | −24 | 12 | 15 | −3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 5 | King Country | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 76 | 119 | −43 | 9 | 15 | −6 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| 5 | West Coast | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 77 | 150 | −73 | 10 | 19 | −9 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
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| Qualified for Meads Cup | ||
| Qualified for Lochore Cup |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TD | BP1 | BP2 | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mid Canterbury | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 150 | 85 | 65 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 21 | |
| 2 | North Otago | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 243 | 80 | 163 | 33 | 9 | 24 | 4 | 0 | 20 | |
| 3 | Poverty Bay | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 187 | 82 | 105 | 27 | 8 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 18 | |
| 4 | Wairarapa Bush | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 99 | 151 | −52 | 10 | 19 | −9 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| 5 | Buller | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 79 | 127 | −48 | 8 | 16 | −8 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 6 | East Coast | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 44 | 277 | −233 | 4 | 41 | −37 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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| + Pool stage top point scorers | |||||||
| Player | Team | Tries | Conversions | Penalties | Drop goals | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kahu Tamatea | Poverty Bay | 2 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 58 | |
| David Harrison | Thames Valley | 1 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 54 | |
| Jeremy Te Huia | Wairarapa Bush | 1 | 8 | 11 | 0 | 54 | |
| Jason Merrett | South Canterbury | 0 | 16 | 7 | 0 | 53 | |
| Ben Patston | North Otago | 0 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 51 | |
| Mark Davis | Wanganui | 1 | 13 | 6 | 0 | 49 | |
| Josh Hamilton | Horowhenua-Kapiti | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 48 | |
| John Stewart | Poverty Bay | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | |
| Luke Herden | North Otago | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | |
| Andrew Stephens | Buller | 0 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 37 |
| Qualified for semifinals |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TD | BP1 | BP2 | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wanganui | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 209 | 110 | 99 | 30 | 13 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 28 | |
| 2 | Mid Canterbury | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 179 | 94 | 85 | 23 | 10 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 25 | |
| 3 | North Otago | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 286 | 94 | 192 | 40 | 11 | 29 | 5 | 0 | 25 | |
| 4 | Poverty Bay | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 221 | 132 | 89 | 32 | 15 | 17 | 3 | 0 | 19 | |
| 5 | South Canterbury | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 121 | 119 | 2 | 11 | 14 | −3 | 0 | 1 | 17 | |
| 6 | Thames Valley | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 111 | 105 | 6 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
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| Qualified for semifinals |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TD | BP1 | BP2 | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | King Country | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 122 | 128 | −6 | 15 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 11 | |
| 2 | Wairarapa Bush | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 129 | 186 | −57 | 13 | 23 | −10 | 2 | 1 | 11 | |
| 3 | Buller | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 102 | 138 | −36 | 9 | 17 | −8 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| 4 | West Coast | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 112 | 180 | −68 | 14 | 22 | −8 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| 5 | Horowhenua-Kapiti | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 108 | 144 | −36 | 13 | 16 | −3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 6 | East Coast | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 53 | 323 | −270 | 4 | 47 | −43 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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The semi-finals began with controversy when West Coast Rugby Football Union were effectively expelled from the competition:
The Meads Cup semi-finals were won by North Otago and Whanganui, defeating Mid-Canterbury and Poverty Bay respectively.[2] In the Lochore Cup, Wairarapa Bush and Buller progressed to the final by beating King Country and Horowhenua-Kapiti respectively.[2]
In the final of the Meads Cup, North Otago won the game 39–18 over Whanganui in the match on 30 October at Whitestone Contracting Stadium.[3] [4]
The 2010 Lochore Cup was won 15–9 by Wairarapa Bush in the game against Buller.[5]