| 2012 Heartland Championship | |
| Date: | – |
| Countries: |  New Zealand |
| Champion Other: | East Coast |
| Runnerup Other: | Wanganui |
| Top Scorer: | Glen Walters (102) |
| Most Tries: | Liam Edwards (5) Saul Chase (5) |
| Preceded By: | 2011 |
| Succeeded By: | 2013 |
The 2012 Heartland Championship was the seventh season of the Heartland Championship, New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition, since its reorganisation in 2006, involving the 12 amateur rugby unions in New Zealand. The format was the same as in 2011. The tournament's round robin stage saw the 12 teams play 8 games. The top four teams in the table at the end of the 8 weeks played off for the Meads Cup, while the next four contested the Lochore Cup.
The 2012 Heartland Championship was contested by the following teams:
| Qualified for Meads Cup | ||
| Qualified for Lochore Cup |
| Pos. | Team | Pld | W | D | L | For | Against | +/− | BP1 | BP2 | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Coast | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 230 | 177 | +53 | 3 | 0 | 31 | |
| 2 | Wanganui | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 237 | 133 | +104 | 3 | 0 | 31 | |
| 3 | Wairarapa Bush | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 219 | 130 | +89 | 2 | 2 | 28 | |
| 4 | North Otago | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 195 | 194 | +1 | 4 | 1 | 25 | |
| 5 | Buller | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 205 | 180 | +25 | 3 | 2 | 25 | |
| 6 | South Canterbury | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 265 | 227 | +38 | 3 | 1 | 21 | |
| 7 | Mid Canterbury | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 158 | 162 | −4 | 2 | 3 | 17 | |
| 8 | Poverty Bay | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 212 | 247 | −35 | 4 | 1 | 17 | |
| 9 | West Coast | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 140 | 185 | −45 | 1 | 3 | 12 | |
| 10 | Thames Valley | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 203 | 263 | −60 | 1 | 2 | 11 | |
| 11 | King Country | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 178 | 230 | −52 | 2 | 3 | 9 | |
| 12 | Horowhenua-Kapiti | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 124 | 238 | −114 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
The fixtures were released on 28 March 2012.[1]
Meads Cup
Lochore Cup
Meads Cup
Lochore Cup
| Top 10 points scorers | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Team | Tries | Conversions | Penalties | Drop goals | Total | |
| Glen Walters | Wairarapa Bush | 2 | 13 | 22 | 0 | 102 | |
| Liam Edwards | South Canterbury | 5 | 20 | 8 | 0 | 89 | |
| Marty Banks | Buller | 2 | 15 | 14 | 0 | 82 | |
| David Harrison | Thames Valley | 1 | 10 | 17 | 0 | 76 | |
| Mark Davis | Wanganui | 1 | 14 | 11 | 1 | 69 | |
| Joel Semple | East Coast | 2 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 65 | |
| Kurt Strachan | King Country | 1 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 48 | |
| Scott Leighton | Poverty Bay | 0 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 47 | |
| Hamish Buick | North Otago | 0 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 38 | |
| Josh Hamilton | Horowhenua-Kapiti | 0 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 32 | |