| 2014 Heartland Championship | |
| Date: | –[1] |
| Countries: |  New Zealand |
| Champion Other: | Mid Canterbury (Meads Cup) Wanganui (Lochore Cup) |
| Runnerup Other: | Buller (Meads Cup) North Otago (Lochore Cup) |
| Preceded By: | 2013 |
| Succeeded By: | 2015 |
The 2014 Heartland Championship was the ninth edition of the Heartland Championship, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur rugby unions in New Zealand. The tournament involved 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. 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.
The 2014 Heartland Championship was contested by the following teams:
| Team | Super Rugby partner | Hometown | Home stadium | Capacity[2] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buller | Crusaders | Westport | Victoria Square | 5,000 | |
| East Coast | Hurricanes | Ruatoria | Whakarua Park | 3,000 | |
| Horowhenua-Kapiti | Hurricanes | Levin | Levin Domain | 6,500 | |
| King Country | Chiefs | Taupō | Owen Delany Park | 20,000 | |
| Mid Canterbury | Crusaders | Ashburton | Ashburton Showgrounds | 5,000 | |
| North Otago | Highlanders | Oamaru | Whitestone Contracting Stadium | 7,000 | |
| Poverty Bay | Hurricanes | Gisborne | More FM Rugby Park | 18,000 | |
| South Canterbury | Crusaders | Timaru | Fraser Park | 12,000 | |
| Thames Valley | Chiefs | Paeroa | Paeroa Domain | 3,000 | |
| Wairarapa Bush | Hurricanes | Trust House Memorial Park | 10,000 | ||
| Wanganui | Hurricanes | Wanganui | Cooks Gardens | 15,000 | |
| West Coast | Crusaders | Rugby Park | 6,000 |
Two Heartland Championship teams – Thames Valley and Mid Canterbury – challenged Counties Manukau for the Ranfurly Shield in two matches that took place in at Counties Manukau's home ground, ECOLight Stadium in Pukekohe.[1] [3]
| Team | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buller | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 282 | 145 | +137 | 5 | 0 | 37 | |
| 2 | Poverty Bay | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 231 | 168 | +63 | 5 | 1 | 28 | |
| 3 | Mid Canterbury | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 258 | 139 | +119 | 3 | 1 | 26 | |
| 4 | Horowhenua-Kapiti | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 169 | 121 | +48 | 1 | 1 | 26 | |
| 5 | King Country | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 196 | 176 | +20 | 3 | 2 | 25 | |
| 6 | South Canterbury | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 202 | 165 | +37 | 4 | 1 | 21 | |
| 7 | North Otago | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 174 | 155 | +19 | 1 | 2 | 20 | |
| 8 | Wanganui | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 203 | 194 | +9 | 3 | 2 | 17 | |
| 9 | Thames Valley | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 139 | 135 | +2 | 0 | 3 | 17 | |
| 10 | West Coast | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 163 | 232 | −69 | 2 | 3 | 13 | |
| 11 | Wairarapa Bush | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 151 | 238 | −87 | 2 | 1 | 9 | |
| 12 | East Coast | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 67 | 367 | −300 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Meads Cup, Heartland Championship and ITM Cup Championship qualification | ||
| Lochore Cup qualification |
In the case of a two-team tie on points the ranking of teams is decided by:
In the case of a three-team or more tie on points the ranking of teams is decided by:
The schedule of fixtures was released on 3 April 2014.[1]