2015 Heartland Championship Explained

2015 Heartland Championship
Date:
Countries: New Zealand
Champion Other:Wanganui (Meads Cup)
King Country (Lochore Cup)
Runnerup Other:South Canterbury (Meads Cup)
North Otago (Lochore Cup)
Preceded By:2014
Succeeded By:2016

The 2015 Heartland Championship, the tenth edition of the Heartland Championship since the 2006 reconstruction of the National Provincial Championship, was a rugby union competition involving the twelve semi-professional 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 playing at home against the lower seed.

Teams

The 2015 Heartland Championship was contested by the following teams.

TeamSuper Rugby partnerHometownHome stadiumCapacity
BullerCrusadersWestportVictoria Square5,000
East CoastHurricanesRuatoriaWhakarua Park3,000
Horowhenua-KapitiHurricanesLevinLevin Domain6,500
King CountryChiefsTaupōOwen Delany Park20,000
Mid CanterburyCrusadersAshburtonAshburton Showgrounds5,000
North OtagoHighlandersOamaruWhitestone Contracting Stadium7,000
Poverty BayHurricanesGisborneMore FM Rugby Park18,000
South CanterburyCrusadersTimaruFraser Park12,000
Thames ValleyChiefsPaeroaPaeroa Domain3,000
Wairarapa BushHurricanesTrust House Memorial Park10,000
WanganuiHurricanesWanganuiCooks Gardens15,000
West CoastCrusadersRugby Park6,000

Standings

Team
1South Canterbury8 7 0 1 346 162 +184 7 0 35
28 7 0 1 295 228 +67 5 1 34
38 6 1 1 318 185 +133 6 1 33
48 4 0 4 238 192 +46 5 2 23
5Horowhenua-Kapiti8 4 0 4 263 261 +2 5 2 23
6Buller8 4 0 4 200 187 +13 3 2 21
7King Country8 4 1 3 245 192 +53 3 0 21
8North Otago8 4 0 4 189 252 −63 2 2 20
98 3 0 5 206 255 −49 4 0 16
10West Coast8 3 0 5 184 208 −24 3 1 16
118 1 0 7 227 333 −106 4 2 10
128 0 0 8 112 368 −256 1 1 2
Meads Cup qualification
Lochore Cup qualification

In the case of two teams being tied on points, the ranking of teams is decided by:

In the case of three or more teams being tied on points, the ranking of teams is decided by:

Finals

Semifinals

Meads Cup
Lochore Cup

Finals

Meads Cup
Lochore Cup