2016 Mitre 10 Cup Explained

2016 Mitre 10 Cup season
Countries:	New Zealand
Date:	18 August – 29 October
Champions:	Canterbury
Runnersup:	Tasman
Promoted:	North Harbour
Relegated:	Hawke's Bay
Matches:	76
Tries:	497
Top Point Scorer:	Marty Banks (Tasman) 161 points
Top Try Scorer:	Rieko Ioane (Auckland) 10 tries
Website:	https://www.provincial.rugby/
Prevseason:	2015
Nextseason:	2017

The 2016 Mitre 10 Cup season was the eleventh season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 18, when North Harbour hosted Counties Manukau. It involved the top fourteen rugby unions of New Zealand. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as the Mitre 10 Cup and it was the first season under the lead sponsor. The winner of the Championship, North Harbour was promoted to the Premiership, the seventh placed Premiership team, Hawke's Bay was relegated to the Championship.

Format

The Mitre 10 Cup standings were sorted by a competition points system. Four points were awarded to the winning team, a draw equaled two points, whilst a loss amounted to zero points. Unions could also win their side a respectable bonus point. To receive a bonus point, they must have scored four tries or more or lose by seven or fewer points or less.^[1] Each team was placed on their total points received. If necessary of a tiebreaker, when two or more teams finish on equal points, the union who defeated the other in a head-to-head got placed higher. In case of a draw between them, the side with the biggest points differential margin got rights to be ranked above. If they were tied on points difference, it was then decided by a highest scored try count or a coin toss.^[2] This seeding format was implemented since the beginning of the 2006 competition.

The competition included a promotion-relegation process with the winner of the Championship receiving automatic promotion to the Premiership, replacing the seventh-placed team in the Premiership which was relegated to the Championship for the following year. The regular season consisted of two types of matches. The internal division matches were when each team played the other six unions in their division once, home or away. The cross-division matches were when each team played four teams from the other division, thus missing out on three teams, each from the opposite division. Each union played home or away games against teams from the other division, making a total of ten competition games for each union.^[3] The finals format allowed the top four teams from each division move on to the semi-finals. The top two division winners, based on table points, received a home semi-final. In the first round of the finals, the semi-finals, the second division winner hosted the third division winner, and the first division winner hosted the fourth division winner. The final was hosted by the top remaining seed.^[4]

Standings

Source: Mitre 10 Cup standings 2016^[5]

Premiership Division
	Team
1	RS – Canterbury	10	8	0	2	397	219	+178	7	1	40
2	Taranaki	10	7	1	2	338	259	+79	5	2	37
3	Tasman	10	7	1	2	306	234	+72	3	1	34
4	Counties Manukau	10	6	0	4	284	234	+50	6	4	34
5	Waikato	10	5	1	4	269	259	+10	6	2	30
6	Auckland	10	5	0	5	335	302	+33	7	3	30
7	Hawke's Bay	10	2	0	8	253	385	–132	4	3	15

Championship Division
	Team
1	Otago	10	7	0	3	290	267	+23	5	1	34
2	Wellington	10	6	0	4	302	298	+4	6	2	32
3	North Harbour	10	5	1	4	262	263	–1	3	1	26
4	Bay of Plenty	10	3	0	7	302	316	–14	7	4	23
5	Manawatu	10	4	0	6	259	266	–7	4	3	23
6	Northland	10	1	0	9	280	380	–100	5	2	11
7	Southland	10	2	0	8	201	396	–195	2	1	11

Standings progression

Premiership
Team	W1	W2	W3	W4	W5	W6	W7	W8	W9
Auckland	style="background:#FFCCCC"	0 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	5 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	10 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	16 (2nd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	17 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	22 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	27 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	28 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	30 (6th)
Canterbury	style="background:#D8FFEB"	5 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	10 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	15 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	20 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	21 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	26 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	35 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	40 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	40 (1st)
Counties Manukau	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	6 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	11 (2nd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	12 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	19 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	24 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	25 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	29 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	34 (4th)
Hawke's Bay	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	2 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	2 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	3 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	8 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	10 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	14 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	14 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	15 (7th)
Taranaki	style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	9 (2nd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	10 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	14 (4th)	style="background:#97DEFF"	20 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	25 (2nd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	27 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	32 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	37 (2nd)
Tasman	style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	4 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	8 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	9 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	13 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	18 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	22 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	27 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	34 (3rd)
Waikato	style="background:#FFCCCC"	1 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	6 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	10 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	15 (3rd)	style="background:#97DEFF"	17 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	18 (5th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	20 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	25 (6th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	30 (5th)
Championship
Team	W1	W2	W3	W4	W5	W6	W7	W8	W9
Bay of Plenty	style="background:#FFCCCC"	0 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	2 (5th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	4 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	9 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	9 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	12 (5th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	13 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	18 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	23 (4th)
Manawatu	style="background:#D8FFEB"	5 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	10 (2nd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	10 (2nd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	11 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	15 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	15 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	15 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	22 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	23 (5th)
North Harbour	style="background:#D8FFEB"	4 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	4 (4th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	5 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	9 (5th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	9 (5th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	14 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	19 (3rd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	19 (4th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	26 (3rd)
Northland	style="background:#FFCCCC"	2 (5th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	2 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	4 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	4 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	4 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	4 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	9 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	10 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	11 (6th)
Otago	style="background:#D8FFEB"	5 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	10 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	20 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	24 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	28 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	29 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	29 (1st)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	30 (1st)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	34 (1st)
Southland	style="background:#FFCCCC"	0 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	2 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	2 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	2 (7th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	2 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	6 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	6 (7th)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	11 (6th)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	11 (7th)
Wellington	style="background:#D8FFEB"	5 (2nd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	5 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	9 (3rd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	13 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	18 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	23 (2nd)	style="background:#D8FFEB"	28 (2nd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	30 (2nd)	style="background:#FFCCCC"	32 (2nd)
The table above shows a team's progression throughout the season. For each week, their cumulative points total is shown with the overall division log position in brackets.
Key:	Win	Draw	Loss	Bye

Regular season

The 2016 Mitre 10 Cup played across nine weeks with every team playing one Wednesday night fixture in a double-up round where they played twice that week. The competition started on Thursday, August 18, with North Harbour taking on Counties Manukau at QBE Stadium. Hawke's Bay hosted Wellington and Auckalnd versed Canterbury, in two repeat matchups of last year's finalists.^[6]

Week 9

Play-offs

Championship

Premiership

Semi-finals

Premiership

Finals

Premiership

FB 15 Johnny McNicholl RW 14 OC 13 Jordie Barrett IC 12 LW 11 George Bridge FH 10 Richie Mo'unga SH 9 N8 8 Luke Whitelock (c) OF 7 BF 6 RL 5 Dominic Bird LL 4 David McDuling TP 3 HK 2 LP 1 Replacements: HK 16 PR 17 PR 18 FL 19 FL 20 SH 21 CE 22 FB 23

FB 15 Mitchell Hunt RW 14 Viliami Lolohea OC 13 IC 12 Alex Nankivell LW 11 James Lowe FH 10 SH 9 N8 8 OF 7 Shane Christie (c) BF 6 Shannon Frizell RL 5 LL 4 TP 3 HK 2 LP 1 Replacements: HK 16 PR 17 PR 18 LK 19 FL 20 SH 21 CE 22 FB 23

Statistics

Leading point scorers

No.	Player	Team	Points	Average	Details
1			161	16.10	2, 26, 33, 0
2			145	13.18	2, 30, 25, 0
3			143	14.30	2, 29, 25, 0
4			123	10.25	0, 21, 26, 1
5			123	10.25	5, 22, 18, 0
6			122	12.20	2, 32, 16, 0
7			109	10.90	3, 23, 16, 0
8			106	8.83	0, 20, 22, 0
9			89	8.90	0, 22, 15, 0
10			88	8.00	5, 18, 9, 0

Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).

Leading try scorers

No.	Player	Team	Tries	Average
1			10	1.00
2			7	0.64
3			7	0.58
4			7	0.70
5			7	0.70
6			6	0.55
7			6	0.50
8			6	0.55
9			6	0.55
10			5	0.50

Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).

Points by week

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total	Average
Auckland	3	43	37	15	51	16	57	59	26	30	44	38	54	17	31	49	32	35	335	302	33.50	30.20
Bay of Plenty	22	30	34	39	32	33	52	25	10	24	54	64	34	44	38	33	26	24	302	316	30.20	31.60
Canterbury	43	3	45	14	52	34	63	7	13	19	45	34	68	57	47	18	21	33	397	219	39.70	21.90
Counties Manukau	17	20	39	34	48	20	27	28	59	56	35	26	10	15	16	14	33	21	284	234	28.40	23.40
Hawke's Bay	26	36	28	55	20	48	31	88	43	29	29	36	30	21	22	46	24	26	253	385	25.30	38.50
Manawatu	34	27	34	31	10	19	25	29	19	13	19	30	21	30	83	66	14	21	259	266	25.90	26.60
North Harbour	20	17	15	26	17	21	29	25	13	24	35	14	44	34	18	47	71	55	262	263	26.20	26.30
Northland	27	34	15	37	62	85	25	52	23	33	21	29	48	27	31	39	28	44	280	380	28.00	38.00
Otago	40	17	44	21	66	60	30	27	24	13	34	45	17	54	14	16	21	14	290	267	29.00	26.70
Southland	17	40	31	34	16	51	14	30	29	43	34	51	21	60	39	31	0	56	201	396	20.10	39.60
Taranaki	30	22	55	28	20	25	30	14	50	49	30	19	34	39	54	31	35	32	338	259	33.80	25.90
Tasman	24	19	14	45	25	20	27	30	33	23	36	29	15	10	49	31	83	27	306	234	30.60	23.40
Waikato	19	24	26	15	19	10	35	32	20	20	26	35	50	77	46	22	28	24	269	259	26.90	25.90
Wellington	36	26	21	44	21	17	28	27	24	10	29	21	60	21	59	104	24	28	302	298	30.20	29.80

Source: Mitre 10 Cup Fixtures and Results 2016^[7]

Tries by week

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total	Average
Auckland	0	6	5	2	6	1	6	7	2	4	6	6	7	2	4	4	4	5	40	37	4.00	3.70
Bay of Plenty	3	3	5	5	4	4	8	3	1	4	8	8	5	6	5	5	4	3	43	41	4.30	4.10
Canterbury	6	0	5	1	8	4	8	1	1	1	7	4	7	7	6	2	2	5	50	25	5.00	2.50
Counties Manukau	2	2	5	5	5	2	3	3	8	5	5	4	1	0	1	2	5	2	35	25	3.50	2.50
Hawe's Bay	4	5	4	7	2	5	3	10	6	2	4	5	2	3	3	6	3	4	31	47	3.10	4.70
Manwatu	4	4	4	4	1	1	3	3	1	1	1	4	3	2	13	9	2	3	32	31	3.20	3.10
North Harbour	2	2	2	4	2	0	3	3	1	2	4	1	6	5	2	6	9	7	31	30	3.10	3.00
Northland	4	4	2	5	7	12	3	8	2	3	3	4	5	4	5	5	4	6	35	51	3.50	5.10
Otago	5	1	5	3	8	7	3	3	2	1	4	7	2	7	2	1	3	2	34	32	3.40	3.20
Southland	1	5	4	4	1	6	1	3	2	6	3	6	3	9	5	5	0	8	20	52	2.00	5.20
Taranaki	3	3	7	4	2	1	3	1	6	7	4	1	4	5	7	4	5	4	41	30	4.10	3.00
Tasman	2	1	1	5	1	2	3	3	3	2	5	4	0	1	4	4	11	3	30	25	3.00	2.50
Waikato	1	2	4	2	1	1	5	4	3	3	4	5	7	7	6	3	4	4	35	31	3.50	3.10
Wellington	5	4	3	5	0	2	3	3	4	1	4	3	9	3	8	15	4	4	40	40	4.00	4.00

For

Against

Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).

Sanctions

Player	Team	Red	Yellow	Sent off match(es)
Sam Vaka		0	1	vs North Harbour
Hamish Northcott		0	1	vs Northland
Melani Nanai		0	1	vs Canterbury
Monty Ioane		0	1	vs Counties Manukau
Kieran Moffat		0	1	vs Auckland
Lima Sopoaga		0	1	vs Auckland
Lee Roy Atalifo		0	1	vs Northland
Shane Neville		0	1	vs Bay of Plenty
Tom Robinson		0	1	vs Bay of Plenty
Isaia Walker-Leawere		0	1	vs Counties Manukau
Jonathan Ruru		0	1	vs Tasman
Jonah Lowe		0	1	vs Canterbury
Loni Uhila		0	1	vs Auckland
Mikaele Mafi		0	1	vs Hawke's Bay
Ihaia West		0	1	vs Southland
Howard Sililoto		0	1	vs Tasman
Luke Whitelock		0	1	vs Manawatu
Tawera Kerr-Barlow		0	1	vs Taranaki
Solomona Sakalia		0	1	vs Southland
Kara Pryor		0	1	vs Wellington
Ash Dixon		0	1	vs Tasman
Jimmy Cowan		0	1	vs North Harbour
Augustine Pulu		0	1	vs Tasman
Mitchell Brown		0	1	vs Canterbury
Sam Lousi		0	1	vs Manawatu
Tevita Taufuʻi		0	1	vs Hawke's Bay
Jared Proffit		0	1	vs Wellington
Culum Retallick		0	1	vs Manawatu
Ethan Blackadder		0	1	vs North Harbour
Kieron Fonotia		0	1	vs North Harbour
Kylem O'Donnell		0	1	vs Auckland
Scott Scrafton		0	1	vs Taranaki
Joshua Dickson		0	1	vs Manawatu
Sione Fifita		0	1	vs Canterbury
Ben Funnell		0	1	vs Counties Manukau
Henry Stowers		0	1	vs Hawke's Bay
Tomasi Palu		0	1	vs Waikato
Daniel Hawkins		0	1	vs North Harbour
Afa Fa'atau		0	1	vs Northland
Tom Franklin		0	1	vs Bay of Plenty
Glenn Preston		0	1	vs Otago
Nathan Earle		0	1	vs Tasman
Alex Ainley		0	1	vs Canterbury

Ranfurly Shield

See also: Ranfurly Shield 2010–19.

Pre-season challenges

After winning the Ranfurly Shield off Hawke's Bay in their final game of 2015, Waikato confirmed their pre-season defences against Thames Valley, King Country and Wanganui. The Thames Valley and King Country unions would take on Waikato for the fifth time, while Wanganui gained a mandatory shield challenge as the current holders of the Meads Cup. The first challenge for 2016 was against Thames Valley at the Paeroa Domain. King Country's challenge was played at Bedford Park in Matamata with Wanganui being the last pre-season challenge.^[8]

Waikato had little trouble getting a victory in their first shield defense of the season, winning 83–13 in Paeroa. They ran in thirteen tries in front of a 2,500 capacity crowd. Winger Iliesa Ratuva scored a hat-trick on debut for his province, while number 8 Whetu Douglas and prop Atunaisa Moli both got a brace. Thames Valley managed two second-half tries, the first after Waikato had reached fifty points to veteran Brett Ranga. Their second came when centre Jone Koroinsagana scored an intercept. The match also featured a return for former Ireland half-back Isaac Boss, who first played for the province in 1999 before heading to Ulster in 2005.^[9]

In their second defense, Waikato got past King Country 55–0 in Matamata. First scoring was lock Brian Alainu'uese, getting over after a series of pick and goes. Jordan Trainor then soon after added a penalty. Flanker Murray Iti scored his side's fifth, but there was no further scoring action until the 74th minute, when Sevu Reece, on as a substitute, crossed over in the far left corner. Matthew Lansdown, another substitute, then added Waikato's seventh with two minutes to play, and he was followed in the final minute by Tevita Taufuʻi, who got their eighth.^[10]

Notes and References

1. News: Adjustment to Mitre 10 Heartland Championship bonus points system. Rugby Heartland. 2 September 2016.
2. Web site: pdf. New Zealand Rugby Union Competition Regulations Handbook 2016. New Zealand Rugby. 1 September 2017. 12 July 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190712231129/http://files.allblacks.com/legal_and_judicial/NZR_2016_Competitions_Regulations_Handbook.pdf. dead .
3. Web site: 2010 ITM Cup Competition Structures. Manawatu Rugby Union. 7 August 2010. dead. https://archive.today/20130223161744/http://www.manawaturugby.co.nz/article/1863.html. 23 February 2013. dmy-all .
4. Web site: ITM Cup Finals schedule. All Blacks. 24 October 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130116061427/http://itmcup.co.nz/itmCupnews/20886/ITM-Cup-Finals-schedule. 16 January 2013. dmy-all .
5. Web site: Historical Standings. New Zealand Rugby. 1 October 2022.
6. News: Mitre 10 Cup and Mitre 10 Heartland Championship 2016 draws released. Rugby Heartland. 10 March 2016.
7. Web site: Historical Fixtures and Results. New Zealand Rugby. 1 October 2022.
8. News: Waikato confirm pre-season Ranfurly Shield challenges. Stuff. 17 March 2016.
9. News: Waikato beat Thames Valley to keep Shield. Newshub. 6 June 2016. 16 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171017045041/http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/sport/2016/06/waikato-beat-thames-valley-to-keep-shield.html. 17 October 2017. dead.
10. News: Waikato ease past King Country in the wet to hold on to the Ranfurly Shield. Stuff. 30 July 2016.