2013 Heartland Championship

The 2013 Heartland Championship, the eighth edition of the Heartland Championship since the 2006 reconstruction, was 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.

2013 Heartland Championship
Date24 August 2013 (2013-08-24)–27 October 2013 (2013-10-27)[1]
CountriesNew Zealand New Zealand
Final positions
Champions Mid Canterbury
Runner-up South Canterbury
2012
2014

Teams edit

The 2013 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 Masterton Trust House Memorial Park 10,000
  Wanganui Hurricanes Wanganui Cooks Gardens 15,000
  West Coast Crusaders Greymouth Rugby Park 6,000

Pre-season edit

Two Heartland Championship teams, Horowhenua-Kapiti and East Coast, challenged Waikato for the Ranfurly Shield in two matches that took place in at Whakarua Park, Ruatoria and Campbell Park, Morrinsville.[1]

18 July 2013 Waikato   85 – 0     Horowhenua-Kapiti Campbell Park, Morrinsville  
18:00 (NZST) [1]


30 July 2013     East Coast 10 – 65 Waikato   Whakarua Park, Ruatoria  
18:00 (NZST) [2]

Standings edit

Pos. Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TB LB Pts
1   Mid Canterbury 8 7 0 1 232 131 101 4 1 33
2   North Otago 8 6 0 2 216 159 57 3 2 29
3   Wairarapa Bush 8 6 0 2 203 144 59 3 1 28
4   West Coast 8 6 0 2 190 173 17 4 0 28
5   South Canterbury 8 4 0 4 246 202 44 3 4 23
6   Wanganui 8 4 0 4 171 160 11 2 3 21
7   Buller 8 4 0 4 147 149 -2 2 2 20
8   Thames Valley 8 4 0 4 153 200 -37 0 1 17
9   King Country 8 3 0 5 163 211 -48 1 2 15
10   East Coast 8 2 0 6 173 225 -52 3 2 13
11   Horowhenua-Kapiti 8 1 0 7 141 182 -41 0 6 10
12   Poverty Bay 8 1 0 7 141 240 -99 0 2 6
Meads Cup and Heartland Championship
Lochore Cup qualification

In the case of a two-team tie on points the ranking of teams is decided by:

  • (1) the winner of the round robin match between the two provinces; then
  • (2) highest point difference; then
  • (3) most tries scored; then
  • (4) a coin toss.

In the case of a three-team or more tie on points the ranking of teams is decided by:

  • (1) the province with the most wins against other tied provinces in the Round Robin; then
  • (2) if two teams remain tied they shall be ranked according to the criteria listed above, but if more than two teams remain tied, they shall be ranked according to criteria (2) to (4) only.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Pink Batts Heartland Championship 2013 draw released". Heartland Championship. 21 March 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2014.
  2. ^ "2013 Pink Batts Heartland Championship Media Guide". AllBlacks.com. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2014.