The 2009 Air New Zealand Cup was the 33rd provincial rugby union competition, the fourth since the competition's reconstruction in 2006, involving the top 14 provincial unions in New Zealand. It ran for 15 weeks from 30 July to 7 November. It was also the last edition of the provincial competition to use the Air New Zealand Cup name, as the competition's sponsorship contract with Air New Zealand ended after that season. The 2010 competition will be held under a new name, the ITM Cup.
Unlike previous seasons the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup did not have quarterfinals in their finals format, instead going straight to the semifinals with the top four teams rather than the top eight."Air New Zealand Cup schedule for 2009 released" , allblacks.com, 19 February 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
Canterbury were the eventual champions, winning their second title in a row and their seventh overall, it was the first time Canterbury had gone back-to-back in the provincial championship. They beat Wellington, 28–20, at Lancaster Park in Christchurch on 7 November. Wellington were down 18–3 at halftime but came back to close the scores to 25–20 in Canterbury's favour, but a late penalty goal by Stephen Brett put Wellington out of reach and gave Canterbury the win and the championship.
Doubts were raised throughout the season with serious support coming from the four teams likely to be axed, Counties Manukau, Northland, Manawatu, and Tasman, and their supporters, while the financial sustainability of the two unions who were to be promoted to the new first division was questioned.Knowler, Richard. "Money matters top of agenda", The Press, 20 November 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009. On 11 December the New Zealand Rugby Union decided to stick with the 14 team Air New Zealand Cup and the 12 team Heartland Championship format through 2010.Johnstone, Duncan. "NZRU decides against provincial rugby changes", stuff.co.nz, 11 December 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
Round robin The round robin was the first phase of the competition, which consisted of 91 games over 13 weeks from 30 July to 25 October. The rugby union bonus points system was used to determine which four teams were to go on to the finals. There were seven games in each round.
After the round robin Hawke's Bay, Southland, Wellington and Canterbury came out on top to advance to the finals.
Semifinalist (RS) Ranfurly Shield holders
Standings The top four teams from the round robin advanced to the semifinals."2009 Domestic Competitions Regulations" , New Zealand Rugby Union. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
Pos.TeamPldWDLPFPAPDBP1BP2Pts1Canterbury13100336923113843472Wellington1390436223712552433Southland (RS)139132601897121414Hawke's Bay1381437225611661415Auckland138052722234934396Waikato13805285297−1240367Bay of Plenty13706268267113328Taranaki13616252251111289Tasman13607243260−17222810Otago13508260283−23252711Manawatu13409305362−57352412North Harbour13409244320−76042013Northland13319226341−115021614Counties Manukau132011235436−2012212 In the event 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 event of a three-team or more tie on points the rankings 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.
Results grid AuckBoPCantCMHBManaNorHNorthOtagoSouthTaraTasWaiWgtnAuckland29–1416–2237–1413–4723–2014–1632–1322–1827–1310–08–1226–1815–16Bay of Plenty14–2919–1732–919–2228–277–2819–1417–2612–1924–3024–1332–1621–17Canterbury22–1617–1928–1727–2050–2619–2231–2136–163–929–1725–2146–1336–14Counties Manukau14–379–3217–288–5431–3619–2837–2119–226–1433–2115–518–3019–62Hawke's Bay47–1322–1920–2754–835–3034–1732–1332–109–1824–2428–2622–3013–21Manawatu20–2327–2826–5036–3130–3542–1618–2519–1225–2310–1215–3422–3015–43North Harbour16–1428–722–1928–1917–3416–4223–269–2922–2413–1715–1922–3313–37Northland13–3214–1921–3121–3713–3225–1826–237–2915–1529–1616–2119–277–41Otago18–2226–1716–3622–1910–3212–1929–929–719–2610–3821–029–3519–23Southland13–2719–129–314–618–923–2524–2215–1526–1929–1341–016–613–32Taranaki0–1030–2417–2921–3324–2412–1017–1316–2938–1013–2921–914–1529–16Tasman12–813–2421–2551–1526–2834–1519–1521–160–210–419–2123–914–22Waikato18–2616–3213–4630–830–2230–2233–2227–1935–296–1615–149–2323–18Wellington16–1517–2114–3662–1921–1343–1537–1341–723–1932–1316–2922–1418–23 Home gameAway game
Statistics
Team The lists of how many tries and points each team has scored in the 2009 Air NZ Cup Round Robin.
Hawke's Bay scored the most points this season with 372 points while Southland had the best defensive record with 189 points scored against them. Hawke's Bay also scored, along with Canterbury and Wellington, the most tries this season with 40. Southland gave up the fewest tries as well of points with only 15 tries scored against them.
Points The table shows how many points were scored by each team (white) and how many points each team was scored against them (grey) in the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup. Hawke's Bay scored the most points this season with 372 points with an average of 28.6 points per game while Southland had the best defensive record with 189 points scored against them at an average of 14.5 points per game.
TeamPoints by roundTotalAVG12345678910111213 Auckland1347162232131516291422182320141681227131003714261827222320.917.2 Bay of Plenty 1914 329 2117 3216 1429 1917 1219 2413 1726 1922 728 2827 2430 268267 20.620.5 Canterbury 1922 2216 4613 2521 3614 1719 3616 2917 3121 2817 5026 2720 39 369231 28.417.8Counties Manukau 3136 932 1551 3321 830 1962 3721 614 1928 1728 854 1437 1922 235436 18.133.5 Hawke's Bay 4713 1321 2424 918 2826 2230 3417 3210 3530 2219 548 2027 3213 372283 28.621.8 Manawatu 3631 2230 2523 1912 1012 1534 2023 1825 3035 1543 2650 2728 4216 305362 23.527.8 North Harbour 2219 1519 929 2326 2224 1317 1734 1614 2819 2233 287 1337 1642 244320 18.824.6 Northland 1419 2916 1332 2623 729 1515 2137 2518 2131 1621 741 1927 1332 226341 17.426.2 Otago 1923 1926 299 1219 297 1822 1636 1032 2617 1038 2935 210 2219 260283 2021.8 Southland 166 2619 2325 189 2422 1515 1912 146 1332 1327 410 2913 93 260189 2014.5 Taranaki 219 1629 2424 2133 1210 1713 2916 1729 1415 3810 010 1329 3024 252251 19.419.3 Tasman 921 1915 5115 2125 2628 3415 239 1324 128 2116 041 021 1422 243260 18.720Waikato 616 3022 1346 1632 308 3022 923 2318 1514 3322 3529 2719 1826 285297 21.922.8 Wellington 2319 2113 1721 1615 1436 6219 1629 1823 3213 4315 417 3713 2214 362237 27.818.2 ForAgainst
Tries Canterbury, Hawke's Bay and Wellington all scored the most tries during the round robin with 40 each. North Harbour, Northland and Taranaki all scored the fewest tries with only 20 tries each. Southland gave up the fewest tries with 15 while Counties Manukau gave up the most with 48.
TeamTotalTries by round12345678910111213Auckland292215114122413222111231104222Bay of Plenty242211302121141101312211133343Canterbury401911115132321151413231843100 Counties Manukau304855032632133952013323172431Hawke's Bay402551122202323353414311711341Manawatu354745343332102523033427483351North Harbour203711010422141135113334311415Northland203811211422142325302312151414Otago233322124023412315142214342013Southland281510213320413210101413702100Taranaki202220122223011121141041011234Tasman262702206223225220132121070221 Waikato282701431512323302200143434122Wellington402422211222239312024172514112 ForAgainst
Disciplinary cards Bay of Plenty were issued the most yellow cards with five while North Harbour were issued the only red card of the season.
TeamTotalCards by round12345678910111213 Auckland200000001 000001 Bay of Plenty501 0000002 1 1 000 Canterbury1001 00000000000Counties Manukau1000001 00000000 Hawke's Bay40001 00001 1 0001 Manawatu3000000001 1 01 00 North Harbour11000000001 01 00 Northland301 00001 0000001 Otago10000000000001 0 Southland100000001 000000 Taranaki3001 1 01 00000000 Tasman2000000001 0001 0Waikato30001 00001 001 00 Wellington3001 00001 01 0000
Player A total of 3,953 points were scored, including 406 tries, with a total of 218 players scoring points.
Top 10 points scorers Matt Berquist scored the most with 156 points and an average of 14.2 points per game.
PlayerTeamTotalAvgPoints per roundDetails12345678910111213Matt Berquist Hawke's Bay15614.222814913DNPDNP12151719151234 pen; 2 dg; 24 conMike Delany Bay of Plenty14912.414171122914129719213DNP1 try; 38 pen; 15 conLachlan Munro Northland14611.29248212516101111214134 try; 32 pen; 15 conCallum BruceWaikato1259.6610811181591312130081 try; 30 pen; 15 conWillie Ripia Taranaki11510.511DNPDNP995191291808151 try; 29 pen; 1 dg; 10 conRobbie Robinson Southland11110.1111686DNPDNP14988616929 pen; 12 conMichael Harris North Harbour10810.81715013DNPDNPDNP111371381128 pen; 12 conAndrew Goodman Tasman1068.4331911169587110042 try; 19 pen; 1 dg; 18 conDaniel Carter Canterbury9816.3142219DNP21DNPDNPDNPDNPDNP517DNP3 try; 21 pen; 10 conDaniel Kirkpatrick Wellington958.66860018111812412DNPDNP1 try; 20 pen; 15 con
Top try scorers Zac Guildford scored the most tries during the season with 13. PlayerTeamTotalTries by round12345678910111213Zac Guildford Hawke's Bay13100011203131DNPHosea Gear Wellington11110114DNPDNPDNPDNP210Sean Maitland Canterbury81001000222000Ben Smith Otago6001110002010DNPJared Payne Northland60011120100100Jason Hona Bay of Plenty50200000000012Jason Shoemark Hawke's Bay50010100200100Sona Taumalolo Hawke's Bay51100000010101Sosene AnesiWaikato50100010100020Many4Various
Finals The 2009 Air New Zealand Cup Finals contained two semifinals that were played on 30 and 31 October while the grand final was played on 7 November. Canterbury were crowned champions after beating Wellington 28–20 in the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup Final.
Semifinals After the top four teams were determined from the round robin the semifinals were played on 30 and 31 October.
Canterbury beat Hawke's Bay 20–3 in the first semifinal on 30 October.Leggat, David. "Rugby: Canterbury's red and black wall", The New Zealand Herald, 21 October 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2009. Canterbury had their best defensive performance of the season (points wise) against Hawke's Bay which was subsequently their worst offensive performance of the season. Canterbury gained their second final berth in a row and their first home final since 2001 while Hawke's Bay were knocked out of the competition from the semifinals in the third year in a row.
Wellington beat Southland 34–21 in the second semi. Wellington were leading 19–7 at halftime but Southland made comeback early in the second scoring two converted tries in the first ten minutes. Wellington recovered though with two second half tries to replacement Dane Coles and a fifth penalty by Piri Weepu gave Wellington the win and a fourth straight place in the final. Southland were knocked out for the second time in a row by Wellington in the semifinals.
Final