2011 ITM Cup

The 2011 ITM Cup season was the sixth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on July 14, when Otago hosted North Harbour. It involved the top fourteen rugby unions of New Zealand. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as the ITM Cup and it was the second season under the lead sponsor. The winner of the Championship, Hawke's Bay was promoted to the Premiership, the seventh placed Premiership team, Southland was relegated to the Championship.

Format The ITM 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. 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. 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. 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.

Standings Source: ITM Cup standings 2011

Premiership Division # Team 1 Waikato 10 7 0 3 236 219 +17 4 1 33 2 Canterbury 10 6 0 4 293 230 +63 7 2 33 3 RS – Taranaki 10 7 0 3 216 194 +22 2 1 31 4 Bay of Plenty 10 6 0 4 275 212 +63 5 2 31 5 Auckland 10 5 0 5 255 261 –6 2 4 26 6 Wellington 10 5 0 5 251 260 –9 2 3 25 7 Southland 10 4 0 6 195 229 –34 2 2 20

Championship Division # Team 1 Manawatu 10 7 0 3 281 246 +35 4 1 33 2 Hawke's Bay 10 6 0 4 298 213 +85 4 1 29 3 Otago 10 5 0 5 223 224 –1 2 2 24 4 Counties Manukau 10 4 0 6 235 262 –27 3 3 22 5 Northland 10 4 0 6 227 279 –52 1 2 19 6 North Harbour 10 2 0 8 245 319 –74 4 2 14 7 Tasman 10 2 0 8 198 280 –82 1 4 13

Standings progression Premiership Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 Auckland 1(5th) 6(3rd) 6(7th) 16(3rd) 20(5th) 25(2nd) 26(5th) 26(5th) Bay of Plenty 4(4th) 9(1st) 19(1st) 20(1st) 22(3rd) 22(5th) 31(4th) 31(4th) Canterbury 5(1st) 6(2nd) 12(3rd) 17(2nd) 22(4th) 27(1st) 33(2nd) 33(2nd) Southland 0(6th) 4(7th) 8(6th) 13(6th) 17(6th) 19(7th) 20(7th) 20(7th) Taranaki 0(7th) 5(5th) 14(2nd) 15(4th) 23(2nd) 23(4th) 31(3rd) 31(3rd) Waikato 4(3rd) 5(6th) 10(4th) 14(5th) 24(1st) 24(3rd) 33(1st) 33(1st) Wellington 4(2nd) 5(4th) 10(5th) 10(7th) 16(7th) 20(6th) 25(6th) 25(6th)Championship Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 Counties Manukau 1(4th) 10(2nd) 10(4th) 11(5th) 12(5th) 17(4th) 22(3rd) 22(4th) Hawke's Bay 0(6th) 8(4th) 13(1st) 19(2nd) 24(2nd) 29(2nd) 29(2nd) 29(2nd) Manawatu 5(2nd) 11(1st) 11(2nd) 20(1st) 24(1st) 29(1st) 33(1st) 33(1st) North Harbour 1(5th) 6(5th) 6(6th) 6(6th) 7(6th) 12(6th) 14(6th) 14(6th) Northland 4(3rd) 4(6th) 9(5th) 13(4th) 13(4th) 14(5th) 19(4th) 19(5th) Otago 5(1st) 9(3rd) 10(3rd) 15(3rd) 15(3rd) 19(3rd) 19(5th) 24(3rd) Tasman 0(7th) 0(7th) 0(7th) 6(7th) 7(7th) 12(7th) 13(7th) 13(7th)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 2011 ITM Cup was played across eight weeks with every team playing three Tuesday or Wednesday night fixtures in a double-up round where they played twice that week. The competition started on Thursday, July 14, with Otago taking on North Harbour at Carisbrook. Due to the 2011 Rugby World Cup being hosted in New Zealand, the competition finished without semi-finals so that the World Cup could be held in September and October. The Otago and Manawatu fixture was cancelled in Week 6 of the competition due to weather and airport closures.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Play-offs

Championship

Premiership

FB 15Trent RenataRW 14Henry SpeightOC 13Jackson WillisonIC 12Sam ChristieLW 11Tim MikkelsonFH 10Stephen DonaldSH 9 Tawera Kerr-BarlowN8 8 Alex BradleyOF 7 Marty HolahBF 6 Liam MessamRL 5 Romana GrahamLL 4 Toby LynnTP 3 Nathan White (c)HK 2 Marcel Cummings-TooneLP 1 Toby SmithReplacements:HK 16Vance ElliottPR 17Ben MayLK 18Matt Vant LevenFL 19Zak HohneckSH 20Brendon LeonardWG 21Sitiveni SivivatuWG 22Declan O'DonnellPR 23Ted Tauroa FB 15Sean MaitlandRW 14Telusa VeainuOC 13Robbie FrueanIC 12Ryan CrottyLW 11Patrick OsborneFH 10Tyler BleyendaalSH 9 Willi HeinzN8 8 Nasi ManuOF 7 Matt ToddBF 6 George Whitelock (c)RL 5 Ash ParkerLL 4 Luke RomanoTP 3 Nepo LaulalaHK 2 Ben FunnellLP 1 Wyatt CrockettReplacements:HK 16Paul NgauamoPR 17Joe MoodyLK 18Luke KateneFL 19Brendon O'ConnorSH 20Takerei NortonFH 21Tom TaylorWG 22Johnny McNichollPR 23Andrew Olorenshaw

Statistics Leading point scorers No. Player Team Points Average Details 1 Andrew Horrell Hawke's Bay 152 15.20 4 , 24 , 28 , 0 2 Aaron Cruden Manawatu 140 12.73 4 , 27 , 21 , 1 3 Gareth Anscombe Auckland 125 12.50 2 , 17 , 27 , 0 4 Andrew Goodman Tasman 116 11.60 3 , 13 , 25 , 0 5 Lachie Munro Northland 112 11.20 2 , 21 , 20 , 0 6 Glenn Dickson Otago 102 11.33 1 , 11 , 25 , 0 7 Lima Sopoaga Wellington 98 9.80 0 , 22 , 18 , 0 8 Ben Botica North Harbour 96 9.60 1 , 20 , 17 , 0 9 Beauden Barrett Taranaki 90 11.25 0 , 9 , 24 , 0 10 Chris Noakes Bay of Plenty 87 8.70 0 , 15 , 18 , 1 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 Sherwin Stowers Counties Manukau 9 0.90 2 Mat Luamanu North Harbour 8 0.80 3 Toby Arnold Bay of Plenty 6 0.60 4 Jayden Hayward Taranaki 6 0.60 5 Lelia Masaga Bay of Plenty 5 0.56 6 Mark Bright Tasman 5 0.50 7 David Raikuna North Harbour 5 0.50 8 Robbie Fruean Canterbury 5 0.45 9 Aaron Smith Manawatu 5 0.45 10 Asaeli Tikoirotuma Manawatu 5 0.45 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 Total Average Auckland 33 40 46 49 11 39 68 39 25 22 53 46 19 26 0 0 255 261 25.50 26.10 Bay of Plenty 20 13 38 17 68 8 23 30 46 71 16 25 64 48 0 0 275 212 27.50 21.20 Canterbury 40 33 19 22 70 52 36 32 41 40 27 0 60 51 0 0 293 230 29.30 23.00 Counties Manukau 13 20 64 48 14 22 29 52 22 25 54 76 39 19 0 0 235 262 23.50 26.20 Hawke's Bay 23 32 56 31 39 10 59 41 32 13 44 14 45 72 0 0 298 213 29.80 21.30 Manawatu 32 23 55 54 15 42 47 31 31 25 54 20 27 23 20 28 281 246 28.10 24.60 North Harbour 29 46 56 53 10 39 34 61 23 25 65 66 28 29 0 0 245 319 24.50 31.90 Northland 19 9 22 30 36 40 30 23 32 71 26 33 62 73 0 0 227 279 22.70 27.90 Otago 46 29 45 52 17 20 42 33 10 25 19 16 16 29 28 20 223 224 22.30 22.40 Southland 9 19 40 48 22 14 45 51 25 23 25 30 29 44 0 0 195 229 19.50 22.90 Taranaki 5 23 30 23 62 27 10 15 65 56 0 27 44 23 0 0 216 194 21.60 19.40 Tasman 9 19 38 71 6 35 53 55 23 26 46 47 23 27 0 0 198 280 19.80 28.00 Waikato 19 9 23 30 43 42 22 15 52 23 20 54 57 46 0 0 236 219 23.60 21.90 Wellington 23 5 17 21 37 60 20 40 68 50 30 25 56 59 0 0 251 260 25.10 26.00 Source: ITM Cup Fixtures and Results 2011

Tries by week Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total Average Auckland 3 4 5 5 1 5 9 5 1 1 6 4 1 4 0 0 26 28 2.60 2.80 Bay of Plenty 2 1 4 2 8 1 3 3 5 6 1 3 6 7 0 0 29 23 2.90 2.30 Canterbury 4 3 2 1 10 6 5 5 5 5 4 0 7 3 0 0 37 23 3.70 2.30 Counties Manukau 1 2 6 5 1 1 1 3 1 1 7 10 6 3 0 0 23 25 2.30 2.50 Hawke's Bay 2 4 5 3 5 1 8 4 4 1 6 2 4 9 0 0 34 24 3.40 2.40 Manawatu 4 2 7 5 2 6 6 3 3 3 6 2 3 2 2 4 33 27 3.30 2.70 North Harbour 4 6 7 6 1 5 3 8 2 3 7 7 4 2 0 0 28 37 2.80 3.70 Northland 3 0 3 4 3 5 3 3 2 10 2 3 9 9 0 0 25 34 2.50 3.40 Otago 6 4 4 6 2 2 2 4 1 4 1 1 1 3 4 2 21 26 2.10 2.60 Southland 0 1 3 4 1 1 7 5 3 2 4 3 3 4 0 0 21 20 2.10 2.00 Taranaki 1 3 4 2 8 2 1 2 4 6 0 4 3 1 0 0 21 20 2.10 2.00 Tasman 0 3 4 9 0 4 7 7 2 2 4 4 2 3 0 0 19 32 1.90 3.20 Waikato 1 0 2 4 5 4 1 0 8 2 2 6 7 4 0 0 26 20 2.60 2.00 Wellington 3 1 2 2 4 8 2 6 9 4 3 4 5 7 0 0 28 32 2.80 3.20 For Against

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

Sanctions PlayerTeam Red Yellow Sent off match(es): Aaron Smith Manawatu 0 1 vs Counties Manukau Halani Aulika Otago 0 1 vs Auckland Anthony Perenise Hawke's Bay 0 1 vs Tasman Ash Moeke Northland 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Chris King Southland 0 1 vs Otago James McGougan Otago 0 1 vs Southland Sam Cane Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs Taranaki Scott Waldrom Taranaki 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Simon Lemalu Counties Manukau 0 1 vs Auckland Jeremy Thrush Wellington 0 1 vs Manawatu TJ Ioane Otago 0 1 vs Tasman Scott Fuglistaller Wellington 0 1 vs Waikato Liam Squire Tasman 0 1 vs Manawatu Francis Bryant Manawatu 0 1 vs Tasman Stephen Donald Waikato 0 1 vs Auckland Adam Hill Otago 0 1 vs Manawatu

Ranfurly Shield

Pre-season challenges

See also 2011 Heartland Championship

References

External links