2012 ITM Cup

The 2012 ITM Cup season was the seventh season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on 23 August, when Hawke's Bay hosted Auckland. 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 third season under the lead sponsor. The winner of the Championship, Counties Manukau was promoted to the Premiership, the seventh placed Premiership team, Hawke's Bay 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 deferential 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 2012

Premiership Division # Team 1 Canterbury 10 8 0 2 419 132 +287 6 1 39 2 Wellington 10 8 0 2 323 203 +120 7 0 39 3 Auckland 10 8 0 2 322 252 +70 5 0 37 4 Taranaki 10 7 0 3 323 266 +57 5 0 33 5 RS – Waikato 10 6 0 4 272 230 +42 3 1 28 6 Bay of Plenty 10 3 0 7 232 311 –79 3 1 16 7 Hawke's Bay 10 3 0 7 170 301 –131 1 1 14

Championship Division # Team 1 Counties Manukau 10 6 0 4 317 227 +90 7 3 34 2 Otago 10 5 0 5 292 285 +7 4 2 26 3 Tasman 10 5 0 5 209 227 –18 2 2 24 4 Southland 10 4 0 6 150 276 –126 1 2 19 5 Northland 10 3 0 7 225 319 –94 3 2 17 6 Manawatu 10 3 0 7 198 321 –123 2 2 16 7 North Harbour 10 1 0 9 205 307 –102 2 3 9

Standings progression Premiership Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 Auckland 4 (4th) 9 (4th) 14 (3rd) 14 (4th) 24 (1st) 28 (3rd) 33 (3rd) 37 (3rd) Bay of Plenty 0 (7th) 4 (7th) 4 (7th) 9 (6th) 11 (5th) 16 (5th) 16 (6th) 16 (6th) Canterbury 1 (5th) 10 (2nd) 14 (1st) 14 (3rd) 19 (4th) 24 (4th) 29 (4th) 39 (1st) Hawke's Bay 1 (6th) 5 (6th) 5 (6th) 5 (7th) 10 (7th) 14 (7th) 14 (7th) 14 (7th) Taranaki 5 (2nd) 10 (3rd) 14 (2nd) 18 (2nd) 23 (2nd) 28 (2nd) 33 (2nd) 33 (4th) Waikato 5 (1st) 6 (5th) 6 (5th) 10 (5th) 10 (6th) 14 (6th) 24 (5th) 28 (5th) Wellington 4 (3rd) 14 (1st) 14 (4th) 19 (1st) 20 (3rd) 29 (1st) 34 (1st) 39 (2nd)Championship Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 Counties Manukau 5 (1st) 6 (1st) 16 (1st) 21 (1st) 26 (1st) 27 (1st) 29 (1st) 34 (1st) Manawatu 0 (5th) 0 (7th) 5 (5th) 9 (5th) 10 (6th) 10 (6th) 15 (5th) 16 (6th) North Harbour 0 (6th) 0 (5th) 1 (7th) 2 (7th) 2 (7th) 4 (7th) 4 (7th) 9 (7th) Northland 1 (4th) 5 (4th) 9 (4th) 13 (3rd) 15 (4th) 16 (4th) 16 (4th) 17 (5th) Otago 5 (2nd) 5 (3rd) 9 (3rd) 9 (4th) 19 (2nd) 20 (2nd) 25 (2nd) 26 (2nd) Southland 0 (7th) 0 (6th) 1 (6th) 7 (6th) 11 (5th) 15 (5th) 15 (6th) 19 (4th) Tasman 4 (3rd) 5 (2nd) 10 (2nd) 15 (2nd) 15 (3rd) 16 (3rd) 20 (3rd) 24 (3rd) The table above shows each 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 2012 ITM Cup was played across eight weeks with every team playing two Tuesday or Wednesday night fixtures in a double-up round where they played twice that week. The competition started on Thursday, 23 August, with Hawke's Bay taking on Auckland at McLean Park.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Play-offs

Semi-finals Championship

Premiership

Finals Championship

Premiership

FB 15Tom TaylorRW 14Telusa Veainu OC 13Robbie Fruean IC 12Ryan Crotty LW 11Johnny McNichollFH 10Tyler BleyendaalSH 9 Andy Ellis N8 8 Luke WhitelockOF 7 Matt Todd BF 6 George Whitelock (c)RL 5 Dominic Bird LL 4 Joel Everson TP 3 Ben Franks HK 2 Ben Funnell LP 1 Wyatt CrockettReplacements:HK 16Codie Taylor PR 17Joe Moody LK 18Nasi Manu FL 19Jordan Taufua SH 20Willi Heinz CE 21Kolio Hifo WG 22Stephen Gee FB 15Charles PiutauRW 14Ben LamOC 13Malakai FekitoaIC 12Hadleigh ParkesLW 11Dave Thomas FH 10Gareth AnscombeSH 9 Alby Mathewson N8 8 Joe Edwards OF 7 Daniel Braid (c)BF 6 Steven LuatuaRL 5 Ali Williams LL 4 Liaki Moli TP 3 Angus Ta'avao HK 2 Tom McCartney LP 1 Pauliasi Manu Replacements:HK 16Nathan Vella PR 17Charlie Faumuina LK 18Andrew van der Heijden FL 19Sean Polwart FL 20Nathan Hughes FH 21Simon Hickey WG 22Lolagi Visinia

Statistics Leading point scorers No. Player Team Points Average Details 1 Gareth Anscombe Auckland 191 15.92 4 , 30 , 37 , 0 2 Tom Taylor Canterbury 182 15.17 2 , 41 , 30 , 0 3 Baden Kerr Counties Manukau 138 13.80 2 , 25 , 26 , 0 4 Hayden Parker Otago 129 10.75 0 , 18 , 31 , 0 5 Jason Woodward Wellington 120 12.00 5 , 25 , 15 , 0 6 Trent Renata Waikato 107 10.70 1 , 21 , 20 , 0 7 Frazier Climo Taranaki 91 11.38 4 , 13 , 15 , 0 8 Ash Moeke Northland 85 9.44 1 , 13 , 18 , 0 9 Nick McCashin Bay of Plenty 79 7.90 2 , 12 , 15 , 0 10 Scott Eade Southland 78 8.67 0 , 9 , 20 , 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 Johnny McNicholl Canterbury 10 0.91 2 Ardie Savea Wellington 7 0.70 3 Kurt Baker Taranaki 7 0.64 4 Charles Piutau Auckland 7 0.58 5 Sherwin Stowers Counties Manukau 7 0.58 6 Telusa Veainu Canterbury 7 0.58 7 Peter Betham Tasman 6 0.55 8 Tim Nanai-Williams Counties Manukau 6 0.55 9 Bundee Aki Counties Manukau 6 0.50 10 Tony Ensor Otago 6 0.50 Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).

Points by week Team12345678TotalAverage Auckland 36 29 70 49 32 22 16 37 86 62 22 18 36 16 24 19 322 252 32.20 25.20Bay of Plenty 22 37 31 19 13 47 43 31 41 42 57 55 3 17 22 63 232 311 23.20 31.10Canterbury 22 25 69 14 20 12 9 18 52 27 84 0 56 11 107 25 419 132 41.90 13.20Counties Manukau 30 9 30 37 74 28 43 12 31 28 18 22 28 32 63 59 317 227 31.70 22.70Hawke's Bay 29 36 52 60 6 22 7 35 42 41 21 15 7 20 6 72 170 301 21.70 30.10Manawatu 11 30 16 59 36 47 23 20 28 31 18 59 55 58 11 17 198 334 19.80 33.40North Harbour 22 42 3 36 32 45 20 23 42 81 28 34 16 36 42 10 205 307 20.50 30.70Northland 34 46 29 27 38 50 20 17 31 32 31 47 11 56 31 44 225 319 22.50 31.90Otago 46 34 19 31 15 10 12 43 93 38 15 21 73 84 19 24 292 285 29.20 28.50Southland 9 30 8 40 10 15 45 20 27 17 16 96 18 47 17 11 150 276 15.00 27.60Taranaki 37 22 49 40 22 6 18 9 64 74 59 18 57 64 17 33 323 266 32.30 26.60Tasman 25 22 40 49 27 3 30 30 13 39 19 20 17 3 38 61 209 227 20.90 22.70Waikato 42 22 27 29 22 32 28 35 27 52 20 19 78 38 28 3 272 230 27.20 23.00Wellington 30 11 70 23 12 20 29 13 30 43 70 54 49 22 33 17 323 203 32.30 20.30 Source: ITM Cup Fixtures and Results 2012

Tries by week Team12345678TotalAverage Auckland 3 2 9 4 4 3 1 4 8 9 1 0 5 1 2 1 33 24 3.30 2.40 Bay of Plenty 3 4 3 1 2 5 4 1 5 5 6 6 0 2 3 8 26 32 2.60 3.20 Canterbury 1 3 8 1 3 2 0 2 6 3 12 0 7 1 14 3 51 15 5.10 1.50 Counties Manukau 4 0 3 3 9 4 5 0 4 3 0 1 4 4 7 8 36 23 3.60 2.30 Hawke's Bay 2 3 5 7 0 3 1 4 5 5 0 0 1 2 0 9 14 33 1.40 3.30 Manawatu 1 3 1 8 4 6 2 3 3 4 2 8 6 7 1 2 20 41 2.00 4.10 North Harbour 3 6 0 5 4 4 3 2 5 8 4 5 1 5 5 1 25 36 2.50 3.60 Northland 4 4 3 3 2 6 2 1 4 2 5 5 1 7 5 6 26 34 2.60 3.40 Otago 4 4 1 3 0 1 0 5 11 5 0 0 9 11 1 2 26 31 2.60 3.10 Southland 0 4 1 5 1 0 5 3 2 2 1 14 2 5 2 1 14 34 1.40 3.40 Taranaki 4 3 5 5 3 0 2 0 7 8 8 2 6 9 3 4 38 31 3.80 3.10 Tasman 3 1 5 5 4 0 3 3 2 5 1 2 2 0 4 6 24 22 2.40 2.20 Waikato 6 3 3 3 3 4 1 4 3 6 2 1 11 5 3 0 32 26 3.20 2.60 Wellington 3 1 9 3 2 3 4 1 4 4 8 6 7 3 4 3 41 24 4.10 2.40 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): Willie Rickards Taranaki 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Samisoni Fisilau Northland 0 1 vs Otago TJ Ioane Otago 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Kendrick Lynn Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs Otago Simon Lemalu Counties Manukau 0 1 vs Hawke's Bay Sam Christie Waikato 0 1 vs Northland Vernon Fredericks Tasman 0 1 vs Taranaki Bundee Aki Counties Manukau 0 1 vs North Harbour Justin Davies Northland 0 1 vs Manawatu Bryce Williams Northland 0 1 vs Manawatu Rob Verbakel Otago 0 1 vs Southland Filo Paulo North Harbour 0 1 vs Northland Piers Francis Waikato 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Tanerau Latimer Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs Hawke's Bay Eric Sione Wellington 0 1 vs Auckland Johnny McNicholl Canterbury 0 1 vs Waikato Jeremy Thrush Wellington 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Mahonri Schwalger Counties Manukau 0 1 vs Auckland Sean Brookman Auckland 0 1 vs Counties Manukau Jack Ram Northland 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Tawera Kerr-Barlow Waikato 0 1 vs Taranaki Hugh Blake Otago 0 1 vs Auckland Liaki Moli Auckland 0 1 vs Otago Maama Vaipulu Counties Manukau 0 1 vs Northland Maselino Paulino Hawke's Bay 0 1 vs Waikato Jarrad Hoeata Taranaki 0 1 vs Wellington Filipo Levi Tasman 0 1 vs Otago Telusa Veainu Canterbury 0 1 vs Wellington

Ranfurly Shield

Pre-season challenges

See also 2012 Heartland Championship

References

External links