The 2014 ITM Cup season was the ninth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 14, when Taranaki hosted Counties Manukau. 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 fifth season under the lead sponsor. The winner of the Championship, Manawatu was promoted to the Premiership, and the seventh placed Premiership team, Wellington 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 2014
Premiership Division # Team 1 Taranaki 10 7 1 2 321 197 +124 7 1 38 2 Tasman 10 7 1 2 326 194 +132 6 2 38 3 Canterbury 10 7 0 3 337 205 +132 4 2 34 4 Auckland 10 6 1 3 288 225 +63 4 0 30 5 Counties Manukau 10 5 1 4 251 192 +59 4 2 28 6 Waikato 10 4 0 6 220 321 –101 3 2 21 7 Wellington 10 1 0 9 214 381 –167 1 2 7
Championship Division # Team 1 Manawatu 10 8 0 2 260 208 +52 3 0 35 2 RS – Hawke's Bay 10 5 1 4 253 213 +40 4 2 28 3 Northland 10 5 0 5 276 284 –8 3 2 25 4 Southland 10 4 1 5 228 301 –73 1 0 19 5 North Harbour 10 3 0 7 214 306 –92 3 3 18 6 Otago 10 3 0 7 228 279 –51 1 2 15 7 Bay of Plenty 10 2 0 8 202 312 –110 3 2 13
Standings progression Premiership Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 Auckland 0(7th) 5(4th) 7(6th) 11(4th) 15(4th) 20(4th) 20(4th) 25(4th) 30(4th) Canterbury 5(1st) 10(1st) 15(1st) 19(1st) 24(1st) 28(1st) 30(3rd) 30(3rd) 34(3rd) Counties Manukau 2(4th) 7(3rd) 8(5th) 8(6th) 9(6th) 9(6th) 14(6th) 19(5th) 28(5th) Taranaki 2(5th) 3(6th) 13(2nd) 18(2nd) 22(2nd) 27(2nd) 32(1st) 37(1st) 38(1st) Tasman 5(2nd) 10(2nd) 12(3rd) 16(3rd) 17(3rd) 27(3rd) 32(2nd) 37(2nd) 38(2nd) Waikato 5(3rd) 5(5th) 9(4th) 10(5th) 15(5th) 15(5th) 16(5th) 16(6th) 21(6th) Wellington 0(6th) 0(7th) 1(7th) 2(7th) 2(7th) 2(7th) 2(7th) 2(7th) 7(7th)Championship Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 Bay of Plenty 0(5th) 1(7th) 1(7th) 7(6th) 7(6th) 7(6th) 8(7th) 13(7th) 13(7th) Hawke's Bay 0(7th) 4(4th) 9(2nd) 10(3rd) 15(3rd) 20(2nd) 21(2nd) 26(2nd) 28(2nd) Manawatu 4(3rd) 4(5th) 8(4th) 16(1st) 16(1st) 21(1st) 25(1st) 30(1st) 35(1st) North Harbour 0(6th) 1(6th) 2(6th) 3(7th) 7(7th) 7(7th) 16(5th) 17(5th) 18(5th) Northland 1(4th) 6(2nd) 6(5th) 10(4th) 16(2nd) 16(3rd) 20(3rd) 25(3rd) 25(3rd) Southland 4(2nd) 8(1st) 8(3rd) 8(5th) 13(4th) 13(5th) 17(4th) 17(4th) 19(4th) Otago 4(1st) 5(3rd) 9(1st) 10(2nd) 10(5th) 15(4th) 15(6th) 15(6th) 15(6th)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 2014 ITM Cup was 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 14 August, with Taranaki taking on Counties Manukau at Yarrow Stadium.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Play-offs
Championship
Premiership
Semi-finals Championship
Premiership
Finals Championship
Premiership
FB 15James Marshall (c)RW 14Codey ReiOC 13Seta Tamanivalu IC 12Charlie Ngatai LW 11Waisake Naholo FH 10Marty McKenzieSH 9 Chris Smylie N8 8 Iopu Iopu-Aso OF 7 Bernie HallBF 6 Mitchell CrosswellRL 5 James BroadhurstLL 4 Riki Hoeata TP 3 Angus Ta'avao HK 2 Rhys MarshallLP 1 Mitchell Graham Replacements:PR 16Sione Lea PR 17Ryan Cocker N8 18Mitchell Brown LK 19Leighton Price SH 20Jamison Gibson-Park WG 21Jackson Ormond FB 22Kurt Baker FB 15Robbie Malneek RW 14Bryce Heem OC 13Kieron FonotiaIC 12Tom Marshall (c) LW 11James LoweFH 10Marty BanksSH 9 Jimmy Cowan N8 8 Liam SquireOF 7 Shane ChristieBF 6 Pete SamuRL 5 Joe Wheeler LL 4 Alex AinleyTP 3 Ross GeldenhuysHK 2 Quentin MacDonaldLP 1 Siua Halanukonuka Replacements:HK 16Jesse MacDonaldPR 17Reuben Northover LK 18Tevita Cavubati FL 19Vernon FredericksSH 20Billy Guyton FB 21David Havili WG 22Mitchell Scott
Statistics Leading point scorers No. Player Team Points Average Details 1 Marty Banks Tasman 175 14.58 3 , 38 , 28 , 0 2 Gareth Anscombe Auckland 152 13.82 5 , 17 , 31 , 0 3 Daniel Hawkins Northland 129 11.73 0 , 21 , 29 , 0 4 Ihaia West Hawke's Bay 125 10.42 3 , 22 , 20 , 2 5 Marty McKenzie Taranaki 125 10.42 5 , 23 , 16 , 2 6 Otere Black Manawatu 118 10.73 1 , 19 , 25 , 0 7 Hayden Parker Otago 112 11.20 2 , 18 , 22 , 0 8 Lima Sopoaga Southland 109 10.90 1 , 19 , 22 , 0 9 Damian McKenzie Waikato 90 9.00 2 , 16 , 16 , 0 10 Matt McGahan North Harbour 79 7.90 3 , 14 , 12 , 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 Ryan Tongia Hawke's Bay 10 0.83 2 Waisake Naholo Taranaki 9 0.75 3 James Lowe Tasman 8 0.67 4 Joe Webber Waikato 8 0.89 5 Augustine Pulu Counties Manukau 7 0.70 6 Blade Thomson Taranaki 7 0.64 7 Seta Tamanivalu Taranaki 7 0.58 8 Brendon O'Connor Hawke's Bay 6 0.67 9 George Moala Auckland 6 0.60 10 Jimmy Cowan Tasman 5 0.42 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 9 48 35 7 16 16 31 30 27 12 32 7 22 35 60 19 56 51 288 225 28.80 22.50 Bay of Plenty 23 34 27 56 3 41 48 43 12 27 17 36 27 30 33 16 12 29 202 312 20.20 31.20 Canterbury 48 9 58 27 48 3 23 16 46 12 28 20 50 57 10 38 26 23 337 205 33.70 20.50 Counties Manukau 9 9 29 25 21 27 10 26 21 26 20 28 55 7 24 10 62 34 251 192 25.10 19.20 Hawke's Bay 15 35 29 26 27 21 21 23 41 0 36 17 25 28 39 43 20 20 253 213 25.30 21.30 Manawatu 28 23 7 35 27 21 55 37 13 24 41 20 22 20 29 3 38 25 260 208 26.00 20.80 North Harbour 14 28 21 25 16 22 14 21 24 13 7 32 57 49 27 58 34 58 214 306 21.40 30.60 Northland 23 28 35 5 3 48 23 21 74 59 20 31 30 27 58 27 10 38 276 284 27.60 28.40 Otago 28 14 25 29 33 22 16 23 23 81 38 7 24 32 16 33 25 38 228 279 22.80 27.90 Southland 34 23 25 21 22 33 19 41 36 34 34 79 28 26 10 24 20 20 228 301 22.80 30.10 Taranaki 9 9 26 29 87 20 41 19 31 30 31 20 35 22 38 22 23 26 321 197 32.10 19.70 Tasman 35 15 56 27 16 16 23 16 30 31 80 34 32 24 38 10 16 21 326 194 32.60 19.40 Waikato 37 25 27 58 39 62 16 23 26 21 7 38 20 22 19 60 29 12 220 321 22.00 32.10 Wellington 25 37 5 35 21 27 30 31 12 46 20 42 7 55 36 74 58 34 214 381 21.40 38.10 Source: ITM Cup Fixtures and Results 2014
Tries by week Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total Average Auckland 0 6 4 1 1 1 3 3 2 2 4 1 1 4 9 3 6 7 30 28 3.00 2.80 Bay of Plenty 2 3 4 7 0 6 6 5 2 2 2 5 3 3 5 1 2 4 26 36 2.60 3.60 Canterbury 6 0 8 2 6 0 2 1 7 2 3 2 5 7 1 5 2 3 40 22 4.00 2.20 Counties Manukau 0 0 4 3 2 4 1 2 3 4 2 3 7 1 4 1 9 3 32 21 3.20 2.10 Hawke's Bay 2 4 3 2 4 2 2 2 6 0 5 2 3 3 5 5 1 2 31 22 3.10 2.20 Manawatu 3 2 1 4 2 2 5 5 1 2 5 2 1 1 4 0 5 3 27 21 2.70 2.10 North Harbour 2 3 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 4 7 6 4 6 4 6 25 30 2.50 3.00 Northland 2 3 5 1 0 6 2 2 8 7 2 4 3 3 6 4 1 4 29 34 2.90 3.40 Otago 3 2 3 4 3 3 1 2 2 11 4 1 3 4 1 5 3 5 23 37 2.30 3.70 Southland 3 2 1 2 3 3 3 6 5 3 4 10 3 2 1 4 2 1 25 33 2.50 3.30 Taranaki 0 0 2 3 12 2 6 3 3 3 4 2 4 1 5 3 3 2 39 19 3.90 1.90 Tasman 4 2 7 4 1 1 2 1 3 3 10 4 4 3 5 1 1 3 37 22 3.70 2.20 Waikato 6 3 3 8 3 7 1 2 4 3 1 4 1 1 3 9 4 2 26 39 2.60 3.90 Wellington 3 6 1 5 2 2 3 3 2 7 2 5 1 7 4 10 6 4 24 49 2.40 4.90 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) Maritino Nemani Bay of Plenty 1 0 vs Hawke's Bay Daniel Hawkins Northland 0 2 vs Manawatu and Otago Elliot Dixon Southland 0 2 vs Otago and Manawatu Peter Saili Auckland 0 1 vs Canterbury Hubert Buydens Manawatu 0 1 vs Auckland Kayne Hammington Manawatu 0 1 vs Auckland Tom Franklin Otago 0 1 vs Southland Ben Tameifuna Waikato 0 1 vs North Harbour Siaosi Iongi Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs Taranaki Geoffrey Cridge Hawke's Bay 0 1 vs Northland Brad Shields Wellington 0 1 vs Auckland Joel Everson Canterbury 0 1 vs Wellington Matt Proctor Wellington 0 1 vs Canterbury Whiria Meltzer Northland 0 1 vs Southland Loni Uhila Waikato 0 1 vs Counties Manukau Jimmy Cowan Tasman 0 1 vs Southland Jone Macilai-Tori Northland 0 1 vs Taranaki Sikeli Nabou Counties Manukau 0 1 vs Canterbury Culum Retallick Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs Hawke's Bay Michael Fitzgerald Manawatu 0 1 vs Waikato Josh Hohneck Waikato 0 1 vs Manawatu Ma'ama Vaipulu Counties Manukau 0 1 vs Wellington Ryan Tongia Hawke's Bay 0 1 vs North Harbour Vaea Fifita Wellington 0 1 vs Hawke's Bay Pauliasi Manu Counties Manukau 0 1 vs Southland Tony Lamborn Hawke's Bay 0 1 vs Manawatu James Marshall Taranaki 0 1 vs Wellington Junior Poluleuligaga Auckland 0 1 vs Counties Manukau Gareth Anscombe Auckland 0 1 vs Northland Waisake Naholo Taranaki 0 1 vs Canterbury
Ranfurly Shield
Pre-season challenges
See also 2014 Heartland Championship
References
External links