The 2015 ITM Cup season was the tenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 13, when Southland 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 sixth season under the lead sponsor. The winner of the Championship, Hawke's Bay was promoted to the Premiership, the seventh placed Premiership team, Manawatu 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. Bonus points were also awarded to teams who scored at least four tries in a match, or lost by seven points or fewer. 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 2015
Premiership Division # Team 1 Canterbury 10 9 0 1 307 177 +130 6 1 43 2 Auckland 10 7 1 2 339 232 +107 5 2 37 3 Tasman 10 7 0 3 331 236 +95 7 0 35 4 Taranaki 10 6 0 4 290 175 +115 5 3 32 5 Counties Manukau 10 4 0 6 248 262 –14 5 2 23 6 RS – Waikato 10 4 0 6 225 281 –56 3 2 21 7 Manawatu 10 3 0 7 248 367 –119 5 2 19
Championship Division # Team 1 Hawke's Bay 10 7 1 2 302 219 +83 6 1 37 2 Wellington 10 6 1 3 304 178 +126 6 2 34 3 Otago 10 6 0 4 360 314 +46 7 1 32 4 Bay of Plenty 10 4 0 6 212 258 –46 2 1 19 5 North Harbour 10 3 0 7 212 294 –82 3 2 17 6 Southland 10 2 1 7 217 325 –108 1 3 14 7 Northland 10 0 0 10 143 420 –277 1 0 1
Standings progression Premiership Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 Auckland 2(4th) 7(3rd) 8(4th) 13(4th) 23(3rd) 27(3rd) 28(3rd) 33(2nd) 37(2nd) Canterbury 5(2nd) 9(2nd) 14(2nd) 19(2nd) 24(2nd) 28(2nd) 33(1st) 38(1st) 43(1st) Counties Manukau 5(3rd) 6(4th) 6(5th) 8(6th) 8(7th) 13(6th) 18(5th) 23(5th) 23(5th) Manawatu 2(5th) 3(6th) 3(7th) 3(7th) 9(6th) 9(7th) 14(7th) 14(7th) 19(7th) Taranaki 1(6th) 2(7th) 4(6th) 13(3rd) 18(4th) 23(4th) 27(4th) 32(3rd) 32(4th) Tasman 5(1st) 10(1st) 15(1st) 20(1st) 25(1st) 30(1st) 30(2nd) 30(4th) 35(3rd) Waikato 0(7th) 4(5th) 9(3rd) 10(5th) 14(5th) 14(5th) 16(6th) 16(6th) 21(6th) Championship Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 Bay of Plenty 4(2nd) 4(4th) 8(3rd) 13(3rd) 13(3rd) 14(3rd) 19(3rd) 19(4th) 19(4th) Hawke's Bay 5(1st) 10(1st) 15(1st) 20(1st) 20(1st) 24(1st) 28(1st) 35(1st) 37(1st) North Harbour 0(5th) 0(7th) 4(6th) 5(6th) 9(4th) 10(6th) 10(6th) 12(6th) 17(5th) Northland 0(7th) 0(6th) 0(7th) 0(7th) 0(7th) 0(7th) 0(7th) 0(7th) 1(7th) Otago 0(6th) 0(5th) 5(5th) 5(5th) 7(6th) 12(5th) 17(4th) 22(3rd) 32(3rd) Southland 2(4th) 6(3rd) 7(4th) 7(4th) 8(5th) 13(4th) 13(5th) 14(5th) 14(6th) Wellington 4(3rd) 9(2nd) 14(2nd) 19(2nd) 19(2nd) 21(2nd) 25(2nd) 32(2nd) 34(2nd)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 2015 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 Thursday, August 13, with Southland taking on Auckland at Rugby Park Stadium. The last matchup of the beginning week saw Hawke's Bay host Northland for the competitions first Ranfurly Shield defense.
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 15Tom TaylorRW 14Johnny McNichollOC 13Ryan Crotty IC 12Rob ThompsonLW 11Patrick OsborneFH 10Richie Mo'ungaSH 9 Mitchell DrummondN8 8 Luke Whitelock (c)OF 7 Matt ToddBF 6 Reed Prinsep RL 5 Dominic BirdLL 4 Mitchell Dunshea TP 3 Nepo Laulala HK 2 Ben FunnellLP 1 Daniel Lienert-Brown Replacements:HK 16Ged RobinsonPR 17Alex Hodgman PR 18Siate Tokolahi LK 19Ben Matwijow FL 20Tom Sanders SH 21Jack StrattonFH 22Cameron McIntyreWG 23Marshall Suckling FB 15Charles PiutauRW 14Bryce HeemOC 13Vince Aso IC 12George MoalaLW 11Ben LamFH 10Simon Hickey (c)SH 9 Kaito Shigeno N8 8 Akira IoaneOF 7 Mitchell KarpikBF 6 Joe EdwardsRL 5 Scott Scrafton LL 4 Michael FatialofaTP 3 Ofa Tu'ungafasiHK 2 Greg Pleasants-Tate LP 1 Isileli Tu'ungafasiReplacements:HK 16Kurt Eklund PR 17Tom McHughPR 18Jono OwenLK 19William Lloyd N8 20Matthew MatichSH 21Jono Hickey FH 22Mitchell HuntFB 23Lolagi Visinia
Statistics Leading point scorers No. Player Team Points Average Details 1 Tom Taylor Canterbury 144 12.00 1 , 29 , 27 , 0 2 Ihaia West Hawke's Bay 134 11.17 3 , 28 , 21 , 0 3 Marty Banks Tasman 124 12.40 2 , 24 , 22 , 0 4 Simon Hickey Auckland 120 10.91 1 , 26 , 21 , 0 5 Damian McKenzie Waikato 115 11.50 3 , 20 , 19 , 1 6 Codey Rei Taranaki 97 8.82 2 , 27 , 11 , 0 7 Peter Breen Otago 84 8.40 2 , 19 , 11 , 1 8 Piers Francis Counties Manukau 77 8.56 0 , 13 , 17 , 0 9 Otere Black Manawatu 76 7.60 0 , 32 , 4 , 0 10 Lima Sopoaga Southland 69 11.50 1 , 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 George Moala Auckland 10 0.83 2 Rob Thompson Canterbury 10 0.83 3 Naulia Dawai Otago 7 0.64 4 Brad Weber Waikato 7 0.78 5 Matt Faddes Otago 6 0.60 6 Vaea Fifita Wellington 6 0.60 7 Callum Gibbins Manawatu 6 0.67 8 Ben Lam Auckland 6 0.55 9 Michael Little North Harbour 6 0.60 10 Brendon O'Connor Hawke's Bay 6 0.55 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 23 23 30 24 21 27 50 28 80 57 28 19 12 17 64 21 31 16 339 232 33.90 23.20 Bay of Plenty20 1113 3436 5337 269 3217 2337 513 3130 43212 25821.20 25.80 Canterbury38 2420 1527 2157 729 1417 1039 4141 2539 20307 17730.70 17.70 Counties Manukau36 3515 2011 3536 5420 2842 1742 3330 916 31248 26224.80 26.20 Hawke's Bay39 1039 2235 1148 3214 2923 1717 1257 5030 36302 21930.20 21.90 Manawatu35 3621 2821 417 5770 6214 4931 1710 4439 33248 36724.80 36.70 North Harbour11 200 4326 2532 4828 2030 5617 3132 3936 12212 29421.20 29.40 Northland10 3918 270 297 5017 4217 425 3721 6448 90143 42014.30 42.00 Otago24 3822 3934 2717 3429 3537 3661 739 3297 66360 31436.00 31.40 Southland23 2327 1835 523 5325 3049 147 6128 3520 39217 32521.70 32.50 Taranaki14 1924 3027 3467 1732 941 024 2144 1017 35290 17529.00 17.50 Tasman35 2034 1341 2134 1736 1758 4833 4225 4135 17331 23633.10 23.60 Waikato20 3528 2143 1028 5030 250 4131 399 3036 30225 28122.50 28.10 Wellington19 1443 029 053 317 3636 3721 1453 3533 39304 17830.40 17.80 Source: ITM Cup Fixtures and Results 2015
Tries by week Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total Average Auckland 2 2 4 2 2 4 7 4 9 8 3 1 0 2 10 3 3 2 40 28 4.00 2.80 Bay of Plenty3 11 43 75 40 42 34 11 53 622 352.20 3.50 Canterbury4 31 24 29 14 22 14 55 35 238 213.80 2.10 Counties Manukau5 52 11 45 72 35 15 34 02 331 273.10 2.70 Hawke's Bay6 16 34 16 52 43 22 07 64 540 274.00 2.70 Manawatu5 53 33 41 910 72 64 21 55 534 463.40 4.60 North Harbour1 30 62 35 63 23 82 44 45 225 382.50 3.80 Northland1 62 30 41 72 61 51 43 108 1319 581.90 5.80 Otago3 43 64 43 44 44 48 14 414 947 404.70 4.00 Southland2 23 24 40 83 36 21 83 42 524 382.40 3.80 Taranaki1 32 44 49 24 05 03 25 12 435 203.50 2.00 Tasman4 14 14 34 34 37 53 53 54 237 283.70 2.80 Waikato1 43 36 14 73 30 53 40 45 425 352.50 3.50 Wellington3 16 04 08 03 44 42 18 45 543 194.30 1.90 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) Jamie Mackintosh Southland 1 1 vs. Wellington and Otago Matt Talaese Northland 1 0 vs. Southland Ardie Savea Wellington 0 2 vs. Southland and Otago Ben Tameifuna Waikato 0 2 vs. Canterbury and Hawke's Bay Johan Bardoul Bay of Plenty 0 2 vs. Counties Manukau and Otago Marty Banks Tasman 0 1 vs. Waikato Kurt Baker Taranaki 0 1 vs. Wellington Brad Shields Wellington 0 1 vs. Taranaki Jayden Spence Otago 0 1 vs. Canterbury Nafi Tuitavake North Harbour 0 1 vs. Wellington Ross Geldenhuys Tasman 0 1 vs. Bay of Plenty Hamiora Thomas Manawatu 0 1 vs. Waikato Jordan Payne Waikato 0 1 vs. Manawatu Tawera Kerr-Barlow Waikato 0 1 vs. Manawatu Pauliasi Manu Counties Manukau 0 1 vs. Canterbury Shane Christie Tasman 0 1 vs. Manawatu Ben Funnell Canterbury 0 1 vs. Auckland Mitchell Graham Taranaki 0 1 vs. Otago Culum Retallick Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs. Waikato Ma'ama Vaipulu Counties Manukau 0 1 vs. Taranaki Akira Ioane Auckland 0 1 vs. Waikato Sam Vaka Counties Manukau 0 1 vs. North Harbour Chris Vui North Harbour 0 1 vs. Counties Manukau Mitchell Crosswell Taranaki 0 1 vs. Bay of Plenty Zak Hohneck Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs. Hawke's Bay Josh Goodhue Northland 0 1 vs. Counties Manukau Sam Nock Northland 0 1 vs. Counties Manukau Trent Renata Tasman 0 1 vs. Auckland Jono Hickey Auckland 0 1 vs. Tasman Jono Kitto Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs. Northland Joe Tupe Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs. Northland David Havili Tasman 0 1 vs. Counties Manukau Robbie Malneek Tasman 0 1 vs. Counties Manukau Sam Henwood Counties Manukau 0 1 vs. Tasman Alex Woonton North Harbour 0 1 vs. Manawatu Jason Woodward Wellington 0 1 vs. Hawke's Bay Chris Eaton Hawke's Bay 0 1 vs. Wellington Peni Iowane Waikato 0 1 vs. Counties Manukau Marshall Suckling Canterbury 0 1 vs. Tasman Heiden Bedwell-Curtis Manawatu 0 1 vs. Taranaki Jeffery Toomaga-Allen Wellington 0 1 vs. Bay of Plenty Ben May Wellington 0 1 vs. Bay of Plenty Fletcher Smith Otago 0 1 vs. Northland Zac Guildford Hawke's Bay 0 1 vs. Waikato Johnny McNicholl Canterbury 0 1 vs. Taranaki Scott Scrafton Auckland 0 1 vs. Canterbury
Ranfurly Shield
Pre-season challenges Hawke's Bay won the Ranfurly Shield when they defeated Counties Manuaku in August 2014, and subsequently made four successful defenses. Hawke's Bay announced their first three defenses against Wairarapa Bush, Horowhenua-Kapiti, and Meads Cup winners Mid Canterbury after receiving six Heartland Championship offers.