The 2017 Mitre 10 Cup season was the twelfth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 17, when North Harbour hosted Otago. It involved the top fourteen rugby unions of New Zealand. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as the Mitre 10 Cup and it was the second season under the lead sponsor. The winner of the Championship, Wellington was promoted to the Premiership, while the seventh-placed Premiership team, Waikato was relegated to the Championship.
Format
The Mitre 10 Cup standings were sorted by a competition points system. Four points were awarded to the winning team, a draw equaled two points, while 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: Mitre 10 Cup standings 2017
Premiership Division # Team 1 RS – Taranaki 10 8 0 2 390 318 +72 10 0 42 2 Canterbury 10 8 0 2 445 246 +199 9 0 41 3 North Harbour 10 8 0 2 331 223 +108 4 1 37 4 Tasman 10 6 0 4 275 306 –31 7 0 31 5 Counties Manukau 10 5 1 4 257 297 –40 4 1 27 6 Auckland 10 3 0 7 235 298 –63 4 2 18 7 Waikato 10 2 0 8 213 293 –80 5 4 17
Championship Division # Team 1 Wellington 10 9 0 1 407 207 +200 10 1 47 2 Bay of Plenty 10 5 1 4 285 251 +34 5 1 28 3 Otago 10 4 0 6 331 269 +62 5 5 26 4 Northland 10 5 0 5 264 221 +43 4 1 25 5 Manawatu 10 4 0 6 278 287 –9 5 3 24 6 Hawke's Bay 10 2 0 8 203 398 –195 2 1 11 7 Southland 10 0 0 10 154 454 –300 0 1 1
Standings progression Premiership Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 Auckland 1(6th) 5(5th) 5(7th) 6(6th) 11(6th) 12(7th) 17(5th) 17(6th) 18(6th) Canterbury 5(1st) 10(1st) 15(1st) 20(1st) 25(1st) 30(1st) 35(1st) 36(2nd) 41(2nd) Counties Manukau 4(4th) 4(6th) 5(5th) 5(7th) 10(7th) 13(6th) 17(6th) 22(5th) 27(5th) North Harbour 4(3rd) 9(2nd) 14(2nd) 18(2nd) 22(2nd) 23(3rd) 27(3rd) 32(3rd) 37(3rd) Taranaki 5(2nd) 6(4th) 11(4th) 16(3rd) 21(3rd) 26(2nd) 31(2nd) 36(1st) 42(1st) Tasman 0(7th) 0(7th) 5(6th) 10(5th) 15(4th) 20(4th) 21(4th) 30(4th) 31(4th) Waikato 2(5th) 7(3rd) 14(3rd) 14(4th) 14(5th) 14(5th) 14(7th) 15(7th) 17(7th) Championship Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 Bay of Plenty 1(5th) 6(2nd) 6(4th) 10(4th) 10(5th) 18(3rd) 18(5th) 23(3rd) 28(2nd) Hawke's Bay 4(3rd) 4(5th) 4(6th) 5(6th) 5(6th) 5(6th) 6(6th) 6(6th) 11(6th) Manawatu 1(6th) 6(3rd) 6(5th) 7(5th) 11(4th) 16(5th) 21(3rd) 22(4th) 24(5th) Northland 5(2nd) 6(4th) 11(2nd) 16(2nd) 16(2nd) 16(4th) 20(4th) 25(2nd) 25(4th) Otago 1(4th) 3(6th) 8(3rd) 13(3rd) 14(3rd) 19(2nd) 21(2nd) 21(5th) 26(3rd) Southland 0(7th) 0(7th) 0(7th) 0(7th) 0(7th) 0(7th) 1(7th) 1(7th) 1(7th) Wellington 5(1st) 10(1st) 15(1st) 22(1st) 27(1st) 32(1st) 37(1st) 42(1st) 47(1st)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 2017 Mitre 10 Cup 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 17, with North Harbour taking on Otago at QBE Stadium, in a repeat of the previous seasons Championship Division final. The opening round saw a repeat of the Premiership final with Tasman against the then current champions Canterbury.
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 15George Bridge RW 14Josh McKayOC 13Tim Bateman IC 12Rob Thompson LW 11Braydon EnnorFH 10Richie Mo'ungaSH 9 Mitchell Drummond N8 8 Luke Whitelock (c)OF 7 Billy Harmon BF 6 Tom Sanders RL 5 Dominic BirdLL 4 Hamish DalzellTP 3 Siate Tokolahi HK 2 Ben Funnell LP 1 Alex Hodgman Replacements:HK 16Nathan Vella PR 17Chris Gawler PR 18Oliver Jager LK 19Reed Prinsep FL 20Tom Christie SH 21Jack Stratton FH 22Brett Cameron WG 23Inga Finau FB 15Will JordanRW 14Tomas Aoake OC 13Levi Aumua IC 12Alex NankivellLW 11James LoweFH 10Mitchell HuntSH 9 Finlay Christie N8 8 Jordan Taufua OF 7 Vernon FredericksBF 6 Ethan BlackadderRL 5 Shannon FrizellLL 4 Alex Ainley (c) TP 3 Tyrel Lomax HK 2 Andrew Makalio LP 1 Siua Halanukonuka Replacements:HK 16Ti'i Paulo PR 17Tom Hill PR 18Ryan Coxon LK 19Pari Pari Parkinson FL 20Pete Samu SH 21Billy Guyton FH 22Tim O'Malley CE 23Trael Joass
Statistics Leading point scorers No. Player Team Points Average Details 1 Richie Mo'unga Canterbury 160 16.00 5 , 42 , 17 , 0 2 Jackson Garden-Bachop Wellington 142 12.90 3 , 47 , 11 , 0 3 Fletcher Smith Otago 116 10.54 5 , 26 , 13 , 0 4 Marty McKenzie Taranaki 100 11.11 1 , 34 , 9 , 0 5 Bryn Gatland North Harbour 96 10.67 0 , 18 , 20 , 0 6 Mike Delany Bay of Plenty 94 9.40 0 , 29 , 12 , 0 7 Mitchell Hunt Tasman 94 8.55 4 , 16 , 14 , 0 8 Jono Hickey Auckland 75 7.50 1 , 14 , 14 , 0 9 Daniel Hawkins Northland 66 7.33 0 , 15 , 12 , 0 10 Jade Te Rure Manawatu 66 6.60 3 , 9 , 11 , 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 Tevita Li North Harbour 11 1.22 2 Braydon Ennor Canterbury 10 1.11 3 Jona Nareki Otago 9 1.00 4 Tim Bateman Canterbury 9 0.81 5 Joe Webber Bay of Plenty 8 0.73 6 Alex Fidow Wellington 8 0.73 7 Lalakai Foketi Bay of Plenty 8 0.67 8 Asafo Aumua Wellington 7 0.70 9 Vince Aso Auckland 7 0.70 10 George Bridge Canterbury 7 0.58 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 14 16 10 8 37 92 38 49 27 17 26 34 38 19 18 31 27 32 235 298 23.50 29.80Bay of Plenty23 2846 1710 3120 177 2988 3119 3836 2836 32285 25128.50 25.10Canterbury39 030 2453 1078 2092 6541 2837 1743 5532 27445 24644.50 24.60Counties Manukau16 1421 3327 3018 2738 9231 3125 1629 2452 30257 29725.70 29.70Hawke's Bay24 1617 4610 5348 10414 3317 4830 337 3436 31203 39820.30 39.80Manawatu29 4135 2030 4017 2023 1039 2525 2024 2956 82278 28727.80 28.70North Harbour19 1745 2057 1027 1831 2228 4133 3027 3264 33331 22333.10 22.30Northland28 238 1044 1337 722 3125 3948 5534 718 36264 22126.40 22.10Otago17 1924 3040 3064 2127 2934 2654 5928 3643 19331 26933.10 26.90Southland16 2420 4513 4420 7817 2717 10720 2512 6119 43154 45415.40 45.40Taranaki34 2926 4230 2749 3829 748 1740 2655 4379 89390 31839.00 31.80Tasman0 3920 3531 2937 3529 2750 1726 4052 3230 52275 30627.50 30.60Waikato29 3433 2164 587 3710 2310 3417 3711 1332 36213 29321.30 29.30Wellington41 2942 2631 1075 6460 1434 1027 2461 1236 18407 20740.70 20.70 Source: Mitre 10 Cup Fixtures and Results 2017
Tries by week Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total Average Auckland 2 1 1 1 4 11 5 6 4 2 4 5 4 3 2 5 3 4 29 38 2.90 3.80Bay of Plenty2 46 21 52 21 413 53 45 35 538 343.80 3.40Canterbury5 04 47 111 213 95 44 36 74 359 335.90 3.30Counties Manukau1 23 53 42 26 135 43 14 38 435 383.50 3.80Hawke's Bay3 12 61 77 152 53 73 31 46 428 522.80 5.20Manawatu5 64 23 62 22 24 34 23 47 1334 403.40 4.00North Harbour1 26 27 12 23 14 53 33 410 539 253.90 2.50Northland4 21 16 15 11 33 43 64 12 629 252.90 2.50Otago2 14 46 39 33 45 45 63 56 343 334.30 3.30Southland1 32 61 62 112 43 172 42 93 618 661.80 6.60Taranaki6 44 54 36 54 17 36 47 612 1356 445.60 4.49Tasman0 52 44 54 54 38 34 68 44 838 433.80 4.30Waikato4 65 39 71 52 21 53 41 15 531 383.10 3.80Wellington6 55 45 111 88 25 14 29 26 259 275.90 2.70 ForAgainst
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) Elliot Dixon Southland 1 2 vs Bay of Plenty Viliami Lolohea Tasman 1 2 vs Taranaki Levi Aumua Tasman 1 0 vs Otago Augustine Pulu Counties Manukau 1 0 vs Manawatu Albert Nikoro Counties Manukau 1 0 vs Tasman Tony Lamborn Hawke's Bay 1 0 vs Manawatu Newton Tudreu Manawatu 1 0 vs Hawke's Bay Sam Henwood Counties Manukau 0 2 vs Auckland and Waikato Pouri Rakete-Stones Hawke's Bay 0 2 vs Bay of Plenty and Taranaki Marcel Renata Auckland 0 2 vs Waikato and Bay of Plenty Ryan Tongia Southland 0 2 vs Canterbury and Wellington James Tucker Waikato 0 2 vs Northland and North Harbour Geoffrey Cridge Hawke's Bay 0 1 vs Southland Jordan Trainor Auckland 0 1 vs Northland Tima Fainga'anuku Tasman 0 1 vs Manawatu Jordan Taufua Tasman 0 1 vs Manawatu Nick Werahiko Canterbury 0 1 vs Hawke's Bay James Lowe Tasman 0 1 vs Waikato Heiden Bedwell-Curtis Manawatu 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Henry Stowers Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs Taranaki Lachlan Boshier Taranaki 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Josh Ioane Otago 0 1 vs Tasman Alex Ainley Tasman 0 1 vs Otago Asafo Aumua Wellington 0 1 vs Waikato Regan Verney Wellington 0 1 vs Waikato Kara Pryor Northland 0 1 vs Otago James Lentjes Otago 0 1 vs Northland Slade McDowall Otago 0 1 vs Northland Will Jordan Tasman 0 1 vs Taranaki Hapakuki Moala-Liava'a North Harbour 0 1 vs Hawke's Bay Billy Proctor Wellington 0 1 vs Otago Trael Joass Tasman 0 1 vs North Harbour Antonio Kiri Kiri Manawatu 0 1 vs Counties Manukau Tevita Nabura Counties Manukau 0 1 vs Manawatu Tim Nanai-Williams Counties Manukau 0 1 vs Manawatu Sam Nock Northland 0 1 vs Hawke's Bay Sevu Reece Waikato 0 1 vs North Harbour Michael Alaalatoa Manawatu 0 1 vs Taranaki Declan O'Donnell Taranaki 0 1 vs Manawatu Ben Nee-Nee Auckland 0 1 vs Canterbury Inga Finau Canterbury 0 1 vs Auckland Lalakai Foketi Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs Waikato Pita Ahki Waikato 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Phil Halder Southland 0 1 vs Otago Baden Kerr Counties Manukau 0 1 vs Tasman Sam Moli Tasman 0 1 vs Counties Manukau Dan Pryor Northland 0 1 vs Wellington Hugh Blake Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs Otago Latu Vaeno Otago 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Seta Tamanivalu Taranaki 0 1 vs Tasman
Ranfurly Shield
Pre-season challenges In December 2016, Canterbury accepted Ranfurly Shield challenges from both Wanganui and Mid Canterbury after it was confirmed that several offers were received from Mitre 10 Cup and Heartland Championship unions. Wanganui travelled to Christchurch to play at AMI Stadium, while the Shield went on the road for a challenge against Mid-Canterbury at the Ashburton Showgrounds.