2019 Heartland Championship

The 2019 Heartland Championship, known as the 2019 Mitre 10 Heartland Championship for sponsorship reasons, was the 14th edition of the Heartland Championship, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur rugby unions in New Zealand. The tournament began with a round-robin stage in which the twelve teams played eight games each, from which the top four advanced to the Meads Cup semifinals, while fifth to eighth advanced to the Lochore Cup semifinals. In both of these knockout stages the top seeds (first and fifth) played at home against the lowest seeds (fourth and eighth), the second highest seeds (second and sixth) played at home against the third highest seeds (third and seventh) and the final featured the higher seed playing at home against the lower seed.

Teams

The 2019 Heartland Championship was contested by the following teams.

Team Super Rugby partner Hometown(s) Home stadium Capacity"2013 Pink Batts Heartland Championship Media Guide". AllBlacks.com. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2019. Buller Crusaders Westport Victoria Square 5,000 East Coast Hurricanes Ruatoria Whakarua Park 3,000 Horowhenua-Kapiti Hurricanes Levin Levin Domain 6,500 Waikanae Waikanae Park King Country Chiefs Taupō Owen Delany Park 20,000 Te Kūiti Rugby Park Mid Canterbury Crusaders Ashburton Ashburton Showgrounds 5,000 North Otago Highlanders Oamaru Whitestone Contracting Stadium 7,000 Poverty Bay Hurricanes Gisborne More FM Rugby Park 18,000 South Canterbury Crusaders Timaru Fraser Park 12,000 Thames Valley Chiefs Paeroa Paeroa Domain 3,000 Wairarapa Bush Hurricanes Masterton Trust House Memorial Park 10,000 Wanganui Hurricanes Wanganui Cooks Gardens 15,000 West Coast Crusaders Greymouth Rugby Park 6,000

Standings Team 1 Thames Valley 8 6 0 2 240 163 +77 4 2 30 2 North Otago 8 6 0 2 241 166 +75 3 2 29 3 Wairarapa Bush 8 6 0 2 209 181 +28 4 1 29 4 Wanganui 8 5 0 3 294 184 +110 6 2 28 5 West Coast 8 6 0 2 217 232 -15 3 0 27 6 Buller 8 5 0 3 261 196 +65 5 1 26 7 South Canterbury 8 4 1 3 237 176 +61 4 3 25 8 Poverty Bay 8 3 0 5 237 257 −20 6 2 20 9 Horowhenua-Kapiti 8 3 0 5 184 250 −66 3 2 17 10 King Country 7 2 0 5 172 230 −58 3 2 13 11 Mid Canterbury 8 1 1 6 161 236 −75 2 2 10 12 East Coast 9 0 0 9 172 354 −182 1 3 4

Meads Cup qualification Lochore Cup qualification

In the case of two teams being tied on points, the ranking of teams is decided by: (1) the winner of the round robin match between the two provinces; then (2) highest point difference; then (3) most tries scored; then (4) a coin toss. In the case of three or more teams being tied on points, the ranking of teams is decided by: (1) the province with the most wins against other tied provinces in the Round Robin; then (2) if two teams remain tied they shall be ranked according to the criteria listed above, but if more than two teams remain tied, they shall be ranked according to criteria (2) to (4) only.

Regular season The schedule of fixtures was confirmed on 25 February 2019.

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Finals

Semi-finals

Finals

Ranfurly Shield challenges

Pre-season challenges For the 2019 preseason, Ranfurly Shield holders Otago saw challenges from the reigning 2018 Heartland Championship champions Thames Valley as well as neighbours North Otago.

2019 Heartland Championship

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