2007 Air New Zealand Cup
# 2007 Air New Zealand Cup

The 2007 Air New Zealand Cup was a provincial rugby union competition involving 14 teams from New Zealand. Matches started on Thursday 26 July 2007, and the Final, in which Auckland defeated Wellington, was held on Saturday 20 October.

This season was the second of the expanded competition, which succeeded the First Division of the National Provincial Championship. There were some major changes to the competition from that of the 2006 season. The original Rounds One (initial pool play) and Two (Top Six and Repechage phases) were scrapped. Instead, there was a 10-week round robin in which every team will miss out on playing 3 teams in the competition. This was followed by the quarterfinals, semifinal and the final as in 2006.

Unless otherwise noted the information is sourced from here:

## Standings

The top eight teams in pool play advanced to the quarterfinals.

| Pos | Name | Pld | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | TB | LB | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Auckland | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 371 | 145 | +226 | 8 | 0 | 48 |
| 2 | Canterbury | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 351 | 135 | +216 | 6 | 0 | 42 |
| 3 | Wellington | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 354 | 172 | +182 | 6 | 1 | 39 |
| 4 | Hawke's Bay | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 254 | 221 | +33 | 5 | 1 | 34 |
| 5 | Waikato | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 289 | 231 | +58 | 3 | 1 | 28 |
| 6 | Southland | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 231 | 203 | +28 | 1 | 1 | 26 |
| 7 | Otago | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 213 | 275 | -81 | 1 | 1 | 24 |
| 8 | Taranaki | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 218 | 234 | -16 | 3 | 4 | 23 |
| 9 | North Harbour | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 222 | 267 | -45 | 2 | 0 | 22 |
| 10 | Northland | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 206 | 214 | -8 | 1 | 4 | 19 |
| 11 | Tasman | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 184 | 262 | -59 | 0 | 4 | 12 |
| 12 | Manawatu | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 158 | 331 | -173 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| 13 | Bay of Plenty | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 154 | 297 | -143 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 14 | Counties Manukau | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 130 | 348 | -218 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

Table notes:  Secured home quarterfinal berth  Secured away quarterfinal berth

* Abbreviations: Pld = games playedW = games wonD = games drawnL = games lostF = points forA = points against+/- = points differenceTB = try bonus points (1 bonus point is awarded to any team that scores 4 tries or more regardless of win/loss/draw)LB = losing bonus points (1 bonus point is awarded to the losing side if the loss is by 7 points or under)Pts = tournament points.
* It is possible to receive 2 bonus points in a loss.
* In the event of a tie on points, the higher ranked team is decided on the basis of who won when they met in pool play. If they remain tied, then it is decided by points differential.

### Point scorers

| Points | Player | Province |
| - | - | - |
| 155 | James Gopperth | Wellington |
| 149 | Stephen Brett | Canterbury |
| 122 | Matt Berquist | Hawke's Bay |
| 120 | Stephen Donald | Waikato |
| 115 | Jack McPhee | North Harbour |
| 110 | Isa Nacewa | Auckland |
| 101 | Brent Ward | Auckland |

### Try scorers

| Tries | Player | Province |
| - | - | - |
| 8 | Brent Ward | Auckland |
| 7 | Shannon Paku | Wellington |
| 6 | Jason Shoemark | Hawke's Bay |
| 6 | Zac Guildford | Hawke's Bay |
| 6 | Shayne Austin | Taranaki |
| 6 | Lachie Munro | Auckland |
| 6 | Scott Hamilton | Canterbury |

## Fixtures and results

| | Dates |
| - | - |
| Week 1 | 26–29 July |
| Week 2 | 2–5 August |
| Week 3 | 9–12 August |
| Week 4 | 16–19 August |
| Week 5 | 23–26 August |
| Week 6 | 30 August – 2 September |
| Week 7 | 6–9 September |
| Week 8 | 13–16 September |
| Week 9 | 20–23 September |
| Week 10 | 27–30 September |

## Knockout stage

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| October 5 – Westpac Stadium, Wellington | October 5 – Westpac Stadium, Wellington | | | |
| Wellington | 45 | | | |
| Wellington | 45 | October 13 – Jade Stadium, Christchurch | October 13 – Jade Stadium, Christchurch | | |
| Southland | 3 | October 13 – Jade Stadium, Christchurch | October 13 – Jade Stadium, Christchurch | |
| Southland | 3 | Canterbury | 21 | |
| October 6 – Jade Stadium, Christchurch | October 6 – Jade Stadium, Christchurch | | Canterbury | 21 | |
| October 6 – Jade Stadium, Christchurch | October 6 – Jade Stadium, Christchurch | Wellington | 26 | |
| Canterbury | 44 | Wellington | 26 | |
| Canterbury | 44 | | | | October 20 – Eden Park, Auckland | October 20 – Eden Park, Auckland |
| Otago | 6 | | | | October 20 – Eden Park, Auckland | October 20 – Eden Park, Auckland |
| Otago | 6 | | | | Auckland | 23 |
| October 6 – Eden Park, Auckland | October 6 – Eden Park, Auckland | | | | | Auckland | 23 |
| October 6 – Eden Park, Auckland | October 6 – Eden Park, Auckland | | | | Wellington | 14 |
| Auckland | 30 | | | | Wellington | 14 |
| Auckland | 30 | October 14 – Eden Park, Auckland | October 14 – Eden Park, Auckland | | | |
| Taranaki | 10 | October 14 – Eden Park, Auckland | October 14 – Eden Park, Auckland | | | |
| Taranaki | 10 | Auckland | 38 | | | |
| October 7 – McLean Park, Napier | October 7 – McLean Park, Napier | | Auckland | 38 | | | |
| October 7 – McLean Park, Napier | October 7 – McLean Park, Napier | Hawke's Bay | 3 | |
| Hawke's Bay | 38 | Hawke's Bay | 3 | |
| Waikato | 35 | | | |
