2020 Mitre 10 Cup
# 2020 Mitre 10 Cup

The 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season was the fifteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on September 11, when North Harbour hosted Canterbury. 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 fifth season under the lead sponsor. The winner of the Championship, Hawke's Bay was promoted to the Premiership, the seventh placed Premiership team, North Harbour 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, 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: Mitre 10 Cup standings 2020

Premiership Division :

| # | Team | GP | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | PTS |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Auckland | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 299 | 198 | +101 | 6 | 2 | 36 |
| 2 | Tasman | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 288 | 202 | +86 | 5 | 0 | 33 |
| 3 | Bay of Plenty | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 268 | 258 | +10 | 5 | 2 | 31 |
| 4 | Waikato | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 257 | 230 | +27 | 4 | 1 | 29 |
| 5 | Canterbury | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 251 | 224 | +27 | 5 | 4 | 29 |
| 6 | Wellington | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 289 | 248 | +41 | 7 | 2 | 29 |
| 7 | North Harbour | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 276 | 226 | +50 | 4 | 3 | 27 |

Championship Division :

| # | Team | GP | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | PTS |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | RS – Hawke's Bay | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 264 | 209 | +55 | 6 | 2 | 36 |
| 2 | Otago | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 244 | 247 | –3 | 5 | 1 | 30 |
| 3 | Northland | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 221 | 262 | –41 | 3 | 1 | 24 |
| 4 | Taranaki | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 263 | 265 | –2 | 4 | 4 | 24 |
| 5 | Southland | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 144 | 193 | –49 | 1 | 3 | 16 |
| 6 | Counties Manukau | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 208 | 331 | –123 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| 7 | Manawatu | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 198 | 377 | –179 | 4 | 1 | 9 |

### Standings progression

| Premiership |
| - |
| Team | W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 | W9 | W10 |
| Auckland | 5 (1st) | 5 (6th) | 10 (3rd) | 14 (2nd) | 19 (2nd) | 24 (1st) | 25 (3rd) | 30 (1st) | 34 (1st) | 36 (1st) |
| Bay of Plenty | 2 (5th) | 6 (4th) | 6 (6th) | 7 (6th) | 7 (7th) | 12 (7th) | 17 (6th) | 21 (5th) | 26 (4th) | 31 (3rd) |
| Canterbury | 5 (4th) | 6 (3rd) | 7 (5th) | 12 (5th) | 17 (4th) | 18 (5th) | 18 (5th) | 19 (7th) | 24 (6th) | 29 (5th) |
| North Harbour | 0 (7th) | 0 (7th) | 1 (7th) | 6 (7th) | 11 (6th) | 12 (6th) | 16 (7th) | 20 (6th) | 25 (5th) | 27 (7th) |
| Tasman | 5 (3rd) | 10 (1st) | 15 (1st) | 15 (1st) | 20 (1st) | 20 (3rd) | 25 (2nd) | 29 (2nd) | 29 (2nd) | 33 (2nd) |
| Waikato | 5 (2nd) | 10 (2nd) | 10 (4th) | 14 (3rd) | 19 (3rd) | 23 (2nd) | 27 (1st) | 27 (3rd) | 29 (3rd) | 29 (4th) |
| Wellington | 1 (6th) | 6 (5th) | 11 (2nd) | 13 (4th) | 15 (5th) | 19 (4th) | 24 (4th) | 24 (4th) | 24 (7th) | 29 (6th) |
| Championship |
| Team | W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 | W9 | W10 |
| Counties Manukau | 0 (5th) | 0 (7th) | 0 (7th) | 5 (6th) | 5 (6th) | 5 (6th) | 5 (6th) | 10 (6th) | 10 (6th) | 14 (6th) |
| Hawke's Bay | 1 (4th) | 6 (2nd) | 10 (1st) | 15 (1st) | 15 (2nd) | 20 (1st) | 25 (1st) | 26 (2nd) | 31 (1st) | 36 (1st) |
| Manawatu | 0 (6th) | 1 (6th) | 1 (6th) | 3 (7th) | 3 (7th) | 4 (7th) | 4 (7th) | 9 (7th) | 9 (7th) | 9 (7th) |
| Northland | 5 (1st) | 5 (4th) | 9 (5th) | 14 (2nd) | 18 (1st) | 18 (3rd) | 18 (3rd) | 18 (3rd) | 19 (4th) | 24 (3rd) |
| Otago | 0 (7th) | 5 (5th) | 10 (2nd) | 10 (4th) | 15 (3rd) | 20 (2nd) | 25 (2nd) | 29 (1st) | 29 (2nd) | 30 (2nd) |
| Southland | 4 (3rd) | 5 (3rd) | 9 (3rd) | 10 (3rd) | 11 (4th) | 11 (5th) | 11 (5th) | 11 (5th) | 16 (5th) | 16 (5th) |
| Taranaki | 5 (2nd) | 9 (1st) | 9 (4th) | 9 (5th) | 10 (5th) | 14 (4th) | 15 (4th) | 17 (4th) | 22 (3rd) | 24 (4th) |
| 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 2020 Mitre 10 Cup played across ten weeks. The competition started on Friday, September 11, with North Harbour taking on Canterbury at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland.

## Play-offs

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Hawke's Bay | 59 | | | |
| 4 | Taranaki | 23 | | | |
| 4 | Taranaki | 23 | 1 | Hawke's Bay | 36 |
| | | | 3 | Northland | 24 |
| 2 | Otago | 19 | 3 | Northland | 24 |
| 3 | Northland | 32 | | | |
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Auckland | 23 | | | |
| 4 | Waikato | 18 | | | |
| 4 | Waikato | 18 | 1 | Auckland | 12 |
| | | | 2 | Tasman | 13 |
| 2 | Tasman | 19 | 2 | Tasman | 13 |
| 3 | Bay of Plenty | 10 | | | |

### Semi-finals

* 20 November 2020 19:05 NZST

| Otago | 19–32 | Northland |
| - | - | - |
| Try: Nareki 29' m Timu 40' c Tomkinson 63' c Con: Ioane (2/3) 40', 64' Pen: Ioane (0/1) | Report | Try: Macilai-Tori 8' c Olsen 54' m Nock 71' c Matich 76' c Con: Cooper (1/1) 9' Faiane (2/3) 72', 77' Pen: Cooper (2/2) 14', 46' Cards: M. Wright 26' to 36' |

* Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin Referee: Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
* 21 November 2020 14:05 NZST

| Auckland | 23–18 | Waikato |
| - | - | - |
| Try: Rayasi 25' m Teleʻa 43' c Manu 51' m Con: Plummer (1/3) 44' Pen: Sullivan (1/1) 9' Plummer (1/3) 12' | Report | Try: Taukei'aho 4' m Thomson 14' c Con: Waaka (1/2) 15' Pen: Waaka (2/4) 21', 56' |

* Eden Park, Auckland Referee: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
* 21 November 2020 16:35 NZST

| Hawke's Bay | 59–23 | Taranaki |
| - | - | - |
| Try: Cridge 21' c Funaki 30' c Rakete-Stones 33' c Dixon (3) 37' c, 44' c, 60' c Fakatava 53' c McLeod 70' c Con: Makene (1/1) 22' McClutchie (7/7) 31', 34', 38', 45', 54', 61', 71' Pen: McClutchie (1/1) 41' | Report | Try: Halls 26' m Riccitelli 67' c Brighouse 75' m Con: Potroz (1/3) 68' Pen: Potroz (2/2) 5', 15' |

* McLean Park, Napier Referee: Nick Briant (New Zealand)
* 21 November 2020 19:05 NZST

| Tasman | 19–10 | Bay of Plenty |
| - | - | - |
| Try: MacDonald 20' m Fainga'anuku 25' m Con: Hunt (0/2) Pen: Hunt (3/3) 2', 58', 73' Cards: S. Havili 34' to 44' | Report | Try: Webber 37' c Con: Trask (1/1) 38' Pen: Trask (1/1) 51' |

* Trafalgar Park, Nelson Referee: Richard Kelly (New Zealand)

### Finals

* 27 November 2020 19:05 NZST

| Hawke's Bay | 36–24 | Northland |
| - | - | - |
| Try: Lowe (2) 12' m, 44' c Fomai (2) 16' c, 51' c Visinia 31' m Dixon 59' m Con: McClutchie (2/3) 17', 45' Fakatava (0/1) Makene (1/2) 52' | Report | Try: Li 8' c Grant 20' m Robinson 28' m Tua 75' c Con: Hawkins (1/3) 9' Cooper (1/1) 76' |

* McLean Park, Napier Attendance: 7,500 Referee: James Doleman (New Zealand)
* 28 November 2020 18:35 NZST

| Auckland | 12–13 | Tasman |
| - | - | - |
| Pen: Plummer (3/3) 4', 30', 44' Sullivan (1/1) 37' | Report | Try: MacDonald 40' c Con: D. Havili (1/1) 40' Pen: D. Havili (2/4) 18', 70' |

* Eden Park, Auckland Attendance: 13,131 Referee: Nick Briant (New Zealand)

| FB | 15 | Zarn Sullivan | | 49' to 59' |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| RW | 14 | AJ Lam | 66' |
| OC | 13 | Tumua Manu |
| IC | 12 | Tanielu Teleʻa | 57' |
| LW | 11 | Salesi Rayasi |
| FH | 10 | Harry Plummer |
| SH | 9 | Jonathan Ruru | 78' |
| N8 | 8 | Sione Tuipulotu |
| OF | 7 | Niko Jones |
| BF | 6 | Adrian Choat | 57' |
| RL | 5 | Jack Whetton | 57' |
| LL | 4 | Scott Scrafton |
| TP | 3 | Angus Ta'avao (c) | 78' | 40' to 50' |
| HK | 2 | Leni Apisai | 57' |
| LP | 1 | James Lay | 52' |
| Replacements: ||
| HK | 16 | Mike Sosene-Feagai | 57' |
| PR | 17 | Jarred Adams | 52' |
| PR | 18 | Marcel Renata | 78' |
| LK | 19 | Hamish Dalzell | 57' |
| FL | 20 | Presley Tufuga | 57' |
| SH | 21 | Taufa Funaki | 78' |
| FH | 22 | Simon Hickey | 57' |
| FB | 23 | Jordan Trainor | 66' |
| FB | 15 | David Havili (c) |
| RW | 14 | Mark Telea | 66' |
| OC | 13 | Fetuli Paea |
| IC | 12 | Tim O'Malley |
| LW | 11 | Leicester Fainga'anuku |
| FH | 10 | Mitchell Hunt | 15' |
| SH | 9 | Finlay Christie |
| N8 | 8 | Taina Fox-Matamua | 66' |
| OF | 7 | Sione Havili |
| BF | 6 | Hugh Renton |
| RL | 5 | Quinten Strange |
| LL | 4 | Te Ahiwaru Cirikidaveta |
| TP | 3 | Sam Matenga | 41' |
| HK | 2 | Quentin MacDonald | 78' |
| LP | 1 | Isi Tu'ungafasi | 66' |
| Replacements: ||
| HK | 16 | Sam Moli | 78' |
| PR | 17 | Ryan Coxon | 66' |
| PR | 18 | Isaac Salmon | 41' |
| LK | 19 | Isaac Ross |
| FL | 20 | Anton Segner | 66' |
| SH | 21 | Dwayne Polataivao |
| CE | 22 | Kieron Fonotia | 15' |
| WG | 23 | Tima Fainga'anuku | 66' |
