2011 ITM Cup
# 2011 ITM Cup

The 2011 ITM Cup season was the sixth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on July 14, when Otago hosted North Harbour. 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 second season under the lead sponsor. The winner of the Championship, Hawke's Bay was promoted to the Premiership, the seventh placed Premiership team, Southland 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. 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: ITM Cup standings 2011

Premiership Division :

| # | Team | GP | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | PTS |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Waikato | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 236 | 219 | +17 | 4 | 1 | 33 |
| 2 | Canterbury | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 293 | 230 | +63 | 7 | 2 | 33 |
| 3 | RS – Taranaki | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 216 | 194 | +22 | 2 | 1 | 31 |
| 4 | Bay of Plenty | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 275 | 212 | +63 | 5 | 2 | 31 |
| 5 | Auckland | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 255 | 261 | –6 | 2 | 4 | 26 |
| 6 | Wellington | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 251 | 260 | –9 | 2 | 3 | 25 |
| 7 | Southland | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 195 | 229 | –34 | 2 | 2 | 20 |

Championship Division :

| # | Team | GP | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | PTS |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Manawatu | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 281 | 246 | +35 | 4 | 1 | 33 |
| 2 | Hawke's Bay | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 298 | 213 | +85 | 4 | 1 | 29 |
| 3 | Otago | 10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 223 | 224 | –1 | 2 | 2 | 24 |
| 4 | Counties Manukau | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 235 | 262 | –27 | 3 | 3 | 22 |
| 5 | Northland | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 227 | 279 | –52 | 1 | 2 | 19 |
| 6 | North Harbour | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 245 | 319 | –74 | 4 | 2 | 14 |
| 7 | Tasman | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 198 | 280 | –82 | 1 | 4 | 13 |

### Standings progression

| Premiership |
| - |
| Team | W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 |
| Auckland | 1 (5th) | 6 (3rd) | 6 (7th) | 16 (3rd) | 20 (5th) | 25 (2nd) | 26 (5th) | 26 (5th) |
| Bay of Plenty | 4 (4th) | 9 (1st) | 19 (1st) | 20 (1st) | 22 (3rd) | 22 (5th) | 31 (4th) | 31 (4th) |
| Canterbury | 5 (1st) | 6 (2nd) | 12 (3rd) | 17 (2nd) | 22 (4th) | 27 (1st) | 33 (2nd) | 33 (2nd) |
| Southland | 0 (6th) | 4 (7th) | 8 (6th) | 13 (6th) | 17 (6th) | 19 (7th) | 20 (7th) | 20 (7th) |
| Taranaki | 0 (7th) | 5 (5th) | 14 (2nd) | 15 (4th) | 23 (2nd) | 23 (4th) | 31 (3rd) | 31 (3rd) |
| Waikato | 4 (3rd) | 5 (6th) | 10 (4th) | 14 (5th) | 24 (1st) | 24 (3rd) | 33 (1st) | 33 (1st) |
| Wellington | 4 (2nd) | 5 (4th) | 10 (5th) | 10 (7th) | 16 (7th) | 20 (6th) | 25 (6th) | 25 (6th) |
| Championship |
| Team | W1 | W2 | W3 | W4 | W5 | W6 | W7 | W8 |
| Counties Manukau | 1 (4th) | 10 (2nd) | 10 (4th) | 11 (5th) | 12 (5th) | 17 (4th) | 22 (3rd) | 22 (4th) |
| Hawke's Bay | 0 (6th) | 8 (4th) | 13 (1st) | 19 (2nd) | 24 (2nd) | 29 (2nd) | 29 (2nd) | 29 (2nd) |
| Manawatu | 5 (2nd) | 11 (1st) | 11 (2nd) | 20 (1st) | 24 (1st) | 29 (1st) | 33 (1st) | 33 (1st) |
| North Harbour | 1 (5th) | 6 (5th) | 6 (6th) | 6 (6th) | 7 (6th) | 12 (6th) | 14 (6th) | 14 (6th) |
| Northland | 4 (3rd) | 4 (6th) | 9 (5th) | 13 (4th) | 13 (4th) | 14 (5th) | 19 (4th) | 19 (5th) |
| Otago | 5 (1st) | 9 (3rd) | 10 (3rd) | 15 (3rd) | 15 (3rd) | 19 (3rd) | 19 (5th) | 24 (3rd) |
| Tasman | 0 (7th) | 0 (7th) | 0 (7th) | 6 (7th) | 7 (7th) | 12 (7th) | 13 (7th) | 13 (7th) |
| 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 2011 ITM Cup was played across eight weeks with every team playing three Tuesday or Wednesday night fixtures in a double-up round where they played twice that week. The competition started on Thursday, July 14, with Otago taking on North Harbour at Carisbrook. Due to the 2011 Rugby World Cup being hosted in New Zealand, the competition finished without semi-finals so that the World Cup could be held in September and October. The Otago and Manawatu fixture was cancelled in Week 6 of the competition due to weather and airport closures.

### Week 8

* Bye/s: Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Counties Manukau, Hawke's Bay, North Harbour, Northland, Southland, Taranaki, Tasman, Waikato, and Wellington

## Play-offs

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Manawatu | — | | | |
| — | N/A | — | | | |
| — | N/A | — | 1 | Manawatu | 30 |
| | | | 2 | Hawke's Bay | 35 |
| 2 | Hawke's Bay | — | 2 | Hawke's Bay | 35 |
| — | N/A | — | | | |
| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | Waikato | — | | | |
| — | N/A | — | | | |
| — | N/A | — | 1 | Waikato | 3 |
| | | | 2 | Canterbury | 12 |
| 2 | Canterbury | — | 2 | Canterbury | 12 |
| — | N/A | — | | | |

### Finals

* 4 September 2011 17:35 NZST

| Manawatu | 30–35 | Hawke's Bay |
| - | - | - |
| Try: Tietjens 13' c Bryant 38' c Fitzgerald 70' c Con: Cruden (3/3) 14', 39', 71' Pen: Cruden (3/3) 3', 46', 50' | Report | Try: Saseve 10' c Buckman 27' c Nemani 31' m Sinoti 47' c Con: Horrell (3/4) 11', 28', 48' Pen: Horrell (3/3) 34', 54', 57' |

* Central Energy Trust Arena, Palmerston North Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
* 3 September 2011 19:35 NZST

| Waikato | 3–12 | Canterbury |
| - | - | - |
| Pen: Donald (1/1) 11' | Report | Pen: Taylor (4/4) 25', 34', 39', 75' Bleyendaal (0/1) |

* Waikato Stadium, Hamilton Referee: Garratt Williamson (New Zealand)

| FB | 15 | Trent Renata |
| - | - | - |
| RW | 14 | Henry Speight |
| OC | 13 | Jackson Willison |
| IC | 12 | Sam Christie |
| LW | 11 | Tim Mikkelson |
| FH | 10 | Stephen Donald |
| SH | 9 | Tawera Kerr-Barlow |
| N8 | 8 | Alex Bradley |
| OF | 7 | Marty Holah |
| BF | 6 | Liam Messam |
| RL | 5 | Romana Graham |
| LL | 4 | Toby Lynn |
| TP | 3 | Nathan White (c) |
| HK | 2 | Marcel Cummings-Toone |
| LP | 1 | Toby Smith |
| Replacements: ||
| HK | 16 | Vance Elliott |
| PR | 17 | Ben May |
| LK | 18 | Matt Vant Leven |
| FL | 19 | Zak Hohneck |
| SH | 20 | Brendon Leonard |
| WG | 21 | Sitiveni Sivivatu |
| WG | 22 | Declan O'Donnell |
| PR | 23 | Ted Tauroa |
| FB | 15 | Sean Maitland |
| RW | 14 | Telusa Veainu |
| OC | 13 | Robbie Fruean |
| IC | 12 | Ryan Crotty |
| LW | 11 | Patrick Osborne |
| FH | 10 | Tyler Bleyendaal |
| SH | 9 | Willi Heinz |
| N8 | 8 | Nasi Manu |
| OF | 7 | Matt Todd |
| BF | 6 | George Whitelock (c) |
| RL | 5 | Ash Parker |
| LL | 4 | Luke Romano |
| TP | 3 | Nepo Laulala |
| HK | 2 | Ben Funnell |
| LP | 1 | Wyatt Crockett |
| Replacements: ||
| HK | 16 | Paul Ngauamo |
| PR | 17 | Joe Moody |
| LK | 18 | Luke Katene |
| FL | 19 | Brendon O'Connor |
| SH | 20 | Takerei Norton |
| FH | 21 | Tom Taylor |
| WG | 22 | Johnny McNicholl |
| PR | 23 | Andrew Olorenshaw |
