ITM Cup finals review

(also published on Pink Rugby)

Well… that’s that!  The ITM Cup has officially come to a close for another year!  In 2013 ALL ITM Cup & Heartland Championship trophies went to Crusader feeder teams – Canterbury won the premiership title, Tasman the championship title, while Mid Canterbury and South Canterbury took out the two trophies in the Heartland Championship.  Of the ITM Cup finals one game came down to one solitary point, while the other had a 16 point deficit.  Both games were exciting and I think anyone watching would agree that the four teams who deserved to be in the final were in the final.
Want to know what happened?  Well here goes…


Championship final
Tasman 26 v Hawke’s Bay 25
Tries  Tasman 3 – Hawke’s Bay 3

Tasman celebrate after winning the championship division

What a game.  After taking an early lead it looked as if Hawke’s Bay were on their way to a somewhat surprise win.  For the first twenty minutes of the match it was one way traffic with Hawke’s Bay dominating in all facets of the game.  But then something happened and suddenly Tasman were back and we had a real game on our hands.  Tasman scored two tries in quick succession just before half time and had a healthy 23-10 lead when the teams went back into the sheds.  In the second half Hawke’s Bay fought back and at 78 minutes the score was 26-20.  Chris Eaton scored 30 seconds later and suddenly the scores were 26-25 with the conversion attempt to come, the success of which determining who would take home the championship trophy.  Ihaia West missed that conversion and the Tasman team began their celebration.  Not only did they win the championship division but they also earnt promotion to the premiership division for next season.  Both Marty Banks and Ihaia West had a bit of a hit and miss night with the boot, but in the end it was Marty Banks who won the battle of the #10 jersey.
Player that impressed:  Shane Christie.  The Tasman captain won important turnovers when it was needed.
Surprise win?  Not really.
My prediction?  Wrong (Hawke’s Bay 1-12).

Premiership final
Wellington 13 v Canterbury 29
Tries  Wellington 1 – Canterbury 4

Canterbury celebrate after winning the premiership division
for the sixth season in a row!

After all the hype surrounding this game and the many predictions that the 2013 Lions would be the team to FINALLY steal the ITM Cup trophy from Canterbury’s clutches, the game was a bit anti-climactic.  It WAS a good game… more so from Canterbury’s side of things than Wellington’s, BUT it was clear that the two teams meant to be in the final were in the final.  As with past years, Canterbury stepped their performance up by about 50 notches when it came to the final.  I don’t know what it is about that team but when when it matters they make it count.  The Canterbury team were dominant on both attack and defense and held Wellington to just one try.  Whenever Wellington made an error Canterbury made sure they took advantage of it and scored tries.  It was a little sad really that Wellington weren’t able to provide more of a challenge for the Canterbury team.  They were the in form team of the competition and only lost one game during the round robin, but they were no match for a hungry Canterbury team.
Player that impressed:  Andy Ellis.  I think most Kiwis were left scratching their heads after Saturday night’s match, wondering how on earth Andy Ellis is not wearing the black jersey.
Surprise win?  Depends which team you were backing…
My prediction?  Correct (Canterbury 13+)!
With no predictions to make I guess all that leaves me with are a few statistics to share!

ITM Cup Hundy Club
(players who scored 100+ points in the 2013 season)
170pts – Hayden Parker (Otago) & Marty Banks (Tasman)
169pts – Ihaia West (Hawke’s Bay)
149pts – Lima Sopoaga (Wellington)
127pts – Simon Hickey (Auckland)
120pts – Trent Renata (Waikato)
119pts – Willie Ripia (Bay of Plenty)
117pts – Tyler Bleyendaal (Canterbury)

ITM Cup Top Try Scorers
8 – Milford Keresoma (Canterbury)
7 – Telusa Veainu (Hawke’s Bay), Liam Squire (Tasman)
6 – Lolagi Visinia (Auckland), James Lowe (Tasman), Zac Guildford (Hawke’s Bay)

Team Standings After Round Robin
Premiership
Wellington – 42
Canterbury – 40
Auckland – 36
Counties Manukau – 28
Waikato – 21
Taranaki – 14
Bay of Plenty – 8

Championship
Tasman  – 36
Otago – 30
Hawke’s Bay – 29
Southland – 20
Manawatu – 18
Northland – 13
North Harbour – 10

Path to the Final
Premiership
Wellington v Counties Manukau (41-10)
Canterbury v Auckland (56-26)
Wellington v Canterbury (13-29)

Championship
Tasman v Southland (49-28)
Otago v Hawke’s Bay (24-29)
Tasman v Hawke’s Bay (26-25)

ITM Cup hotty of the week

Ryan Crotty!

age:  25

position:  midfield

teams:  Canterbury, Crusaders, All Blacks

ITM Cup hotty of the week

Brad Shields!

age:  22

position:  loose forward

teams:  Wellington & Hurricanes

ITM Cup hotty of the week

Joe Wheeler!

age:  25

position:  lock

teams:  Tasman, Highlanders & Maori All Blacks

ITM Cup hotty of the week

Ronald Raaymakers!

age:  23

position:  lock and flanker

teams:  Counties Manukau & Blues

ITM Cup hotty of the week

Cory Jane!

age:  30

position:  outside back

teams:  Wellington, Hurricanes & All Blacks

ITM Cup hotty of the week

Tony Lamborn!

age:  22

position:  flanker

teams:  Hawke's Bay

ITM Cup hotty of the week

Jarrad Hoeata!

age:  29

position:  lock, flanker, #8

teams:  Taranaki, Highlanders, Maori All Blacks

ITM Cup hotty of the week

Zac Guildford!

age:  24

position:  wing

teams:  Hawke's Bay, Crusaders, Maori All Blacks

ITM Cup hotty of the week

Ihaia West!

age:  21

position:  1st 5

teams:  Hawke's Bay & Maori All Blacks

ITM Cup hotty of the week

Frazier Climo!

age:  26

position:  wing

team:  Taranaki

The ITM Cup explained

(also published on Pink Rugby)

While rugby fans in Australia are having to make do with the Rugby Championship or watching previously recorded games, New Zealand rugby fans are lucky enough to have two months of provincial rugby to watch, in the form of the ITM Cup.  Formerly called the NPC (National Provincial Championship), the ITM Cup is – as the original name suggests – New Zealand’s provincial rugby championship.  Some believe it is playing in the ITM Cup that gives New Zealand rugby players that extra bit of experience that seems to make them dominate on the rugby field.
So, you may find yourself asking, how does the ITM Cup work?  It only takes a one year course at your closest university to understand all the ins and outs of the ITM Cup, but to make it a little easier for all of you, I shall sum it up and save you all the effort.
Here goes…

• The ITM Cup consists of TWO professional divisions, each consisting of seven teams.  The Premiership is the top division, with the Championship being the second division
• For those who don’t make the All Blacks, the ITM Cup is what Super Rugby players do after the SuperXV is over for the season.  It also provides those players a chance to impress the All Blacks coaches, ahead of the traditional All Blacks end of year tour to Europe
• All teams play all other teams in their division, and to make things a little more confusing each team also plays four of the teams from the other division, for a total of NINE games each.

Canterbury celebrating after their 2012 win

The teams in the Premiership division for 2013 are:

• Canterbury
• Auckland
• Wellington
• Taranaki
• Waikato
• Bay of Plenty
• Counties-Manukau

The teams in the Championship division for 2013 are:

• Hawke’s Bay
• Otago
• Tasman
• Southland
• Northland
• Manawatu
• North Harbour

At the end of the regular season are the semi-finals and final.
In the semi-finals:

• the top four teams from the Premiership play against each other (1^st v 4^th, 2^nd v 3^rd)
• the top four teams from the Championship play against each other (again 1^st v 4^th, 2^nd v 3^rd)

In the finals:

• the winners of each of the Premiership semi-finals play each other
• the winners of each of the Championship semi-finals play each other

After the finals:

• the team who finishes LAST in the Premiership division is automatically relegated to the Championship division for the next years ITM Cup
• the team who WINS the Championship final is automatically promoted to the Premiership division for the next years ITM Cup

Increasingly, Australian players are being permitted to cross the Tasman and play in the ITM Cup.  Most have familial connections to New Zealand.
Some Australian Super Rugby franchise players & ex players taking part in the 2013 ITM Cup are:

• Ged Robinson (Rebels – Hawke’s Bay, staying in NZ for 2014)
• Paul Alo-Emile (Rebels – Waikato)
• Nic Stirzaker (Rebels – Manawatu)
• Alby Mathewson (Force – Hawke’s Bay)
• Mark Swanepoel (Brumbies – Tasman)
• Mick Snowden (Force – Waikato)
• Kimami Sitauti (Rebels – Bay of Plenty)
• Robbie Abel (Brumbies – Northland)
• Ben Seymour (formerly of the Force -  Northland)
• Tom Murday (Reds – Northland)
• Beau Robinson (Reds – Bay of Plenty)

There is also a third (amateur) division competition which is played at the same time as the ITM Cup, called the Heartland Championship.  The Heartland Championship is made up of smaller regional teams, who act as feeder teams for the larger (professional) provincial teams.

• The Heartland Championship teams play 8 games, so the teams don’t play every team

The teams in the Heartland Championship in 2013 are:

• Buller
• East Coast
• Horowhenua-Kapiti
• King Country
• Mid Canterbury
• North Otago
• Poverty Bay
• South Canterbury
• Thames Valley
• Wairarapa Bush
• Wanganui
• West Coast

The Heartland Championship teams play for two different cups

• the Meads Cup (named after ex-All Black, Colin Meads)
• the Lochore Cup (named after ex-All Black, Brian Lochore)

After week 8 the teams who are 1^st – 4^th  on the ladder, play off for the Meads Cup, and the teams who are 5^th – 8^th play off for the Lochore Cup.  As with the ITM Cup semi-finals, in the Heartland Championship semi-finals for each cup 1^st plays 4^th, 2^nd plays 3^rd and the winner of each game plays against the other winning team, in the final.
Unlike the ITM Cup structure, there is no promotion/relegation in the Heartland Championship.
So there you have it.  The ITM Cup & Heartland Championship, in a nutshell!  Perhaps next time I can try and explain the Ranfurly Shield…