2023 Farah Palmer Cup

2023 Farah Palmer Cup season
Countries	New Zealand
Date	15 July – 9 September 2023
Champions	Auckland
Runners-up	Canterbury
Promoted	Northland
Relegated	Wellington
Matches played	41
Top point scorer	Selica Winiata (84 points) (Manawatū)
Top try scorer	Angelica Vahai (12 tries) (Auckland)
Official website
www.provincial.rugby/farah-palmer-cup/
←  2022 2025  →

The 2023 Farah Palmer Cup season is the 17th season of the competition. The regular season ran from 15 July to 27 August, with the playoffs running from 2 to 9 September.

Auckland upset Canterbury to win the Premiership final, it was their first victory over Canterbury since 2017 and their first national title since 2015. ^{[1] [2]} Northland beat Manawatū to win their first title in the Championship final and were promoted to the Premiership for the 2024 season. ^{[3] [4]}

Format

The Farah Palmer Cup standings are sorted by a competition points system. Four points are awarded to the winning team, a draw earns two points, whilst a loss amounts to zero points. Unions can also win their side a respectable bonus point. To receive a bonus point, they must score four tries or more, or lose by seven points or less. ^[5] Each team is placed on their total points received. If a tiebreaker is necessary, when two or more teams finish on equal points, the union who acquired more competition points against the other tied team(s) gets placed higher. In the case that separation is still not made, the winner of the head-to-head result between the teams will get rights to be ranked above. ^[6] This seeding format was only implemented for the 2020 competition.

The regular season consists of two types of matches. Each union play home or away games against each team from their division, making a total of six competition games during the regular season for each union in the Premiership pool, and five regular season games for those in the Championship pool. ^[7]

Standings

Premiership

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts
1	Canterbury	6	5	0	1	268	123	+145	6	1	27
2	Waikato	6	5	0	1	150	93	+57	3	0	23
3	Auckland	6	4	0	2	195	118	+77	3	2	21
4	Hawke's Bay	6	3	0	3	150	242	−92	4	1	17
5	Counties Manukau	6	3	0	3	199	134	+65	3	0	15
6	Bay of Plenty	6	1	0	5	101	246	−145	2	1	7
7	Wellington	6	0	0	6	122	229	−107	2	2	4

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Championship

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts
1	Manawatū	5	5	0	0	252	78	+174	5	0	25
2	Northland	5	4	0	1	192	67	+125	5	1	22
3	Otago	5	3	0	2	159	113	+46	4	1	17
4	Tasman	5	2	0	3	135	142	−7	3	1	12
5	Taranaki	5	1	0	4	41	272	−231	1	0	5
6	North Harbour	5	0	0	5	68	175	−107	0	1	1

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Regular season

Week 1

	15 July 2022	Hawke's Bay	32–31	Auckland	Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park, Hasting
	12:05pm	Try: Khalia Awa  21' Denise Aiolupotea  25' Teilah Ferguson  42' Leah Tuhi  54' Con: Krysten Cottrell (3/4)  22', 43', 55' Pen: Krysten Cottrell (2/2)  40', 70'		Try: M.Puckett  28' Princess Elliot  31' A. Vahai  34' M. Kataoka  68' Cheyenne Tuli  73' Con: F. Bloomfield (1/3)  29' Sophie Fisher (2/2) 68', 73' Pen: Sophie Fisher(0/1) Cards: Cristo Tofa 16' to 26'

	15 July 2022	Canterbury	58–29	Wellington	Rugby Park, Christchurch
	12:05pm	Try: K. Wright-Akeli  12', 43' Winnie Palamo  15' Martha Mataele  29' Marcelle Parkes  37', 40' Hayley Hutana  48' Atlanta Lolohea  52', 57' K. Simpson  80' Con: Isabella Waterman (0/3) Hayley Hutana(4/7) 38', 40', 53', 58'		Try: J. McGregor  9', 22' S. Filipo  18' A. Schwencke  61' Con: A. Landon-Lane(2/3) 10', 23' T. Ruaporo (0/2) Cards: A. Schwencke 36' to 46'

	15 July 2022	Bay of Plenty	0–50	Waikato	Rotorua International Stadium, Rotorua
	2:05pm	Try: M. Paraone  31', 61' C. Wilson-Jenkins  40', 74' C. Hohepa  51' G. Houpapa-Barrett  70' L. Ieremia  77' Con: S. Wood(1/2) 40' S. Bayler (2/4)  62', 72' Pen: S. Wood(3/3) 15', 15', 23'

Bye: Counties Manukau, Championship Teams

Week 2

	22 July 2023	Waikato	27–24	Canterbury	St. Paul's Collegiate, Hamilton
	2:05pm	Try: C. Wilson-Jenkins  17' V. Makea  40', 80' M. Anderson  43' Con: S. Bayler (1/3)  44' S. Wood(1/1) 82' Pen: S. Wood(1/1) 85'		Try: K. Wright-Akeli  11', 62' L. Bayfield  26' Martha Mataele  57' Con: Isabella Waterman (2/4)  12', 58'

	22 July 2023	Counties Manukau	51–5	Bay of Plenty	Navigation Homes Stadium, Pukekohe
	2:05pm	Try: J. Kolose  10', 50', 72' S. To'a  17', 28' C. Leuta  23', 40' K. Enosa-Taifau  46' L. Samuelu  80' Con: S. To'a (3/6)  17', 24', 51' V. Subritzky-Nafatali(0/2)		Try: S. Williams  75' Con: K. Raki (0/1)

	22 July 2023	Tasman	28–34	Otago	St. Paul's Collegiate, Hamilton
	7:05pm	Try: A. Ulutupu  15' C. Dixon  39' F. Solomona  55' S. Pauaraisa  61' Con: C. Siataga (1/4)  62' Pen: C. Siataga (2/2)  32', 76'		Try: K. Wright-Akeli  11', 62' L. Bayfield  26' Martha Mataele  57' Con: Isabella Waterman (2/4)  12', 58'

Bye: Hawke's Bay, Championship Teams

Week 3

	29 July 2023	Canterbury	42–12	Bay of Plenty	Christchurch Rugby Park

	29 July 2023	Tasman	26–21	North Harbour	Trafalgar Park

	29 July 2023	Hawke's Bay	10–14	Waikato	Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park

	29 July 2023	Otago	41–0	Taranaki	Whitestone Contracting Stadium

	29 July 2023	Manawatū	34–28	Northland	Central Energy Trust Arena

	30 July 2023	Wellington	20–53	Counties Manukau	Hutt Recreation Ground

Bye: Auckland

Week 4

	4 August 2023	Taranaki	10–61	Tasman	Yarrow Stadium

	5 August 2023	Auckland	61–19	Bay of Plenty	Colin Maiden Park

	5 August 2023	Waikato	13–5	Counties Manukau	St Paul's Collegiate

	5 August 2023	Northland	42–20	Otago	Northland Events Centre

	6 August 2023	North Harbour	9–57	Manawatū	Windsor Park

	6 August 2023	Wellington	22–33	Hawke's Bay	Hutt Recreation Ground

Bye: Canterbury

Week 5

	11 August 2023	Counties Manukau	10–37	Auckland	Navigation Homes Stadium

	12 August 2023	Bay of Plenty	37–7	Wellington	Tauranga Domain

	12 August 2023	Northland	67–0	Taranaki	Kaikohe RFC

	12 August 2023	Hawke's Bay	14–84	Canterbury	Hawke's Bay Regional Sports Park

	12 August 2023	Otago	37–12	North Harbour	Forsyth Barr Stadium

	13 August 2023	Manawatū	46–14	Tasman	Central Energy Trust Arena

Bye: Waikato

Week 6

	19 August 2023	North Harbour	19–31	Taranaki	Onewa Domain

	19 August 2023	Canterbury	33–17	Counties Manukau	Apollo Projects Stadium

	19 August 2023	Otago	27–31	Manawatū	University of Otago Oval

	19 August 2023	Tasman	6–31	Northland	Lansdowne Park

	20 August 2023	Bay of Plenty	28–35	Hawke's Bay	Whakatane Rugby Park

	20 August 2023	Auckland	25–15	Waikato	Colin Maiden Park

Bye: Wellington

Week 7

	26 August 2023	Auckland	24–27	Canterbury	Eden Park

	26 August 2023	Counties Manukau	63–26	Hawke's Bay	Navigation Homes Stadium

	26 August 2023	Otago	39–13	North Harbour	Forsyth Barr Stadium

	27 August 2023	Waikato	31–29	Wellington	FMG Stadium Waikato

	27 August 2023	Tasman	45–20	Taranaki	Trafalgar Park

Bye: Bay of Plenty

Play-offs

Premiership

	Semi-finals					Final
	Waikato		22
	Auckland		29
						Canterbury		27
						Auckland		39
	Canterbury		59
	Hawke's Bay		29

Championship

	Semi-finals					Final
	Manawatū		73
	Tasman		10
						Manawatū		29
						Northland		32
	Northland		29
	Otago		19

Semi-finals

Premiership Semi-finals

	2 September	Waikato	22–29	Auckland	FMG Stadium Waikato

	3 September	Canterbury	59–29	Hawke's Bay	Christchurch Rugby Park

Championship Semi-finals

	2 September	Manawatu	73–10	Tasman	Central Energy Trust Arena

	2 September	Northland	29–19	Otago	Northland Events Centre

Finals

Premiership Final

	9 September	Canterbury	27–39	Auckland	Christchurch Rugby Park

Championship Final

	10 September	Manawatu	29–32	Northland	Central Energy Trust Arena

JJ Stewart Trophy

The JJ Stewart Trophy is a trophy based on a challenge system, rather than a league or knockout competition as with most football trophies. The holding union must defend the trophy in challenge matches, and if a challenger defeats them, they become the new holder of the trophy.

Canterbury started the season as holders of the trophy and as such, were obligated to place the trophy up for challenge in all of their regular season home games.

References

1. Julian, Adam (14 September 2023). "Maama Vaipulu soaring high for Auckland". Provincial Rugby. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
2. van Royen, Robert (10 September 2023). "Auckland upset Canterbury in Farah Palmer Cup final to snap long title drought". Stuff. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
3. Julian, Adam (13 September 2023). "Farah Palmer Cup 2023 Wrap Up - Highlights". www.rugbypass.com. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
4. Julian, Adam (10 September 2023). "Northland headed for Premiership in 2024". Provincial Rugby. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
5. "Adjustment to Mitre 10 Heartland Championship bonus points system". Rugby Heartland. 2 September 2016.
6. "SEMI-FINALISTS DECIDED IN THE FARAH PALMER CUP" (pdf). New Zealand Rugby. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
7. "2020 FARAH PALMER CUP DRAW RELEASED". All Blacks. Retrieved 7 August 2020.

External links

• Official website