2023 Heartland Championship

Last updated

2023 Heartland Championship
Date12 August 2023 (2023-08-12)–14 October 2023 (2023-10-14)
Countries Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand
Final positions
Champions South Canterbury (Meads Cup)
West Coast (Lochore Cup)
Runner-up Whanganui (Meads Cup)
Poverty Bay (Lochore Cup)
Tournament statistics
Matches played54
← 2022
2024 →

The 2023 Heartland Championship, was the 17th edition of the Heartland Championship, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur provincial unions in New Zealand.

Contents

The tournament began with a round-robin stage in which the twelve teams played eight games each, from which the top four advanced to the Meads Cup semifinals, while fifth to eighth advanced to the Lochore Cup semifinals. In both of these knockout stages the top seeds (first and fifth) played at home against the lowest seeds (fourth and eighth), the second highest seeds (second and sixth) played at home against the third highest seeds (third and seventh) and the final featured the higher seed playing at home against the lower seed.

Teams

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Locations of teams in the 2016 Heartland Championship

The 2023 Heartland Championship was contested by the following teams:

TeamSuper Rugby partnerHome ground(s)
Buller Crusaders Westport
East Coast Hurricanes Ruatoria
Horowhenua-Kapiti Hurricanes Levin
King Country Chiefs Taupō, Taumarunui, Te Kuiti
Mid Canterbury Crusaders Ashburton
North Otago Highlanders Oamaru
Poverty Bay Hurricanes Gisborne
South Canterbury Crusaders Timaru
Thames Valley Chiefs Paeroa
Wairarapa Bush Hurricanes Masterton
Wanganui Hurricanes Wanganui
West Coast Crusaders Greymouth

Regular season standings

In the regular season, South Canterbury topped the standings with 40 points after winning all eight games. [1]

Pos.TeamPldWDLPFPAPDTBLBPts
1 South Canterbury 8800341180+1618040
2 Whanganui 8602264156+1086232
3 Thames Valley 8602246220+265231
4 Ngati Porou East Coast 8503222183+395227
5 North Otago 8404259228+315122
6 Wairarapa Bush 8404190246−564222
7 West Coast 840421821265021
8 Poverty Bay 8206229249−204416
9 Mid Canterbury 8206221245−245316
10 King Country 8305175248−733116
11 Buller 8206165242−775215
12 Horowhenua-Kapiti 8206176297−1212111
Meads Cup qualification
Lochore Cup qualification

During the regular season two games were decided by golden point. The final results in these games (after extra time) were East Coast 24, Buller 21 in Round 4 and West Coast 32, Mid Canterbury 29 in Round 6.

Siu Kakala the Number 8 forward from South Canterbury became the 4th Heartland Championship player to score a try in all 8 regular season games. He also scored a try in the semi-finals. He was named the 2023 Heartland Championship Player of the Year. [2]

Finals

In the Meads Cup the top placegetter plays at their home ground against the fourth team while the second placed team plays at home against the third. In the Lochore Cup the fifth placegetter plays at their home ground against the eighth team while the sixth placed team plays at home against the seventh. The winning semi-finalists then meet in the respective finals for each Cup, played at the home-ground of the team ranked highest in the regular season.

Meads Cup

In the 2023 season South Canterbury once again went unbeaten through the regular season, albeit that they scored 341 points, significantly lower than the previous season's record of 491.

South Canterbury went on to win their semi-final 34–17 over Ngati Porou East Coast. [3] [4] As in the 2022 season they met Whanganui in the final and won by 40–30. [5] [6]

It was the 3rd Meads Cup in a row for South Canterbury, equaling the feat of Whanganui who won in the 2015, 2016 and 2017 seasons. South Canterbury set a record with 31 consecutive wins.

Lochore Cup

As in the 2022 season, North Otago finished the regular season 5th and therefore top qualifier for the Lochore Cup. However they lost their home semi-final to 8th placed Poverty Bay by 35–40. In the other semi-final Wairarapa Bush the 6th placegetter in the regular season were also upset, losing to 7th placed West Coast by 27–33 at Masterton.

West Coast then beat Poverty Bay by 23–20 in the final. It was the first Lochore Cup title for West Coast who had previously suffered three Lochore Cup final defeats. [7]

Bill Osborne Taonga

Ngati Porou East Coast had four successful defences of the Bill Osborne Taonga:

Ian Kirkpatrick Medal

Since 2022, the Heartland Championship Player of the Year award has been awarded a medal named after former All Blacks captain Ian Kirkpatrick. The 2023 winner was Siu Kakala (South Canterbury). Other finalists were Stuart Leach (Poverty Bay) and Alekesio Vakarorogo (Whanganui). [8]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Heartland Fixtures 2023 - Rugby Heartland". rugbyheartland.co.nz. 17 March 2023. Archived from the original on 25 September 2024. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  2. ↑ Geertson, Kerry. "Siu I F Kakala". www.rugbyhistory.co.nz. Levin. Archived from the original on 4 March 2021.
  3. ↑ Julian, Adam (7 October 2023). "Finalists found in the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship". All Blacks . action press. Archived from the original on 11 October 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  4. ↑ Chapman, Grant (7 October 2023). "Rugby: Spinechilling haka sets scene for intense Heartland Championship semi-final". Newshub . Warner Bros. Discovery New Zealand (which owns Newshub). Archived from the original on 11 April 2024. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  5. ↑ "South Canterbury rugby fans storm field during Heartland Meads Cup final, allegedly punch Whanganui players". NZ Herald . 14 October 2023. Archived from the original on 10 November 2024. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  6. ↑ Chapman, Grant (14 October 2023). "Rugby: South Canterbury extend unbeaten run for Heartland threepeat over Whanganui". Newshub . Warner Bros. Discovery New Zealand (which owns Newshub). Archived from the original on 11 April 2024. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  7. ↑ Julian, Adam (15 October 2023). "West Coast wins first national title". All Blacks . action press. Archived from the original on 3 March 2024. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  8. ↑ "Ardie Savea wins top prize at ASB Rugby Awards". allblacks.com (Press release). 14 December 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
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