2019 Heartland Championship

The 2019 Heartland Championship, known as the 2019 Mitre 10 Heartland Championship for sponsorship reasons,[1] is the 14th edition of the Heartland Championship, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur rugby unions in New Zealand. The tournament includes a round-robin stage in which the twelve teams played eight games each and then the top four advance to the Meads Cup semifinals, while fifth to eighth advance to the Lochore Cup semifinals. In both of these knockout stages the top seeds (first and fifth) play at home against the lowest seeds (fourth and eighth), the second highest seeds (second and sixth) play at home against the third highest seeds (third and seventh) and the final will feature the higher seed play at home against the lower seed.

2019 Heartland Championship

Date	24 August 2019 (2019-08-24)–27 October 2019 (2019-10-27)[1]
Countries	New Zealand
Tournament statistics
Matches played	54
Website	heartlandchampionship.co.nz
← 2018 2020 →

Teams

Buller

East Coast

Horowhenua-Kapiti

King Country

Mid Canterbury

North Otago

Poverty Bay

South Canterbury

Thames Valley

Wairarapa Bush

Wanganui

West Coast

Locations of the 2019 Heartland Championship teams

The 2019 Heartland Championship is being contested by the following teams.[2]

	Team	Super Rugby partner	Hometown(s)	Home stadium	Capacity[3]
	Buller	Crusaders	Westport	Victoria Square	5,000
	East Coast	Hurricanes	Ruatoria	Whakarua Park	3,000
	Horowhenua-Kapiti	Hurricanes	Levin	Levin Domain	6,500
			Waikanae	Waikanae Park
	King Country	Chiefs	Taupo	Owen Delany Park	20,000
			Te Kuiti	Rugby Park
	Mid Canterbury	Crusaders	Ashburton	Ashburton Showgrounds	5,000
	North Otago	Highlanders	Oamaru	Whitestone Contracting Stadium	7,000
	Poverty Bay	Hurricanes	Gisborne	More FM Rugby Park	18,000
	South Canterbury	Crusaders	Timaru	Alpine Energy Stadium	12,000
	Thames Valley	Chiefs	Paeroa	Paeroa Domain	3,000
	Wairarapa Bush	Hurricanes	Masterton	Trust House Memorial Park	10,000
	Wanganui	Hurricanes	Wanganui	Cooks Gardens	15,000
	West Coast	Crusaders	Greymouth	Rugby Park	6,000

Standings

Pos.	Team	GP	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TB	LB	Pts
1	West Coast	3	3	0	0	126	89	+37	1	0	13
2	North Otago	3	3	0	0	85	61	+24	0	0	12
3	South Canterbury	3	2	0	1	117	62	+55	1	1	10
4	Thames Valley	3	2	0	1	94	62	+32	1	1	10
5	Buller	3	2	0	1	88	74	+14	1	0	9
6	Wairarapa Bush	3	2	0	1	76	74	+2	0	0	8
7	Mid Canterbury	3	1	0	2	73	75	−2	0	2	6
8	Poverty Bay	3	1	0	2	76	89	−13	1	1	6
9	King Country	3	1	0	2	92	105	−13	1	1	6
10	Horowhenua-Kapiti	3	1	0	2	45	94	−49	0	1	5
11	Wanganui	3	0	0	3	69	86	−17	0	2	2
12	East Coast	3	0	0	3	49	119	−70	0	1	1

	Meads Cup qualification
	Lochore Cup qualification

In the case of a two-team tie on points the ranking of teams is decided by:

• (1) the winner of the round robin match between the two provinces; then
• (2) highest point difference; then
• (3) most tries scored; then
• (4) a coin toss.

In the caseof a three-team or more tie on points the ranking of teams is decided by:

• (1) the province with the most wins against other tied provinces in the Round Robin; then
• (2) if two teams remain tied they shall be ranked according to the criteria listed above, but if more than two teams remain tied, they shall be ranked according to criteria (2) to (4) only.

Regular season

The schedule of fixtures was confirmed on 25 February 2019.[1][2]

Round 1

	24 August 2019	Buller	54–19	East Coast	Victoria Square, Westport
	14:30 NZST	Try: James Lash (2) T. Manawatu (2) Robbie Malneek Alex Paterson Jack Best Petaia Saukuru Con: James Lash (7)	Report	Try: Hakarangi Tichborne (2) Mitchell Crosswell Con: Zane King (2)

	24 August 2019	Mid Canterbury	10–17	Horowhenua-Kapiti	Ashburton Showgrounds, Ashburton
	14:30 NZST	Try: Seta Koroitamana Josh McAtamney	Report	Try: Scott Cameron Nardus Eramus Con: Himiona Henare (2/2) Pen: Himiona Henare (1)

	24 August 2019	South Canterbury	20–26	North Otago	Alpine Energy Stadium, Timaru
	14:30 NZST	Try: Siu Kakala (2) Nick Strachan Con: Faalele Iosua (1) Pen: Faalele Iosua (1)	Report	Try: Melikisua Kolinisau Howard Packman Con: Robbie Smith (2/2) Pen: Robbie Smith (4)

	24 August 2019	Thames Valley	15–17	Poverty Bay	Paeroa Domain, Paeroa
	14:30 NZST	Try: Kieran Lee (2) Danny Kayes	Report	Try: Riki Terekia Andrew Tauatevalu (2) Con: Andrew Tauatevalu (1)

	24 August 2019	Wairarapa Bush	28–18	Wanganui	Trust House Memorial Park, Masterton
	14:30 NZST	Try: Tristan Flutey Sam Tufuga Logan Hebenton-Prendeville Con: Tipene Haira (2) Pen: Tipene Haira (3)	Report	Try: Roman Tutauha Lindsay Horrocks Con: Dane Whale (1) Pen: Dane Whale (1) Drop: Craig Clarke (1)

	24 August 2019	West Coast	56–27	King Country	Rugby Park, Greymouth
	14:30 NZST	Try: Josh Tomlinson (2) Boris van Bruchem Dan Davis Brad Tauwhare Jesse Pitman-Joass Nick Thomson Jared Mitchell Con: Todd Struthers (5) Pen: Todd Struthers (2)	Report	Try: Aletosio Tapili Stephen Turner Chulainn Mabbett-Sowerby Bradly Jeffries Con: Evann Reihana (2) Pen: Evann Reihana (1)

Round 2

	30 August 2019	North Otago	25–11	Wairarapa Bush	Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin
	17:05 NZST	Try: Howard Packman Samuel Tatupu Lemi Masoe Con: Robbie Smith (2/3) Pen: Robbie Smith (2)	Report	Try: Brock Price Con: Tipene Haira (0/1) Pen: Tipene Haira (2)

	30 August 2019	King Country	34–12	Buller	Owen Delany Park
	19:30 NZST	Try: Alefosio Tapili (2) Sisa Vosaki (2) Zayn Tipping Con: Evaan Reihana (3) Pen: Evaan Reihana (1)	Report	Try: Gabba de Kock (2) Con: Timoti Manawatu (1)

	31 August 2019	East Coast	15–22	Mid Canterbury	Whakarua Park, Ruatoria
	14:30 NZST	Try: Zac Guildford Epeli Lotawa Con: Zane King (1) Pen: Zane King (1)	Report	Try: Jon Dampney Matt McAtamney Manasa Bari Con: Corey McKay (2) Pen: Corey McKay (1)

	31 August 2019	Horowhenua-Kapiti	21–27	West Coast	Horowhenua Community Trust Levin Domain, Levin
	14:30 NZST	Try: Kane Tamou Nathan Kendrick Himiona Henare Con: Codi Hemi (3/3)	Report	Try: Josh Tomlinson Sam Lebezeit Jesse Pitman-Joass Con: Todd Struthers (3/3) Pen: Todd Struthers (1) Drop: Jesse Pitman-Joass (1)

	31 August 2019	Poverty Bay	29–40	South Canterbury	More FM Rugby Park, Gisborne
	14:30 NZST	Try: Adrian Wyrill (2) Ethan Reeves Penalty try Con: Andrew Tauateluva (2/2) Pen: Andrew Tauateluva (1)	Report	Try: Brad Tunnicliffe (3) Clarence Moli (2) Zac Saunders Con: Theo Davidson (2) Pen: Theo Davidson (1) Reilly Cormack (1)

	31 August 2019	Wanganui	30–36	Thames Valley	Cooks Gardens, Wanganui
	14:30 NZST	Try: Nick Harding Roman Tutauha Dane Whale Shay Wiperi Con: Nick Harding (2) Pen: Nick Harding (2)	Report	Try: Laulea Mau Matiu Abraham Jason Laurich Pen: Regan Crosland (7)

Round 3

	7 September 2019	Buller	22–21	Wanganui	Victoria Square, Westport
	14:30 NZST	Try: A. Paterson L. Ravudra P. Saukuru Con: James Lash (2) Pen: James Lash (1)	Report	Try: Scorers unknown[4]

	7 September 2019	Poverty Bay	30–34	North Otago	More FM Rugby Park, Gisborne
	14:30 NZST	Try: Andrew Tauatevalu Scott McKinley Penalty try Con: Andrew Tauatevalu (2/2) Pen: Andrew Tauatevalu (3)	Report	Try: Michael Williams Charles Elton Clymont Gasca Ralph Darling Con: Robbie Smith (4/4) Pen: Robbie Smith (2)

	7 September 2019	South Canterbury	57–7	Horowhenua-Kapiti	Alpine Energy Stadium, Timaru
	14:30 NZST	Try: Tokomaata Fakatava Cam Russell Joel Smith Kalavini Leatigaga Clarence Moli Zac Saunders Solomone Iavaka Penalty try Con: Willie Wright (6) Theo Davidson (1) Pen: Willie Wright (1)	Report	Try: Scorers unknown[4]

	7 September 2019	Thames Valley	43–15	East Coast	Paeroa Domain, Paeroa
	14:30 NZST	Try: Danny Kayes (2) Harry Lafituanai (2) Laulea Mau Ben Bonnar Bobby Motuliki Con: Regan Crossland (3) Cole Berridge (1)	Report	Try: Tawhao Stewart Hone Haerewa Epeli Lotawa

	7 September 2019	Wairarapa Bush	37–31	King Country	Trust House Memorial Park, Masterton
	14:30 NZST	Try: Tristan Flutey (2) Johan van Vliet Ueta Tufuga Brendon Campbell (2) Con: Tipene Haira (1) Tim Priest (1) Pen: Tipene Haira (1)	Report	Try: Brad Armstrong Chulainn Mabbett-Sowerby Alex Thrupp Josh Balme Tayne Tupaea Con: Evaan Reihana (3)

	7 September 2019	West Coast	43–41	Mid Canterbury	Rugby Park, Greymouth
	14:30 NZST	Try: Sam Liebezeit (2) Troy Tauwhare Sione Holani Jared Mitchell Logan Winter Amenatave Tukana Con: Todd Struthers (2) Sean McClure (1) Jesse Pitman-Joass (1)	Report	Try: Seta Koroitamana (2) Matt McAtamney Manasa Bari (2) Jackson Donlan Con: Corey McKay (4) Pen: Corey McKay (1)

Round 4

	14 September 2019	East Coast	v	King Country	Whakarua Park, Ruatoria
	14:30 NZST

	14 September 2019	Horowhenua-Kapiti	v	Buller	Horowhenua Community Trust Levin Domain, Levin
	14:30 NZST

	14 September 2019	Mid Canterbury	v	South Canterbury	Ashburton Showgrounds, Ashburton
	14:30 NZST

	14 September 2019	North Otago	v	Thames Valley	Whitestone Contracting Stadium, Oamaru
	14:30 NZST

	14 September 2019	Wairarapa Bush	v	Poverty Bay	Trust House Memorial Park, Masterton
	14:30 NZST

	14 September 2019	Wanganui	v	West Coast	Cooks Gardens, Wanganui
	14:30 NZST

Round 5

	21 September 2019	King Country	v	Horowhenua-Kapiti	Rugby Park, Te Kuiti
	14:30 NZST

	21 September 2019	Poverty Bay	v	Mid Canterbury	More FM Rugby Park, Gisborne
	14:30 NZST

	21 September 2019	South Canterbury	v	Buller	Alpine Energy Stadium, Timaru
	14:30 NZST

	21 September 2019	Thames Valley	v	Wairarapa Bush	Paeroa Domain, Paeroa
	14:30 NZST

	21 September 2019	Wanganui	v	East Coast	Cooks Gardens, Wanganui
	14:30 NZST

	21 September 2019	West Coast	v	North Otago	Rugby Park, Greymouth
	14:30 NZST

Round 6

	28 September 2019	Buller	v	Wairarapa Bush	Victoria Square, Westport
	14:30 NZST

	28 September 2019	East Coast	v	West Coast	Whakarua Park, Ruatoria
	14:30 NZST

	28 September 2019	Horowhenua-Kapiti	v	Poverty Bay	Waikanae Park, Waikanae
	14:30 NZST

	28 September 2019	King Country	v	South Canterbury	Owen Delany Park
	14:30 NZST

	28 September 2019	Mid Canterbury	v	Thames Valley	Ashburton Showgrounds, Ashburton
	14:30 NZST

	28 September 2019	North Otago	v	Wanganui	Whitestone Contracting Stadium, Oamaru
	14:30 NZST

Round 7

	5 October 2019	North Otago	v	Mid Canterbury	Whitestone Contracting Stadium, Oamaru
	14:30 NZST

	5 October 2019	Poverty Bay	v	East Coast	More FM Rugby Park, Gisborne
	14:30 NZST

	5 October 2019	Thames Valley	v	South Canterbury	Paeroa Domain, Paeroa
	14:30 NZST

	5 October 2019	Wairarapa Bush	v	Horowhenua-Kapiti	Trust House Memorial Park, Masterton
	14:30 NZST

	5 October 2019	Wanganui	v	King Country	Cooks Gardens, Wanganui
	14:30 NZST

	5 October 2019	West Coast	v	Buller	Rugby Park, Greymouth
	14:30 NZST

Round 8

	12 October 2019	Buller	v	Poverty Bay	Victoria Square, Westport
	14:30 NZST

	12 October 2019	East Coast	v	North Otago	Whakarua Park, Ruatoria
	14:30 NZST

	12 October 2019	Horowhenua-Kapiti	v	Wanganui	Horowhenua Community Trust Levin Domain, Levin
	14:30 NZST

	12 October 2019	King Country	v	Thames Valley	Rugby Park, Te Kuiti
	14:30 NZST

	12 October 2019	Mid Canterbury	v	Wairarapa Bush	Ashburton Showgrounds, Ashburton
	14:30 NZST

	12 October 2019	South Canterbury	v	West Coast	Alpine Energy Stadium, Timaru
	14:30 NZST

Finals

Meads Cup semi-finals Meads Cup final             1 Regular season 1st seed 4 Regular season 4th seed Winner of semi-final 1 Winner of semi-final 2 2 Regular season 2nd seed 3 Regular season 3rd seed

Lochore Cup semi-finals Lochore Cup final             5 Regular season 5th seed 8 Regular season 8th seed Winner of semi-final 1 Winner of semi-final 2 6 Regular season 6th seed 7 Regular season 7th seed

Semi-finals

19 October 2019 14:30 NZST

Regular season 1st seed	v	Regular season 4th seed

19 October 2019 14:30 NZST

Regular season 2nd seed	v	Regular season 3rd seed

19 October 2019 14:30 NZST

Regular season 5th seed	v	Regular season 8th seed

19 October 2019 14:30 NZST

Regular season 6th seed	v	Regular season 7th seed

Finals

26 October 2019 14:30 NZST

Winner of Meads Cup semi-final 1	v	Winner of Meads Cup semi-final 2

27 October 2019 14:30 NZST

Winner of Lochore Cup semi-final 1	v	Winner of Lochore Cup semi-final 2

Ranfurly Shield

See also: Ranfurly Shield 2010–19

Pre-season challenges

For the 2019 preseason Ranfurly Shield holders Otago saw challenges from the reigning 2018 Heartland Championship champions Thames Valley as well as neighbours North Otago.[5]

	13 July 2019	Otago	41–21	Thames Valley	Wanaka Showgrounds, Wanaka
	14:05 NZST	Try: Sekonaia Pole James Lentjes Ben Miller Aleki Morris Dylan Nel Slade McDowall Con: Ben Miller (4/6) Pen: Ben Miller	Report	Try: Harry Lafituanai (2) Con: Reece Broughton (1/2) Pen: Reece Broughton (3)

	26 July 2019	Otago	49–14	North Otago	Whitestone Contracting Stadium, Oamaru
	14:05 NZST	Try: Vilimoni Koroi 10' c Joshua Dickson 17' c Aleki Morris 37' c Jona Nareki 43' c R. Gouws 62' c S. Mau 72' c James Lentjes 77' c Con: Ash Moeke (7/7) 11', 18', 38', 44', 63', 73', 78' Cards: Sio Tomkinson 27' to 37'	Report	Try: H. Packman 28' c M. Kolinisau 59' c Con: R. Smith (2/2) 29', 60'	Referee: Rebecca Mahoney (New Zealand)[6]

See also

• 2019 Mitre 10 Cup
• Heartland Championship
• Ranfurly Shield 2010–2019

References

1. "2019 Mitre 10 Heartland Championship Draw" (PDF). Heartland Championship. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
2. "Fixtures and Results". Heartland Championship. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
3. "2013 Pink Batts Heartland Championship Media Guide". AllBlacks.com. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
4. McConnell, Lynn (7 September 2019). "West Coast pushed hard to stay on top". Heartland Championship. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
5. "Ranfurly Shield goes on the road". 9 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
6. "Mahoney first woman to ref Ranfurly Shield rugby". Radio New Zealand. 19 July 2019. Retrieved 20 July 2019.

External links

• Official website of the Heartland Championship