Jump to content

2006 Air New Zealand Cup

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2006 Air New Zealand Cup season
CountriesNew Zealand New Zealand
Date28 July – 21 October 2006
ChampionsWaikato
Runners-upWellington
Matches played70
Tries scored374
(average 5.3 per match)
Top point scorerJimmy Gopperth (Wellington)
121 points
Top try scorerRichard Kahui (Waikato)
8 tries
Official website
allblacks.com
2007 →

The 2006 Air New Zealand Cup was the first season of a new structure for the National Provincial Championship (known as the Air New Zealand Cup for sponsorship reasons), contested by teams from New Zealand. The season ran from July to October 2006. At the end of the regular season, the top six teams were joined in the quarter-finals by the top team from each of the repechage routes, with the winners going through to the semi-finals.[1] The winner of each semi-final qualified for the final, which was contested between Waikato and Wellington; Waikato won 37–31 to claim the first Air New Zealand Cup title.[2]

This season was the first of the expanded competition, which has succeeded the First Division of the National Provincial Championship. It also saw the introduction of four new teams, Hawke's Bay, Counties Manukau, Manawatu and the newly formed Tasman (a merger of Nelson Bays and Marlborough).[3] On 3 June 2006, the Commerce Commission accepted the NZRU proposal of a salary cap for the Air New Zealand Cup. This was mainly so that the talent pool of players could be spread between the 14 rugby unions.[4]

Competition format

[edit]

Covering ten weeks, the schedule featured a total of 70 matches. The 14 unions were grouped by the top three places in each pool, they advanced and secured a spot in the top six. Auckland secured the top position at the start of the second round. Competition points from round one carried over to round two, and teams were seeded according to total points won. 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 gets placed higher. In case of a draw between them, the side with the biggest points deferential margin will get rights to be ranked above. If they are tied on points difference, it is then decided by a highest scored try count or a coin toss.[5]

Three teams receive two home fixtures in Round Two:

  • The first-place teams in each pool (Auckland in Pool A, Waikato in Pool B).
  • The higher-ranked of the two second-place teams (Canterbury, which won a tiebreaker by virtue of a better point differential than North Harbour).

The remaining three teams receive only one home fixture apiece.

Similarly, the top two teams in each repechage pool, based on competition points earned in Round one (with tiebreakers applied as needed), earn two home fixtures in Round two, with the other teams receiving one apiece. Bay of Plenty and Counties Manukau earned the extra home fixture in Repechage A, while Southland and Taranaki earned this privilege in Repechage B.

In Round two saw each team in the competition played three fixtures in this round. In the Top Six, each team played the three teams that it did not play in Round one. Each team in the repechage pools played the other teams in its pool once.

For the teams in the Top Six, competition points carried over from Round one. All Top Six teams advanced to the quarterfinals, with their seedings determined by their positions at the end of Round two.

In the two repechage pools, competition points did not carry over from Round one. The top team in each pool at the end of Round two advanced to the quarterfinals. The two repechage winners received the seventh and eighth seeds, determined based on competition points at the end of Round two.

At the end of Week 9, Auckland, Waikato and North Harbour secured home quarter-finals. Bay of Plenty secured the top spot in Repechage A. In Repechage B, Taranaki dropped out of contention for the top spot.

After defeating Manawatu in Week 10, Bay of Plenty clinched the higher placing of the two repechage quarter-final slots. Also in Week 10, Otago's loss to Wellington placed Otago at the bottom of the Top 6 going into the quarter-finals. The fourth home quarter-final went to Wellington; although Canterbury defeated Auckland, they did not earn the bonus point they needed to pass Wellington on the table. Wellington's victory over Canterbury in Week 8 gave them the advantage in the tiebreaker.

Southland earned the top spot in Repechage B; despite losing 19–12 to Northland, the bonus point they earned for losing by only seven points put them one point ahead of the Taniwha in the standings.

The battle for the top overall seed came down to the final match in pool play. Waikato claimed the top seed by defeating North Harbour. Regardless of the Waikato–Harbour result, Auckland was assured of no worse than the second seed they eventually received. Harbour received the third seed.

Standings

[edit]
Overall
Pos Team GP W D L PF PA PD BP Pts
1 Waikato 9 7 1 1 277 182 +95 6 36
2 Auckland 9 6 1 2 287 119 +168 8 34
3 RS – North Harbour 9 7 0 2 206 158 +48 3 31
4 Wellington 9 7 0 2 189 165 +24 1 29
5 Canterbury 9 6 0 3 238 156 +82 5 29
6 Otago 9 5 0 4 192 173 +19 4 24
7 Bay of Plenty 3 3 0 0 100 34 +66 2 14
8 Southland 3 2 0 1 55 50 +5 1 9
9 Hawke's Bay 3 2 0 1 63 74 −11 1 9
10 Northland 3 2 0 1 57 85 −28 0 8
11 Taranaki 3 1 0 2 76 60 +16 3 7
12 Tasman 3 1 0 2 87 80 +7 1 5
13 Counties Manukau 3 0 1 2 65 93 −28 3 5
14 Manawatu 3 0 1 2 51 78 −27 0 2

Regular season

[edit]

Round 1

[edit]
Bye/s: Bay of Plenty, Waikato

Round 2

[edit]
4 August 2006
19:35 NZST
Wellington11–6Bay of Plenty
Try: Cory Jane
Pen: Jimmy Gopperth (2)
ReportPen: Murray Williams (2)
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Attendance: 16,471
Bye/s: Manawatu, Counties Manukau

Round 3

[edit]
Bye/s: Southland, Wellington

Round 4

[edit]
20 August 2006
14:35 NZST
Auckland45–27Bay of Plenty
Try: Steve Devine (2), David Smith (2), Brent Ward (2)
Con: Brent Ward (3)
Pen: Brent Ward (2)
ReportTry: Cory Aporo (2), Nili Latu
Con: Mike Delany (3)
Pen: Mike Delany (2)
Eden Park, Auckland
Referee: Steve Walsh
Bye/s: Tasman, Hawke's Bay

Round 5

[edit]
Bye/s: Canterbury, North Harbour

Round 6

[edit]
Bye/s: Northland, Taranaki

Round 7

[edit]
Bye/s: Auckland, Otago

Round 8

[edit]

Round 9

[edit]

Round 10

[edit]

Play-offs

[edit]
Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
4 Wellington 36
5 Canterbury 23
2 Auckland 15
4 Wellington 30
2 Auckland 46
7 Bay of Plenty 14
1 Waikato 37
4 Wellington 31
1 Waikato 24
8 Southland 12
1 Waikato 44
6 Otago 15
3 North Harbour 21
6 Otago 56

Quarter-finals

[edit]
6 October 2006
19:35 NZST
Wellington36–23Canterbury
Try: Collins (2)
M. Schwalger
Smith
Tialata
Con: Gopperth (4)
Drop: Gopperth
ReportTry: Carter
Paterson
Con: Carter (2)
Pen: Carter (3)
Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Attendance: 17,641
Referee: Bryce Lawrence
7 October 2006
19:35 NZST
Waikato24–12Southland
Try: Anesi
de Malmanche
Muliaina
Con: Hill (3)
Pen: Hill
ReportTry: Wilson (2)
Con: Wilson
Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Referee: Steve Walsh

Semi-finals

[edit]
14 October 2006
19:35 NZST
Waikato44–15Otago
Try: Anesi (2)
Bates
Kahui
Leonard
Sivivatu
Con: Hill (4)
Pen: Hill (2)
ReportTry: Blackie
Boys
Con: Evans
Pen: Evans
Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Referee: Bryce Lawrence

Final

[edit]
21 October 2006
19:35 NZST
Waikato37–31Wellington
Try: Kahui 15' c
Kelleher (2) 27' c, 42' c
Leonard 70' c
Con: Hill (4/4) 16', 28', 43', 71'
Pen: Hill (3/3) 37', 54', 77'
ReportTry: Nonu (2) 32' c, 72' m
Umaga 79' c
Con: Gopperth (2/3) 33', 79'
Pen: Gopperth (4/5) 8', 19', 50', 69'
Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Bryce Lawrence
FB 15 Mils Muliaina
RW 14 Sosene Anesi
OC 13 Richard Kahui
IC 12 David Hill
LW 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu
FH 10 Stephen Donald
SH 9 Byron Kelleher downward-facing red arrow 68'
N8 8 Sione Lauaki downward-facing red arrow 40'
OF 7 Marty Holah
BF 6 Steven Bates (c)
RL 5 Keith Robinson
LL 4 Jono Gibbes
TP 3 Nathan White
HK 2 Tom Willis
LP 1 Craig West downward-facing red arrow 60'
Replacements:
HK 16 Scott Linklater
PR 17 Aled de Malmanche upward-facing green arrow 60'
LK 18 Toby Lynn
FL 19 Liam Messam upward-facing green arrow 40'
SH 20 Brendon Leonard upward-facing green arrow 68'
CE 21 Dwayne Sweeney
WG 22 Roy Kinikinilau
FB 15 Shannon Paku downward-facing red arrow 60'
RW 14 Ma'a Nonu
OC 13 Conrad Smith
IC 12 Tana Umaga (c)
LW 11 Cory Jane
FH 10 Jimmy Gopperth
SH 9 Piri Weepu downward-facing red arrow 66'
N8 8 Rodney So'oialo
OF 7 Ben Herring downward-facing red arrow 43'
BF 6 Jerry Collins
RL 5 Luke Andrews
LL 4 Ross Filipo
TP 3 John Schwalger
HK 2 Mahonri Schwalger downward-facing red arrow 68'
LP 1 Joe McDonnell downward-facing red arrow 20'
Replacements:
HK 16 Luke Mahoney upward-facing green arrow 68'
PR 17 Anthony Perenise upward-facing green arrow 20'
LK 18 Jeremy Thrush
FL 19 Chris Masoe upward-facing green arrow 43'
SH 20 Alby Mathewson upward-facing green arrow 66'
FH 21 Miah Nikora
WG 22 Lome Fa'atau upward-facing green arrow 60'

Statistics

[edit]
Top points scorers
Player Team Tries Conversions Penalties Drop goals Total
Brent Ward Auckland 4 13 8 0 70
Nick Evans Otago 1 15 11 0 68
Mike Delany Bay of Plenty 0 9 14 0 62
Blair Feeney Counties Manukau 1 11 11 0 60
Stephen Donald Waikato 2 8 9 0 51
Jimmy Gopperth Wellington 1 8 10 0 51
David Holwell Northland 2 6 10 0 49
Blair Stewart Southland 1 5 10 1 48
Miah Nikora Taranaki 0 5 12 0 46
Cameron McIntyre Canterbury 3 4 7 0 44

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "air new zealand cup 2006 • competition structure" (PDF). 5 July 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  2. ^ "Waikato win Air NZ Cup final". Stuff. 21 October 2006.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Air New Zealand Cup launched in grand style". Air New Zealand. Archived from the original on 22 May 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2006.
  4. ^ Commerce Commission New Zealand (21 October 2006). "Rugby Union salary cap authorised for six years". Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  5. ^ "NEW ZEALAND RUGBY UNION Competition Regulations Handbook 2016" (PDF). New Zealand Rugby. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2017.