2006 Air New Zealand Cup

2006 Air New Zealand Cup
Competition details
Duration	28 July – 21 October
Teams	14
Matches played
Round One	42
Round Two	21
Finals	7
Final Positions
Champions	Waikato (1st title)
Runner-up	Wellington

The 2006 Air New Zealand Cup is a provincial rugby union competition involving 14 teams from New Zealand. Matches started on Friday 28 July 2006, and the Grand Final was won by Waikato on 21 October 2006.

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). 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.

Round one

Standings

The top three places in each pool, highlighted in gray, advance to the Top Six in Round Two. Auckland secured the top position at the start of Round Two. Competition points from Round One carry over to Round Two, and teams are seeded according to points total. If necessary, tiebreakers are employed at the end of Rounds One and Two in the following order:

1. The most recent head-to-head result between the tied teams in that season.
2. Difference in overall points scored.
3. Total number of tries scored.
4. Coin flip.

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.

Pool A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	BP1	BP2	Pts
1	Auckland	6	5	0	1	195	63	+132	4	1	25
2	North Harbour	6	5	0	1	142	92	+50	3	0	23
3	Wellington	6	5	0	1	121	90	+31	1	0	21
4	Bay of Plenty	6	3	0	3	116	129	-13	0	1	13
5	Taranaki	6	2	0	4	86	128	-42	0	1	9
6	Tasman	6	1	0	5	133	163	-30	1	3	8
7	Manawatu	6	0	0	6	46	174	-128	0	1	1

Pool B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	BP1	BP2	Pts
1	Waikato	6	5	0	1	187	124	+63	3	1	24
2	Canterbury	6	5	0	1	170	87	+93	3	0	23
3	Otago	6	5	0	1	153	76	+77	2	1	23
4	Southland	6	2	0	4	88	123	-35	1	1	10
5	Counties Manukau	6	1	0	5	130	158	-28	1	4	9
6	Hawke's Bay	6	1	1	4	109	192	-83	1	1	8
7	Northland	6	1	1	4	104	181	-77	0	0	6

	Semifinalist
(RS)	Ranfurly Shield holders

• In the event 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 event of a three-team or more tie on points the rankings 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.

Schedule

Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
28-30 Jul	04-06 Aug	11-13 Aug	18-20 Aug	25-27 Aug	01-03 Sept	08-10 Sept

Round 1

Date	Pool	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Time	Venue
28 Jul	B	Hawke's Bay	0 - 45	Canterbury	7:35 pm	McLean Park
29 Jul	A	Manawatu	10 - 41	Auckland	2:00 pm	FMG Stadium
29 Jul	B	Counties Manukau	19 - 23	Otago	4:00 pm	Mt Smart Stadium
29 Jul	A	Taranaki	14 - 30	Wellington	6:05 pm	Yarrow Stadium
30 Jul	B	Northland	21 - 36	Southland	2:35 pm	Okara Park
30 Jul	A	Tasman	27 - 33	North Harbour	4:35 pm	Lansdowne Park
		Bye: Bay of Plenty / Waikato

Round 2

Date	Pool	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Time	Venue
4 Aug	A	Wellington	11 - 6	Bay of Plenty	7:35 pm	Westpac Stadium
5 Aug	B	Northland	11 - 25	Canterbury	2:35 pm	Okara Park
5 Aug	A	North Harbour	22 - 13	Taranaki	5:30 pm	North Harbour Stadium
5 Aug	B	Southland	14 - 23	Waikato	7:35 pm	Rugby Park Stadium
6 Aug	A	Auckland	46 - 6	Tasman	2:35 pm	Eden Park
6 Aug	B	Otago	37 - 0	Hawke's Bay	4:35 pm	Carisbrook
		Bye: Manawatu / Counties Manukau

Round 3

Pool	Date	Time	Home team	Score	Away team	Score
A	12 August	14:35	Tasman (1 BP)	43	Manawatu	0
A	12 August	17:30	Taranaki	3	Auckland (1 BP)	29
A	12 August	19:35	Bay of Plenty	7	North Harbour	25
B	11 August	19:35	Waikato (1BP)	36	Canterbury	22
B	13 August	14:35	Hawke's Bay (1BP)	51	Counties Manukau (1BP)	29
B	13 August	16:35	Otago (1BP)	37	Northland	6

Bye
Pool A	Pool B
Wellington	Southland

Round 4

Pool	Date	Time	Home team	Score	Away team	Score
A	19 August	12:00	Manawatu (1BP)	12	Taranaki	18
A	20 August	14:35	Auckland (1 BP)	45	Bay of Plenty	27
A	20 August	16:35	North Harbour (1 BP)	31	Wellington	16
B (RS)	18 August	19:35	Canterbury	24	Southland	7
B	19 August	14:00	Otago	24	Waikato (1BP)	21
B	20 August	12:30	Counties Manukau (1BP)	17	Northland	21

Bye
Pool A	Pool B
Tasman	Hawke's Bay

Round 5

Pool	Date	Time	Home team	Score	Away team	Score
A	26 August	14:35	Bay of Plenty	33	Manawatu	15
A	26 August	19:35	Wellington	14	Auckland	11
A	27 August	14:35	Taranaki	22	Tasman (1 BP)	15
B	25 August	19:35	Southland (1BP)	8	Otago	15
B	26 August	17:30	Waikato	23	Counties Manukau (1BP)	20
B	27 August	16:35	Northland	24	Hawke's Bay	24

Bye
Pool A	Pool B
North Harbour	Canterbury

Round 6

Pool	Date	Time	Home team	Score	Away team	Score
A	1 September	19:35	Auckland	23	North Harbour	3
A	2 September	14:35	Tasman (1 BP)	17	Bay of Plenty	23
A	2 September	17:30	Manawatu	3	Wellington	11
B (RS)	2 September	19:35	Canterbury	22	Otago	17
B	3 September	14:35	Hawke's Bay	23	Waikato (1 BP)	42
B	3 September	16:35	Counties Manukau (1 BP)	29	Southland	8

Bye
Pool A	Pool B
Taranaki	Northland

Round 7

Pool	Date	Time	Home team	Score	Away team	Score
A	8 September	19:35	North Harbour (1 BP)	28	Manawatu	6
A	9 September	19:35	Bay of Plenty	20	Taranaki (1 BP)	16
A	10 September	16:30	Wellington (1 BP)	39	Tasman	25
B	9 September	14:35	Waikato (1 BP)	42	Northland	21
B	9 September	17:30	Southland	15	Hawke's Bay (1 BP)	11
B (RS)	10 September	14:35	Canterbury (1 BP)	32	Counties Manukau	16

Bye
Pool A	Pool B
Auckland	Otago

Round two

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 by means of a 19-12 bonus-point loss to Northland, putting them one point ahead of the Taniwha.

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

Top Six

Pos	Name	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	BP	Pts
1	Waikato	9	7	1	1	90	58	30	6	36
2	Auckland	9	6	1	2	92	56	36	8	34
3	North Harbour	9	7	0	2	64	66	2	3	31
4	Wellington	9	7	0	2	68	75	-7	1	29
5	Canterbury	9	6	0	3	68	69	-1	5	29
6	Otago	9	5	0	4	39	97	-58	4	24

Repechage A

Pos	Name	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	BP	Pts
1	Bay of Plenty	3	3	0	0	100	34	+66	2	14
2	Hawke's Bay	3	2	0	1	63	74	-11	1	9
3	Counties Manukau	3	0	1	2	65	93	-28	3	5
4	Manawatu	3	0	1	2	51	78	-27	0	2

Repechage B

Pos	Name	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	+/-	BP	Pts
1	Southland	3	2	0	1	55	50	+5	1	9
2	Northland	3	2	0	1	57	85	-28	0	8
3	Taranaki	3	1	0	2	76	60	+16	3	7
4	Tasman	3	1	0	2	87	80	+7	1	5

Fixtures and results

Week 8

Pool	Date	Time	Home team	Score	Away team	Score
T6	16 September	19:35	Auckland (1 BP)	22	Waikato	22
T6	17 September	14:30	North Harbour	28	Otago	18
T6	17 September	16:35	Wellington	26	Canterbury (1 BP)	24
RA	15 September	18:05	Taranaki (1 BP)	17	Northland	23
RA	16 September	14:35	Southland	23	Tasman	14
RB	15 September	20:05	Hawke's Bay (1 BP)	26	Manawatu	10
RB	16 September	17:35	Bay of Plenty (1 BP)	38	Counties Manukau	11

Week 9

Pool	Date	Time	Home team	Score	Away team	Score
T6	23 September	17:30	Waikato (1 BP)	32	Wellington	21
T6	23 September	19:35	Auckland (1 BP)	48	Otago	7
T6 (RS)	24 September	16:35	Canterbury	17	North Harbour	21
RA	21 September	19:05	Southland	20	Taranaki (1 BP)	17
RA	23 September	14:35	Tasman (1 BP)	56	Northland	15
RB	22 September	18:05	Bay of Plenty (1 BP)	35	Hawke's Bay	7
RB	22 September	20:05	Counties Manukau(1 BP)	25	Manawatu	25

Week 10

Pool	Date	Time	Home team	Score	Away team	Score
T6	30 September	19:30	Canterbury	27	Auckland (1 BP)	22
T6	29 September	19:30	Otago (1 BP)	14	Wellington	21
T6	1 October	16:35	Waikato (1 BP)	31	North Harbour	15
RA	30 September	17:30	Taranaki (1 BP)	42	Tasman	17
RA	1 October	14:30	Northland	19	Southland (1 BP)	12
RB	28 September	19:05	Manawatu	16	Bay of Plenty	27
RB	30 September	14:35	Counties Manukau(1 BP)	29	Hawke's Bay	30

Playoffs

Quarter-finals

Seed	Home team	Score	Seed	Away team	Score
1	Waikato	24	8	Southland	12
2	Auckland	46	7	Bay of Plenty	14
3	North Harbour	21	6	Otago	56
4	Wellington	36	5	Canterbury	23

Semi-finals

Date	Time	Home team	Score	Away team	Score
13 October	19:35	Auckland	15	Wellington	30
14 October	19:35	Waikato	44	Otago	15

Final

Main article: 2006 Air New Zealand Cup Final

Date	Time	Home team	Score	Away team	Score
21 October	19:35	Waikato	37	Wellington	31

See also

• 2006 Air New Zealand Cup Leading Try Scorer
• 2006 Air New Zealand Cup Leading Points Scorer
• Air New Zealand Cup
• Auckland in the 2006 Air New Zealand Cup
• Otago in the 2006 Air New Zealand Cup