2009 Air New Zealand Cup

2009 Air New Zealand Cup
File:Air New Zealand Cup Logo.jpg
Defending Champs	Canterbury
Round-Robin
Duration	30 July – 25 October
Matches played	78/91
Semifinals
Dates	30 – 31 October
Matches played	0/2
Grand Final
Date	November 7

The 2009 Air New Zealand Cup is the 33rd provincial rugby union competition, the fourth since the competition reconstruction in 2006, involving the top 14 provincial unions from New Zealand. The round-robin will run from 30 July to 25 October, the semi-finals on 30 and 31 October and the Grand Final on 7 November. Unlike previous seasons the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup will not have quarter-finals, instead going straight to the semi-finals with the top four teams rather than the top eight. The Rugby Union Bonus Points System will be used to determine which teams will go on to the finals.

It will be the last Air New Zealand Cup, by name and format, as the New Zealand Rugby Union has restructured the domestic competition with three divisions, the Premier Division with ten teams, the First Division with six teams, and the Heartland Championship also with ten participants; this means that four teams in this year's competition will be relegated to the First Division whilst two Heartland teams will be promoted to the First Division.

The participation of the financially troubled Tasman union was confirmed in December 2008 when they managed to obtain sufficient additional funding.

Round Robin

Main article: 2009 Air NZ Cup Round-Robin

The Round Robin will run from 30 July to 25 October, with 13 rounds of play and seven games to each round.

	Clinched semi-final spot
	Eliminated from semi-final contention
(RS)	Ranfurly Shield holders
1	Clinched home semi-final

Standings

The top four teams from the round robin advance to the semifinals.

Pos.	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	BP1	BP2	Pts
1	Canterbury 1 (RS)	12	10	0	2	366	222	144	4	2	46
2	File:HB.png Hawke's Bay	12	7	1	4	340	243	97	5	1	36
3	File:Lions.png Wellington	11	7	0	4	303	210	93	4	2	34
4	Southland	11	7	1	3	222	173	49	2	1	33
5	Waikato	11	7	0	4	240	252	-12	3	0	31
6	Auckland	11	6	0	5	209	191	18	2	4	30
7	File:Makos.png Tasman	11	6	0	5	229	217	12	2	2	28
8	Bay of Plenty	11	6	0	5	216	210	6	0	2	26
9	File:Naki.png Taranaki	11	5	1	5	209	198	11	1	1	24
10	North Harbour	11	4	0	7	215	241	-26	0	4	20
11	Otago	11	3	0	8	217	264	-47	2	5	19
12	File:Turbos.png Manawatu	11	3	0	8	236	318	-82	2	4	18
13	Northland	11	3	1	7	194	282	-88	0	2	16
14	Counties Manukau	11	2	0	9	202	377	-175	2	1	11

Results grid

	Auck	BoP	Cant	CM	HB	Mana	NorH	North	Otago	South	Tara	Tas	Wai	Wgtn
Auckland		29-14	16-22	-	13-47	23-20	14-16	32-13	22-18	27-13	10-0	8-12	-	15-16
Bay of Plenty	14-29		19-17	32-9	19-22	-	7-28	19-14	17-26	12-19	-	24-13	32-16	21-17
Canterbury	22-16	17-19		28-17	27-20	50-26	19-22	31-21	36-16	-	29-17	25-21	46-13	36-14
Counties Manukau	-	9-32	17-28		8-54	31-36	19-28	37-21	-	6-14	33-21	15-51	8-30	19-62
File:HB.png Hawke's Bay	47-13	22-19	20-27	54-8		35-30	34-17	-	32-10	9-18	24-24	28-26	22-30	13-21
File:Turbos.png Manawatu	20-23	-	26-50	36-31	30-35		-	18-25	19-12	25-23	10-12	15-34	22-30	15-43
North Harbour	16-14	28-7	22-19	28-19	17-34	-		23-26	9-29	22-24	13-17	15-19	22-33	-
Northland	13-32	14-19	21-31	21-37	-	25-18	26-23		7-29	15-15	29-16	16-21	-	7-41
Otago	18-22	26-17	16-36	-	10-32	12-19	29-9	29-7		19-26	10-38	-	29-35	19-23
Southland	13-27	19-12	-	14-6	18-9	23-25	24-22	15-15	26-19		-	41-0	16-6	13-32
File:Naki.png Taranaki	0-10	-	17-29	21-33	24-24	12-10	17-13	16-29	38-10	-		21-9	14-15	29-16
File:Makos.png Tasman	12-8	13-24	21-25	51-15	26-28	34-15	19-15	21-16	-	0-41	9-21		23-9	-
Waikato	-	16-32	13-46	30-8	30-22	30-22	33-22	-	35-29	6-16	15-14	9-23		23-18
File:Lions.png Wellington	16-15	17-21	14-36	62-19	21-13	-	41-7	43-15	23-19	32-13	16-29	-	18-23

Home Game

Away Game

Statistics

Main article: 2009 Air NZ Cup Statistics

Team

The lists of how many tries and points each team has scored in the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup. After round 11 Canterbury have scored the most points this season with 339 points with an average of 30.8 points per game while Southland have the best defensive record with 173 points scored against them at an average of 15.7 points per game. Canterbury have also scored the most tries this season with 37.

Points

The table shows how many points were scored by each team (white) and how many points each team was scored against them (grey) in the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup.

Team	Points by Round																									Total		AVG
	1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		12		13
Auckland	13	47	16	22	32	13	15	16	29	14	22	18	23	20	14	16	8	12	27	13	10	0	-	-	-	209	191	19	17.3
Bay of Plenty	19	14	32	9	21	17	32	16	14	29	19	17	12	19	24	13	17	26	19	22	7	28	-	-	-	216	210	19.6	19.1
Canterbury	19	22	22	16	46	13	25	21	36	14	17	19	36	16	29	17	31	21	28	17	50	26	27	20	-	366	222	30.5	18.5
Counties Manukau	31	36	9	32	15	51	33	21	8	30	19	62	37	21	6	14	19	28	17	28	8	54	-	-	-	202	377	18.4	34.3
File:HB.png Hawke's Bay	47	13	13	21	24	24	9	18	28	26	22	30	34	17	32	10	35	30	22	19	54	8	20	27	-	360	270	30	22.5
File:Turbos.png Manawatu	36	31	22	30	25	23	19	12	10	12	15	34	20	23	18	25	30	35	15	43	26	50	-	-	-	236	318	21.5	28.9
North Harbour	22	19	15	19	9	29	23	26	22	24	13	17	17	34	16	14	28	19	22	33	28	7	-	-	-	215	241	19.5	21.9
Northland	14	19	29	16	13	32	26	23	7	29	15	15	21	37	25	18	21	31	16	21	7	41	-	-	-	194	282	17.6	25.6
Otago	19	23	19	26	29	9	12	19	29	7	18	22	16	36	10	32	26	17	10	38	29	35	-	-	-	217	264	19.7	24
Southland	16	6	26	19	23	25	18	9	24	22	15	15	19	12	14	6	13	32	13	27	41	0	-	-	-	222	173	20.2	15.7
File:Naki.png Taranaki	21	9	16	29	24	24	21	33	12	10	17	13	29	16	17	29	14	15	38	10	0	10	-	-	-	209	198	19	18
File:Makos.png Tasman	9	21	19	15	51	15	21	25	26	28	34	15	23	9	13	24	12	8	21	16	0	41	-	-	-	229	217	20.8	19.7
Waikato	6	16	30	22	13	46	16	32	30	8	30	22	9	23	23	18	15	14	33	22	35	29	-	-	-	240	252	21.8	22.9
File:Lions.png Wellington	23	19	21	13	17	21	16	15	14	36	62	19	16	29	18	23	32	13	43	15	41	7	-	-	-	303	210	27.5	19.1

Offensive

Defensive

Tries

List of tries each team has scored.

Team	Total	Tries by Round
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Auckland	23	1	1	4	2	4	3	2	1	1	3	1	-	-
Bay of Plenty	17	1	3	2	2	1	1	0	3	2	1	1	-	-
Canterbury	40	1	1	5	3	3	1	5	4	3	3	8	3	-
Counties Manukau	25	5	0	2	3	1	3	5	0	3	2	1	-	-
File:HB.png Hawke's Bay	36	5	1	2	0	3	3	5	4	4	1	7	1	-
File:Turbos.png Manawatu	27	4	3	3	3	1	2	2	0	3	2	4	-	-
North Harbour	18	1	0	0	2	1	1	3	1	3	3	3	-	-
Northland	18	1	2	1	2	1	2	2	3	2	1	1	-	-
Otago	22	2	1	4	2	4	2	1	1	2	1	3	-	-
Southland	26	1	2	3	2	4	3	1	1	1	1	7	-	-
File:Naki.png Taranaki	16	2	1	2	2	0	1	2	1	1	4	0	-	-
File:Makos.png Tasman	24	0	2	6	2	2	5	2	1	2	2	0	-	-
Waikato	22	0	4	1	1	3	3	0	2	0	4	4	-	-
File:Lions.png Wellington	35	2	2	1	2	2	9	1	0	4	7	5	-	-

Disciplinary Cards

List of teams who's players have received yellow and red cards.

Team	Total		Cards by Round
			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Auckland	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	-	-
Bay of Plenty	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	1	0	-	-
Canterbury	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-
Counties Manukau	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-
File:HB.png Hawke's Bay	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	-	-
File:Turbos.png Manawatu	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	-	-
North Harbour	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	-	-
Northland	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	-	-
Otago	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-
Southland	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	-	-
File:Naki.png Taranaki	3	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-
File:Makos.png Tasman	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	-	-
Waikato	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	-	-
File:Lions.png Wellington	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	-	-

Player

The list of the top players who have scored the most points and tries in the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup. Through 77 games there had been 3351 points including 346 tries scored with a total of 195 players scoring points. Mike Delany leads them all with 136 points and an average of 12.4 points per game. There have also been 28 yellow cards and 1 red card issued.

Top Ten Points Scorers

2009 Air New Zealand Cup top ten point scorers.

Player	Team	Total	AVG	Points per Round													Details
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Matt Berquist	File:HB.png Hawke's Bay	144	14.4	22	8	14	9	13	DNP	DNP	12	15	17	19	15	-	32 pen; 2 dg; 21 con
Mike Delany	Bay of Plenty	136	12.4	14	17	11	22	9	14	12	9	7	19	2	-	-	1 try; 35 pen; 13 con
Lachlan Munro	Northland	119	10.8	9	24	8	21	2	5	16	10	11	11	2	-	-	3 try; 26 pen; 13 con
Callum Bruce	Waikato	117	10.6	6	10	8	11	18	15	9	13	12	13	0	-	-	1 try; 28 pen; 14 con
Andrew Goodman	File:Makos.png Tasman	102	9.3	3	3	19	11	16	9	5	8	7	11	0	-	-	2 try; 19 pen; 1 dg; 16 con
Daniel Kirkpatrick	File:Lions.png Wellington	95	8.6	6	8	6	0	0	18	11	18	12	4	12	-	-	1 try; 20 pen; 15 con
Willie Ripia	File:Naki.png Taranaki	92	10.2	11	DNP	DNP	9	9	5	19	12	9	18	0	-	-	1 try; 24 pen; 1 dg; 6 con
Michael Harris	North Harbour	89	11.1	17	15	0	13	DNP	DNP	DNP	11	13	7	13	-	-	23 pen; 10 con
Robbie Robinson	Southland	86	9.6	11	16	8	6	DNP	DNP	14	9	8	8	6	-	-	22 pen; 13 con
Daniel Carter	Canterbury	81	16.2	14	22	19	DNP	21	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	5	-	-	2 try; 19 pen; 7 con

Top Try Scorers

2009 Air New Zealand Cup top try scorers.

Player	Team	Total	Tries by Round
			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Zac Guildford	File:HB.png Hawke's Bay	13	1	0	0	0	1	1	2	0	3	1	3	1	-
Hosea Gear	File:Lions.png Wellington	10	1	1	0	1	1	4	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	2	-	-
Sean Maitland	Canterbury	8	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	2	2	0	-	-
Ben Smith	Otago	6	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	1	-	-
Jared Payne	Northland	6	0	0	1	1	1	2	0	1	0	0	1	-	-
Jason Shoemark	File:HB.png Hawke's Bay	5	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	-	-
Many		4	Various

Top Goal Kickers

2009 Air New Zealand Cup top ten goal kickers; judged on percentage of successful attempts.

		Conversions		Pen. Kicks		Drop Goals
Player	Team	Att.	Comp.	Att.	Comp.	Att.	Comp.	Percentage
Matt Berquist	File:HB.png Hawke's Bay	27	21	35	32	4	2	83.3%
Daniel Carter	Canterbury	9	7	24	19	0	0	78.8%
Daniel Kirkpatrick	File:Lions.png Wellington	16	15	29	20	0	0	77.8%
Stephen Donald	Waikato	4	3	3	3	1	0	75.0%
Mike Delany	Bay of Plenty	17	13	48	35	0	0	73.8%
Glenn Dickson	Otago	9	6	16	13	1	0	73.1%
Callum Bruce	Waikato	18	14	39	28	1	0	72.4%
Isaac Thompson	File:Turbos.png Manawatu	11	9	18	12	0	0	72.4%
Andrew Goodman	File:Makos.png Tasman	21	16	28	19	1	1	72.0%
Sam Giddens	File:HB.png Hawke's Bay	8	5	2	2	0	0	70.0%

Ranfurly Shield

Main article: Ranfurly Shield in 2009

Wellington held off Wairarapa Bush 90-19 in a convincing first up match and 61-6 game against Wanganui. Wellington beat Otago 23-19 on the 31 July in a match at the Lions Den, and then Auckland 16-15 on the 22nd of August. Wellington lost the shield the next week though losing to Canterbury 36-14. Canterbury won their first challenge against Otago on the 12th of September, when they won 36 points to 16. They won their next challenge against Taranaki on the 18th of September, 29-17. Their next challenge was against Northland on the 26th of September, which they won 31 points to 21. Canterbury successfully defended the shield for the fourth time against Manawatu winning 50-26.

Fixtures

Date	Holder	Score	Challenger	Venue	Attendance
2 July	File:Lions.png Wellington	90 - 19	Wairarapa Bush	Memorial Park, Masterton	5,000
9 July	File:Lions.png Wellington	61 - 6	Wanganui	Cook's Garden, Wanganui	unknown
31 July	File:Lions.png Wellington	23 - 19	Otago	Westpac Stadium, Wellington	11,261
22 Aug	File:Lions.png Wellington	16 - 15	Auckland	Westpac Stadium, Wellington	13,466
29 Aug	File:Lions.png Wellington	14 - 36	Canterbury	Westpac Stadium, Wellington	18,511
12 Sept	Canterbury	36 - 16	Otago	AMI Stadium, Christchurch	16,500
18 Sept	Canterbury	29 - 17	File:Naki.png Taranaki	AMI Stadium, Christchurch	8,800
26 Sept	Canterbury	31 - 21	Northland	AMI Stadium, Christchurch
09 Oct	Canterbury	50 - 26	File:Turbos.png Manawatu	AMI Stadium, Christchurch
22 Oct	Canterbury	-	Southland	AMI Stadium, Christchurch

Pre-season Fixtures

2009 pre-season games including two Ranfurly Shield matches for Wellington against Wairarapa Bush and Wanganui.

Date	Home	Score	Away	Venue
1 July	North Otago	3-79	Otago	Centennial Park, Oamaru
2 July	Wairarapa Bush	19-90	Wellington (RS)	Memorial Park, Masterton
3 July	Manawatu	13-22	Taranaki	FMG Stadium, Palmerston North
8 July	North Harbour	16-13	Waikato	Moire Park, Massey
8 July	North Otago	18-50	Southland	Centennial Park, Oamaru
9 July	Wanganui	6-61	Wellington (RS)	Cook's Garden, Wanganui
10 July	Hawke's Bay	35-13	Manawatu	McLean Park, Napier
10 July	Taranaki	26-18	Bay of Plenty	Yarrow Stadium, Taranaki
11 July	Mid Canterbury	0-85	Otago	Ashburton Showgrounds, Ashburton
11 July	Counties Manukau	0-14	Auckland	Growers Stadium, Pukekohe
15 July	Northland	7-10	North Harbour	Lindvart Park, Kaikohe
17 July	Taranaki	28-30	Hawke's Bay	TET Stadium, Inglewood
17 July	Auckland	17-12	Waikato	Douglas Field, Waitakere
17 July	Manawatu	38-19	Wellington	FMG Stadium, Palmerston North
17 July	Bay of Plenty	28-19	Counties Manukau	Rugby Park, Whakatane
17 July	Southland	19-7	Canterbury	Rugby Park Stadium, Invercargill
18 July	Tasman	32-33	Otago	Trafalgar Park, Nelson
23 July	North Harbour	6-17	Auckland	North Harbour Stadium Outer Oval, North Shore
24 July	Wellington	31-24	Canterbury	Porirua Park, Wellington
24 July	Waikato	28-24	Taranaki	Waikato Stadium, Waikato
24 July	Counties Manukau	3-10	Northland	Growers Stadium, Pukekohe
24 July	Southland	19-14	Otago	Rugby Park Stadium, Invercargill
24 July	Bay of Plenty	7-35	Hawke's Bay	Tauranga Domain, Tauranga

Stadia

Team	Stadium	Town/City	Capacity	Largest Crowd
Auckland	Eden Park	Kingsland	45,4721	10,200 (vs. Cant)
Bay of Plenty	Bay Park Stadium	Mount Maunganui	19,800	12,000 (vs. Wai)
	Rotorua International Stadium	Rotorua	34,000	5,000 (vs. File:Lions.png Wgtn)
Canterbury	AMI Stadium	Christchurch	36,0001	16,500 (vs. Otag)
Counties Manukau	Growers Stadium	Pukekohe	18,000	7,000 (vs. Wai)
File:HB.png Hawke's Bay	McLean Park	Napier	16,500	17,000 (vs. Canterbury)
File:Turbos.png Manawatu	FMG Stadium	Palmerston North	18,000	11,000 (vs. File:Naki.png Tara)
North Harbour	North Harbour Stadium	Albany	25,000	8,000 (vs. Cant)
Northland	Okara Park	Whangarei	25,000	4,500 (vs. Otag)
	Kerikeri Domain	Kerikeri	6,5002	7,000 (vs. Auck)
Otago	Carisbrook	Dunedin	29,000	7,000 (vs. South and Auck)
Southland	Rugby Park Stadium	Invercargill	17,000	10,500 (vs. BoP)
File:Naki.png Taranaki	Yarrow Stadium	New Plymouth	25,000	7,500 (vs. File:Lions.png Wgtn)
File:Makos.png Tasman	Lansdowne Park	Blenheim	15,000	3,500 (vs. File:Naki.png Tara)
	Trafalagar Park	Nelson	16,000	5,500 (vs. File:Turbos.png Mana)
Waikato	Waikato Stadium	Hamilton	25,800	11,500 (vs. File:Turbos.png Mana)
File:Lions.png Wellington	Westpac Stadium	Wellington	34,500	18,511 (vs. Cant)

¹Construction being applied
²Estimate

Milestones

The list of milestones of players, teams, coaches and unions celebrating a significant moment in 2009.

Hawke's Bay 125th Anniversary

In 2009 the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union celebrates its 125th Anniversary. First founded in 1884 the HBRU becomes only the sixth team to celebrate 125 years in New Zealand Rugby. Becoming a member union of the NZRFU in 1892 the Magpies have been one of the underrated sides throughout rugby's history in New Zealand. They have won the NPC 2nd Division multiple times and since being promoted to the new Air New Zealand Cup in 2006 they have become a solid team featuring in the semi-finals of the past two seasons.

Canterbury wins Ranfurly Shield

Canterbury won the Ranfurly Shield off Wellington 36 points to 14 on the 29th of August, it was the first time they won the shield since 2007 and the 13th time they've won the shield overall.

Firsts

The moments in the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup where it happened for the first time.

Hawke's Bay beat Auckland

On the 1st of August the Hawke's Bay Magpies beat Auckland 47-13, this was their first Air New Zealand/NPC win over them and their first win over the Aucklanders since 1974. It was also the most points scored by a Magpies team against Auckland in New Zealand rugby history.

Tasman beat North Harbour

Tasman beat North Harbour 19-15 on the 7^th of August, it was the first time in Tasman's short history that they have beaten North Harbour.

Tasman beat Auckland

Auckland went down to Tasman, 12-8, for the first time in their two previous meetings. The first time they meet Auckland won 46-6.

Tasman vs. Counties Manukau

When Tasman and Counties Manukau played each other on the 16th of August, it was the first time these two teams have faced off in Tasman's 4 year and Counties 54 year history respectively.

Kerikeri

Kerikeri hosted its first ever provincial rugby match on the 16th of August at the Kerikeri Domain when the home team, Northland, lost 32 to 13 to Auckland in front of 6,000 people. It was also the first time Northland have played a home game inside the province outside of Whangarei.

Taranaki beat Wellington

When Taranaki beat Wellington 29 points to 16, it was the first time they've beaten them in a NPC or Air New Zealand Cup match since 1989.

Player

List of significant moments by players in the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup.

David Holwell's 100th Game

David Holwell, of Northland, celebrated his 100th game for the province on the 11th of October. However the team could not pull off the upset against his old province Wellington.

Hosea Gear vs. Counties Manukau

When Wellington beat Counties Manukau on the 4th of September, winger Hosea Gear equaled the record for most tries by a player in an Air New Zealand Cup game with 4, 3 of them in the first 30 minutes.

Fa'atonu Fili, Dropped Goal Record

When Wellington beat Auckland 16-15, fly-half Fa'atonu Fili kicked his third dropped goal of the season, an Air New Zealand Cup record.

Referees

The list of referees who have officiated in the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup. Keith Brown and Garratt Williamson have refereed the most games this season with 8 each. Nathan Pearce officiated the Hawke's Bay, Taranaki game on the 15th of August, he was the first referee from outside the country to referee an Air New Zealand Cup match, he was followed by fellow Australian Andrew Lees on the 11th of September and Englishman Wayne Barnes on the 24th of September.

Referee	Union of Governance	No. of Games Officiated
Garratt Williamson	Wellington Rugby Football Union	9
Keith Brown	Southland Rugby Football Union	8
Josh Noonan	Canterbury Rugby Football Union	7
Vinny Munro	Canterbury Rugby Football Union	7
Kane McBride	Canterbury Rugby Football Union	6
Jonathan White	Auckland Rugby Football Union	6
Chris Pollock	Wellington Rugby Football Union	6
Mike Fraser	Wellington Rugby Football Union	5
Glenn Newman	North Harbour Rugby Union	4
Ben Skeen	unknown	3
Bryce Lawrence	Bay of Plenty Rugby Union	3
James McPhail	Canterbury Rugby Football Union	3
Matthew Stanish	Auckland Rugby Football Union	3
Shane McDermott	Bay of Plenty Rugby Union	2
Nathan Pearce	Australian Rugby Union	2
Wayne Barnes	Rugby Football Union	1
Andrew Lees	Australian Rugby Union	1
Chris Morris	Taranaki Rugby Football Union	1

Women's Competition

Main article: 2009 New Zealand Women's Rugby Competition

The 2009 New Zealand Women's Rugby Competition (the female equivalent to the Air New Zealand Cup) ran from the 22nd of August to 3rd of October. Six teams represented their respective regions and play in a 2009 competition that includes a round-robin, two semi-finals and a final. Auckland came out on top to secure their second championship in two years.

Round-Robin

The round-robin ran for 5 weeks with every team facing each other team once. Each team hosted 2 or 3 home games. The Rugby Union Bonus Points System was used to determine which teams advanced to the semi-finals.

Standings

The top four teams will advance to the semi finals.

Pos.	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	BP1	BP2	Pts
1	Canterbury	5	5	0	0	147	36	111	3	0	23
2	Auckland	5	3	1	1	143	53	90	3	1	18
3	File:Lions.png Wellington	4	3	1	1	96	49	47	2	0	16
4	File:HB.png Hawke's Bay	5	2	0	3	57	127	-70	1	0	9
5	Otago	4	1	0	4	107	109	-2	1	1	6
6	File:Turbos.png Manawatu	4	0	0	4	36	194	-158	0	0	0

Round-Robin Results Grid

	Auck	Cant	HB	Mana	Otago	Wgtn
Auckland		15 - 20	47 - 0	41 - 9	30 - 14	10 - 10
Canterbury	20 - 15		31 - 5	55 - 5	24 - 5	17 - 6
File:HB.png Hawke's Bay	0 - 47	5 - 31		28 - 10	19 - 14	5 - 25
File:Turbos.png Manawatu	9 - 41	5 - 55	10 - 28		10 - 69	12 - 29
Otago	14 - 30	5 - 24	19 - 14	60 - 10		5 - 26
File:Lions.png Wellington	10 - 10	6 - 17	25 - 5	29 - 12	26 - 5

Home Game

Away Game

Semifinals

The two semifinals were held on 26 September. Canterbury comfortably beat Hawke's Bay, 55–3 while Auckland beat Wellington 19 points to 3.

Date	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Time	Venue
26 Sept	Canterbury	55 - 3	File:HB.png Hawke's Bay	12:00 pm	AMI Stadium
26 Sept	Auckland	19 - 3	File:Lions.png Wellington	12:30 pm	Western Springs

Grand Final

The 2009 New Zealand Women's Rugby Grand Final was played on 3 October when Canterbury, who went undefeated throughout the round-robin, lost to Auckland at Rugby Park in Christchurch 24-20.

2009 New Zealand Women's Rugby Grand Final
Date	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Time	Venue
3 October	Canterbury	20 - 24	Auckland	2:00 pm	Rugby Park, Christchurch

See also

• Air New Zealand Cup
• 2009 Air New Zealand Cup Round-Robin
• Heartland Championship
• 2009 Heartland Championship
• Wellington in the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup
• Auckland in the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup
• Manawatu Turbos season 2009