2006 Air New Zealand Cup

2006 Air New Zealand Cup season
Countries New Zealand New Zealand
Date 28 July – 21 October 2006
Champions Waikato
Runners-up Wellington
Matches played 70
Tries scored 374 (average 5.343 per match)
Top point scorer Jimmy Gopperth (Wellington)
121 points
Top try scorer Richard Kahui (Waikato)
8 tries
Official website
www.allblacks.com
2007

The 2006 Air New Zealand Cup was the inaugural season of the Air New Zealand Cup, contested by teams from New Zealand. The season ran from July to October 2006. At the end of the regular season, the top team from Repechage A and B joined with teams from the Top Six who entered the quarter-finals, 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, with Waikato winning 37–31 to win 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

Covering ten weeks, the schedule featured a total of 70 matches. The 14 teams were grouped by the top three places in each pool, highlighted in green, 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:

Three teams receive two home fixtures in Round Two:

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 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

Pool A
Pos. Team Pld W D L PF PA PD BP Pts
1 Auckland 650119563+132525
2 North Harbour 650114292+50323
3 Wellington 650112190+31121
4 Bay of Plenty 6303116129-13113
5 Taranaki 620486128-4219
6 Tasman 6105133163-3048
7 Manawatu 600646174-12811
Pool B
Pos. Team Pld W D L PF PA PD BP Pts
1 Waikato 6501187124+63424
2 Canterbury 650117087+93323
3 Otago 650115376+77323
4 Southland 620488123-35210
5 Counties Manukau 6105130158-2859
6 Hawke's Bay 6114109192-8328
7 Northland 6114104181-7706
Top Six
Pos. Team Pld W D L PF PA PD BP Pts
1 Waikato 9711277182+95636
2 Auckland 9612287119+168834
3 North Harbour 9702206158+48331
4 Wellington 9711189165+24129
5 Canterbury 9603238156+82529
6 Otago 9504192173+19424
Repechage A
Pos. Team Pld W D L PF PA PD BP Pts
1 Bay of Plenty 330010034+66214
2 Hawke's Bay 32016374-1119
3 Counties Manukau 30126593-2835
4 Manawatu 30125178-2702
Repechage B
Pos. Team Pld W D L PF PA PD BP Pts
1 Southland 32015550+519
2 Northland 32015785-2808
3 Taranaki 31027660+1637
4 Tasman 31028780+715
Key to colours
     Qualified for Top Six.
     Qualified for Finals.
Ranfurly Shield holders.

Legend:

  • Pld = Games Played, W = Games Won, D = Games Drawn, L = Games Lost, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, PD = Points Difference, BP = Bonus Points, Pts = Log Points

Points breakdown:

  • 4 points for a win
  • 2 points for a draw
  • 1 bonus point for a loss by seven points or less
  • 1 bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match
  • In the event of a two-team tie on points the ranking of teams is decided by:

(1) the most recent head-to-head result between the tied teams in that season; then
(2) difference in overall points scored; then
(3) total number of tries scored; then
(4) a coin flip.

Round-by-round

Team Points by Round Total Average
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Auckland 41 10 46 6 29 3 45 27 11 14 23 3 22 22 48 7 22 27 287 119 31.88 13.22
Bay of Plenty 6 11 7 25 27 45 33 15 23 17 20 16 38 11 35 7 27 16 216 163 24 18.11
Canterbury 45 0 25 11 22 36 24 7 22 17 32 16 24 26 17 21 27 22 238 156 26.44 17.33
Counties Manukau 19 23 29 51 17 21 20 23 29 8 16 32 11 38 25 25 29 30 195 251 21.66 27.88
Hawke's Bay 0 45 0 37 51 29 24 24 23 42 11 15 26 10 7 35 30 29 172 266 19.11 29.55
Manawatu 10 41 0 43 12 18 15 33 3 11 6 28 10 26 25 25 16 27 97 252 10.77 28
North Harbour 33 27 22 13 25 7 31 16 3 23 28 6 28 18 21 17 15 31 206 158 22.88 17.55
Northland 21 36 11 25 6 37 21 17 24 24 21 42 23 17 15 56 19 12 161 266 17.88 29.55
Otago 23 19 37 0 37 6 24 21 15 8 17 22 18 28 7 48 14 21 192 173 21.33 19.22
Southland 36 21 14 23 7 24 8 15 8 29 15 11 23 14 20 17 12 19 143 173 15.88 19.22
Taranaki 14 30 13 22 3 29 18 12 22 15 16 20 17 23 17 20 42 17 162 188 18 20.88
Tasman 27 33 6 46 43 0 15 22 17 23 25 39 14 23 56 15 17 42 220 243 24.44 27
Waikato 23 14 36 22 21 24 23 20 42 23 42 21 22 22 37 21 31 15 235 182 26.11 20.22
Wellington 30 14 11 6 16 31 14 11 11 3 39 25 26 24 21 37 21 14 189 165 21 18.33
Offensive Defensive
Team Tries by Round Total Average
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Auckland 7 1 8 0 4 0 6 3 1 2 2 0 4 3 6 1 1 3 39 13 4.33 1.44
Bay of Plenty 0 1 1 3 3 6 3 2 2 2 1 1 4 1 5 1 3 1 22 18 2.44 2
Canterbury 6 0 4 1 3 5 2 1 3 2 4 1 2 2 2 3 3 1 29 16 3.22 1.77
Counties Manukau 1 2 4 7 2 3 2 3 5 1 1 4 1 4 3 3 4 3 23 30 2.55 3.33
Hawke's Bay 0 6 0 5 7 4 3 2 3 5 1 0 4 1 1 5 3 4 22 32 2.44 3.55
Manawatu 1 7 0 6 2 2 2 3 0 1 0 5 1 4 3 3 1 3 10 34 1.11 3.77
North Harbour 5 3 2 1 3 1 4 1 0 2 5 0 3 2 3 2 2 4 27 16 3 1.77
Northland 2 4 1 4 0 4 3 2 2 3 2 6 2 3 2 7 3 0 17 33 1.88 3.66
Otago 2 1 5 0 4 0 3 2 2 1 2 3 2 3 1 6 1 3 22 19 2.44 2.11
Southland 4 2 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 5 0 1 2 1 2 2 0 3 13 20 1.44 2.22
Taranaki 1 3 1 2 0 4 2 2 3 2 1 1 3 2 2 2 5 2 18 20 2 2.22
Tasman 3 5 0 8 6 0 2 3 2 2 3 5 1 2 7 2 2 5 26 32 2.88 3.55
Waikato 2 2 5 3 2 3 3 2 5 3 6 2 3 4 5 3 4 2 35 24 3.88 2.66
Wellington 3 1 1 0 1 4 2 1 1 0 5 3 2 2 3 5 3 1 21 17 2.33 1.88
Offensive Defensive

Regular Season

Confirmed fixture matches for 2006 season as follows:

Round 1

Bye/s: Bay of Plenty, Waikato

Round 2

Bye/s: Manawatu, Counties Manukau

Round 3

Bye/s: Southland, Wellington

Round 4

Bye/s: Tasman, Hawke's Bay

Round 5

Bye/s: Canterbury, North Harbour

Round 6

Bye/s: Northland, Taranaki

Round 7

Bye/s: Auckland, Otago

Round 8

Round 9

Round 10

Finals

Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
6 October – Wellington        
  Wellington  36
13 October – Auckland
  Canterbury  23  
  Auckland  15
7 October – Auckland
      Wellington  30  
  Auckland  46
21 October – Hamilton
  Bay of Plenty  14  
  Waikato  37
7 October – Hamilton    
    Wellington  31
  Waikato  24
14 October – Hamilton
  Southland  12  
  Waikato  44
8 October – Albany
      Otago  15  
  North Harbour  21
  Otago  56  
 

Quarter-finals


7 October 2006
17:30 NZST
Auckland 46–14 Bay of Plenty
Try: Kurtis Haiu, Chris Heard, Doug Howlett, Jerome Kaino, Brad Mika, Joe Rokocoko
Con: Ben Atiga (3), Isa Nacewa (2)
Pen: Ben Atiga (2)
Report Try: Cory Aporo, Jamie Nutbrown
Con: Murray Williams (2)
Eden Park, Auckland
Referee: New Zealand Lyndon Bray



Semi-finals



Final

21 October 2006
7:35 pm
Waikato 37 31 Wellington
Try: Byron Kelleher (2), Richard Kahui, Brendon Leonard
Con: David Hill (4)
Pen: David Hill (3)
Report Try: Ma'a Nonu (2), Tana Umaga
Con: Jimmy Gopperth (2)
Pen: Jimmy Gopperth (4)
Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: New Zealand Bryce Lawrence

Points Scorers

Updated: 10 September 2006

References

  1. "air new zealand cup 2006 • competition structure" (pdf). 5 July 2006. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  2. stuff.co.nz (October 21, 2006). "Waikato win Air NZ Cup final".
  3. "Air New Zealand Cup launched in grand style". Air New Zealand. Retrieved 13 July 2006.
  4. Commerce Commission New Zealand (October 21, 2006). "Rugby Union salary cap authorised for six years".
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