2006 Air New Zealand Cup (original) (raw)
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Sports season
| 2006 Air New Zealand Cup season | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  New Zealand |
| Date | 28 July – 21 October 2006 |
| Champions | Waikato |
| Runners-up | Wellington |
| Matches played | 70 |
| Tries scored | 374 (average 5.3 per match) |
| Top point scorer | Jimmy Gopperth (Wellington)121 points |
| Top try scorer | Richard 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]
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.
| 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 |
1 September 2006
19:35 NZST
2 September 2006
14:35 NZST
2 September 2006
17:30 NZST
2 September 2006
19:35 NZST
3 September 2006
14:35 NZST
3 September 2006
16:35 NZST
8 September 2006
19:35 NZST
9 September 2006
14:35 NZST
9 September 2006
17:30 NZST
9 September 2006
19:35 NZST
10 September 2006
14:35 NZST
10 September 2006
16:35 NZST
15 September 2006
18:05 NZST
15 September 2006
20:05 NZST
16 September 2006
14:35 NZST
16 September 2006
17:30 NZST
16 September 2006
19:35 NZST
17 September 2006
14:35 NZST
17 September 2006
16:35 NZST
21 September 2006
19:05 NZST
22 September 2006
18:05 NZST
22 September 2006
20:05 NZST
23 September 2006
14:35 NZST
23 September 2006
17:30 NZST
23 September 2006
19:35 NZST
24 September 2006
16:35 NZST
28 September 2006
19:05 NZST
29 September 2006
19:35 NZST
30 September 2006
14:35 NZST
30 September 2006
17:30 NZST
30 September 2006
19:35 NZST
| 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 | | | | | |
13 October 2006
19:35 NZST
14 October 2006
19:35 NZST
21 October 2006
19:35 NZST
| Waikato | 37–31 | Wellington |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Kahui 15' cKelleher (2) 27' c, 42' cLeonard 70' cCon: Hill (4/4) 16', 28', 43', 71'Pen: Hill (3/3) 37', 54', 77' | Report | Try: Nonu (2) 32' c, 72' mUmaga 79' cCon: Gopperth (2/3) 33', 79'Pen: Gopperth (4/5) 8', 19', 50', 69' |
| 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 
68' N8 8 Sione Lauaki 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 60' Replacements: HK 16 Scott Linklater PR 17 Aled de Malmanche 
60' LK 18 Toby Lynn FL 19 Liam Messam 40' SH 20 Brendon Leonard 68' CE 21 Dwayne Sweeney WG 22 Roy Kinikinilau | | FB 15 Shannon Paku 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 66' N8 8 Rodney So'oialo OF 7 Ben Herring 43' BF 6 Jerry Collins RL 5 Luke Andrews LL 4 Ross Filipo TP 3 John Schwalger HK 2 Mahonri Schwalger 68' LP 1 Joe McDonnell 20' Replacements: HK 16 Luke Mahoney 68' PR 17 Anthony Perenise 20' LK 18 Jeremy Thrush FL 19 Chris Masoe 43' SH 20 Alby Mathewson 66' FH 21 Miah Nikora WG 22 Lome Fa'atau 60' |
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| 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 |
- ^ "air new zealand cup 2006 • competition structure" (PDF). 5 July 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
- ^ "Waikato win Air NZ Cup final". Stuff. 21 October 2006. Archived from the original on 3 July 2013.
- ^ "Air New Zealand Cup launched in grand style". Air New Zealand. Archived from the original on 22 May 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2006.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.