The 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season was the 15th season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on September 11, when North Harbour hosted Canterbury. It involved the top fourteen rugby unions of New Zealand. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as the Mitre 10 Cup and it was the fifth season under the lead sponsor. The winner of the Championship, Hawke's Bay was promoted to the Premiership, the seventh placed Premiership team, North Harbour was relegated to the Championship.
Format The Mitre 10 Cup standings were sorted by a competition points system. Four points were awarded to the winning team, a draw equaled two points, whilst a loss amounted to zero points. Unions could also win their side a respectable bonus point. To receive a bonus point, they must have scored four tries or more or lose by seven or fewer points or less. Each team was placed on their total points received. 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 got placed higher. In case of a draw between them, the side with the biggest points differential margin got rights to be ranked above. If they were tied on points difference, it was then decided by a highest scored try count or a coin toss. This seeding format was implemented since the beginning of the 2006 competition.
The competition included a promotion-relegation process with the winner of the Championship receiving automatic promotion to the Premiership, replacing the seventh-placed team in the Premiership which was relegated to the Championship for the following year. The regular season consisted of two types of matches. The internal division matches were when each team played the other six unions in their division once, home or away. The cross-division matches were when each team played four teams from the other division, thus missing out on three teams, each from the opposite division. Each union played home or away games against teams from the other division, making a total of ten competition games for each union. The finals format allowed the top four teams from each division move on to the semi-finals. The top two division winners, based on table points, received a home semi-final. In the first round of the finals, the semi-finals, the second division winner hosted the third division winner, and the first division winner hosted the fourth division winner. The final was hosted by the top remaining seed.
Standings Source: Mitre 10 Cup standings 2020
Premiership Division Pos Team 1 Auckland 10 7 0 3 299 198 +101 6 2 36 2 Tasman 10 7 0 3 288 202 +86 5 0 33 3 Bay of Plenty 10 6 0 4 268 258 +10 5 2 31 4 Waikato 10 6 0 4 257 230 +27 4 1 29 5 Canterbury 10 5 0 5 251 224 +27 5 4 29 6 Wellington 10 5 0 5 289 248 +41 7 2 29 7 North Harbour 10 5 0 5 276 226 +50 4 3 27
Championship Division Pos Team 1 RS – Hawke's Bay 10 7 0 3 264 209 +55 6 2 36 2 Otago 10 6 0 4 244 247 –3 5 1 30 3 Northland 10 5 0 5 221 262 –41 3 1 24 4 Taranaki 10 4 0 6 263 265 –2 4 4 24 5 Southland 10 3 0 7 144 193 –49 1 3 16 6 Counties Manukau 10 3 0 7 208 331 –123 2 0 14 7 Manawatu 10 1 0 9 198 377 –179 4 1 9
Standings progression Premiership Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 Auckland 5(1st) 5(6th) 10(3rd) 14(2nd) 19(2nd) 24(1st) 25(3rd) 30(1st) 34(1st) 36(1st) Bay of Plenty 2(5th) 6(4th) 6(6th) 7(6th) 7(7th) 12(7th) 17(6th) 21(5th) 26(4th) 31(3rd) Canterbury 5(4th) 6(3rd) 7(5th) 12(5th) 17(4th) 18(5th) 18(5th) 19(7th) 24(6th) 29(5th) North Harbour 0(7th) 0(7th) 1(7th) 6(7th) 11(6th) 12(6th) 16(7th) 20(6th) 25(5th) 27(7th) Tasman 5(3rd) 10(1st) 15(1st) 15(1st) 20(1st) 20(3rd) 25(2nd) 29(2nd) 29(2nd) 33(2nd) Waikato 5(2nd) 10(2nd) 10(4th) 14(3rd) 19(3rd) 23(2nd) 27(1st) 27(3rd) 29(3rd) 29(4th) Wellington 1(6th) 6(5th) 11(2nd) 13(4th) 15(5th) 19(4th) 24(4th) 24(4th) 24(7th) 29(6th) Championship Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 Counties Manukau 0(5th) 0(7th) 0(7th) 5(6th) 5(6th) 5(6th) 5(6th) 10(6th) 10(6th) 14(6th) Hawke's Bay 1(4th) 6(2nd) 10(1st) 15(1st) 15(2nd) 20(1st) 25(1st) 26(2nd) 31(1st) 36(1st) Manawatu 0(6th) 1(6th) 1(6th) 3(7th) 3(7th) 4(7th) 4(7th) 9(7th) 9(7th) 9(7th) Northland 5(1st) 5(4th) 9(5th) 14(2nd) 18(1st) 18(3rd) 18(3rd) 18(3rd) 19(4th) 24(3rd) Otago 0(7th) 5(5th) 10(2nd) 10(4th) 15(3rd) 20(2nd) 25(2nd) 29(1st) 29(2nd) 30(2nd) Southland 4(3rd) 5(3rd) 9(3rd) 10(3rd) 11(4th) 11(5th) 11(5th) 11(5th) 16(5th) 16(5th) Taranaki 5(2nd) 9(1st) 9(4th) 9(5th) 10(5th) 14(4th) 15(4th) 17(4th) 22(3rd) 24(4th) The table above shows a team's progression throughout the season.For each week, their cumulative points total is shown with the overall division log position in brackets. Key: Win Draw Loss Bye
Regular season The 2020 Mitre 10 Cup played across ten weeks. The competition started on September 11, with North Harbour taking on Canterbury at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Play-offs
Championship
Premiership
Semi-finals Championship
Premiership
Finals Championship
Premiership
FB 15Zarn Sullivan RW 14AJ Lam OC 13Tumua ManuIC 12Tanielu Teleʻa LW 11Salesi RayasiFH 10Harry PlummerSH 9 Jonathan Ruru N8 8 Sione TuipulotuOF 7 Niko JonesBF 6 Adrian Choat RL 5 Jack Whetton LL 4 Scott ScraftonTP 3 Angus Ta'avao (c) HK 2 Leni Apisai LP 1 James Lay Replacements:HK 16Mike Sosene-Feagai PR 17Jarred Adams PR 18Marcel Renata LK 19Hamish Dalzell FL 20Presley Tufuga SH 21Taufa Funaki FH 22Simon Hickey FB 23Jordan Trainor FB 15David Havili (c)RW 14Mark Tele'a OC 13Fetuli PaeaIC 12Tim O'MalleyLW 11Leicester Fainga'anukuFH 10Mitchell Hunt SH 9 Finlay ChristieN8 8 Taina Fox-Matamua OF 7 Sione HaviliBF 6 Hugh RentonRL 5 Quinten StrangeLL 4 Te Ahiwaru CirikidavetaTP 3 Sam Matenga HK 2 Quentin MacDonald LP 1 Isi Tu'ungafasi Replacements:HK 16Sam Moli PR 17Ryan Coxon PR 18Isaac Salmon LK 19Isaac RossFL 20Anton Segner SH 21Dwayne PolataivaoCE 22Kieron Fonotia WG 23Tima Fainga'anuku
Statistics Leading point scorers No. Player Team Points Average Details 1 Bryn Gatland North Harbour 119 11.90 3 , 25 , 18 , 0 2 Mitchell Hunt Tasman 97 8.10 1 , 25 , 14 , 0 3 Jayson Potroz Taranaki 95 9.50 3 , 16 , 16 , 0 4 Jackson Garden-Bachop Wellington 88 8.80 1 , 25 , 11 , 0 5 Josh Ioane Otago 88 8.80 1 , 19 , 15 , 0 6 Harry Plummer Auckland 74 6.20 0 , 25 , 8 , 0 7 Kaleb Trask Bay of Plenty 72 8.00 5 , 13 , 7 , 0 8 Salesi Rayasi Auckland 70 7.80 14 , 0 , 0 , 0 9 Jason Robertson Counties Manukau 57 7.13 2 , 13 , 7 , 0 10 Lincoln McClutchie Hawke's Bay 57 4.75 0 , 21 , 5 , 0 Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).
Leading try scorers No. Player Team Tries Average 1 Salesi Rayasi Auckland 14 1.60 2 Ash Dixon Hawke's Bay 9 0.82 3 Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens Taranaki 8 0.73 4 Luteru Tolai North Harbour 7 0.70 5 Freedom Vaha'akolo Otago 7 0.70 6 AJ Lam Auckland 7 0.64 7 Joe Webber Bay of Plenty 7 0.64 8 Jared Page North Harbour 6 0.86 9 David Havili Tasman 6 0.55 10 Neria Fomai Hawke's Bay 5 0.63 Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).
Points by week Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Average Auckland 38 6 21 39 50 12 20 16 29 28 31 10 22 23 31 10 24 20 33 34 299 198 29.90 19.80 Bay of Plenty29 3617 1410 3216 207 3353 3544 822 1733 3037 33268 25826.80 25.80 Canterbury43 2922 2319 2031 2634 1015 168 4416 2329 034 33251 22425.10 22.40 Counties Manukau24 4117 3115 2436 3013 3622 4020 5331 275 3225 17208 33120.80 33.10 Hawke's Bay10 1631 1720 1928 910 4633 1747 1217 2234 1834 33264 20926.40 20.90 Manawatu26 4325 3612 5030 3610 3435 5312 4724 1219 355 31198 37719.80 37.70 North Harbour29 4319 4110 1140 2446 1020 2523 2224 832 533 37276 22627.60 22.60 Northland43 2621 5424 1535 2518 1417 337 308 2420 2428 17221 26222.10 26.20 Otago6 3836 2530 199 2835 3440 2230 723 1615 3220 26244 24724.40 24.70 Southland16 1014 1711 109 1014 189 1710 4712 2432 1517 25144 19314.40 19.30 Taranaki36 2923 2219 3025 3528 2917 920 2727 3135 1933 34263 26526.30 26.50 Tasman41 2454 2134 1724 4033 710 3147 1019 30 2926 20288 20228.80 20.20 Waikato53 2841 1917 3410 936 1316 1527 2010 3130 3317 28257 23025.70 23.00 Wellington28 5339 2132 1026 3134 3525 2053 203 1918 3431 5289 24828.90 24.80 Source: Mitre 10 Cup Fixtures and Results 2020
Tries by week Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Average Auckland 5 0 3 6 8 2 2 1 5 3 5 2 3 2 4 1 3 3 5 5 43 25 4.30 2.50 Bay of Plenty4 52 21 51 21 57 56 13 35 45 435 363.50 3.60 Canterbury6 23 33 34 45 22 11 61 34 05 534 293.40 2.90 Counties Manukau3 52 52 35 51 53 62 74 41 43 326 472.60 4.70 Hawke's Bay2 25 23 34 01 74 27 23 34 24 437 273.70 2.70 Manawatu2 64 52 85 52 55 72 74 23 41 530 543.40 5.40 North Harbour2 63 61 14 37 13 32 33 14 14 533 303.30 3.00 Northland6 23 83 24 32 22 41 41 33 34 229 332.90 3.30 Otago0 55 44 30 45 46 34 13 12 42 231 313.10 3.10 Southland2 22 21 10 12 20 21 72 44 23 317 261.70 2.60 Taranaki5 43 33 43 43 52 03 34 44 34 434 343.40 3.40 Tasman5 38 35 33 45 12 57 12 00 42 239 263.90 2.60 Waikato5 46 33 51 05 11 23 31 44 52 431 313.10 3.10 Wellington4 56 35 14 44 53 37 20 22 45 140 304.00 3.00 For Against
Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).
Sanctions Player Team Red Yellow Sent off match(es) Sio Tomkinson Otago 1 0 vs Auckland Fa'asiu Fuatai Bay of Plenty 1 0 vs Wellington Slade McDowall Otago 1 0 vs Hawke's Bay Scott Gregory Northland 1 0 vs North Harbour Tietie Tuimauga Manawatu 0 2 vs Auckland and Hawke's Bay Zarn Sullivan Auckland 0 2 vs North Harbour and Tasman Liam Coltman Otago 0 1 vs Auckland Jack Regan Otago 0 1 vs Auckland Nehe Milner-Skudder Manawatu 0 1 vs Northland Aaron Carroll Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs Taranaki Greg Pleasants-Tate Southland 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Samuel Slade Counties Manukau 0 1 vs Hawke's Bay Matiaha Martin Counties Manukau 0 1 vs Hawke's Bay Xavier Numia Wellington 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Nic Mayhew North Harbour 0 1 vs Southland Gerard Cowley-Tuioti North Harbour 0 1 vs Southland Filo Paulo Manawatu 0 1 vs Auckland Lua Li Northland 0 1 vs Counties Manukau Stephen Perofeta Taranaki 0 1 vs Northland Rob Rush Northland 0 1 vs Taranaki Luke Romano Canterbury 0 1 vs Wellington Isaac Salmon Tasman 0 1 vs North Harbour Sam Matenga Tasman 0 1 vs North Harbour Vilimoni Koroi Otago 0 1 vs Hawke's Bay Jason Long Hawke's Bay 0 1 vs North Harbour Conán O'Donnell Counties Manukau 0 1 vs Waikato Chase Tiatia Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs Tasman Kara Pryor Northland 0 1 vs Southland Chris Gawler Taranaki 0 1 vs Southland Beaudein Waaka Waikato 0 1 vs Canterbury Isaiah Punivai Canterbury 0 1 vs Waikato Sam Darry Canterbury 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Nathan Vella Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs Canterbury Marcel Renata Auckland 0 1 vs North Harbour Luke Jacobson Waikato 0 1 vs Taranaki Ross Wright Northland 0 1 vs North Harbour Bryn Gatland North Harbour 0 1 vs Northland Jordan Lay Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs Hawke's Bay Jonah Lowe Hawke's Bay 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Ross Geldenhuys Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs Hawke's Bay Clinton Malolua Counties Manukau 0 1 vs Taranaki Alamanda Motuga Counties Manukau 0 1 vs North Harbour Charles Alaimalo Southland 0 1 vs Counties Manukau Quinn Tupaea Waikato 0 1 vs Northland Drew Wild Manawatu 0 1 vs Wellington Pepesana Patafilo Wellington 0 1 vs Manawatu Kurt Eklund Bay of Plenty 0 1 vs North Harbour Presley Tufuga Auckland 0 1 vs Canterbury Mathew Wright Northland 0 1 vs Otago Sione Havili Tasman 0 1 vs Bay of Plenty Angus Ta'avao Auckland 0 1 vs Tasman
Ranfurly Shield
Pre-season challenges For the 2020 pre-season Canterbury confirmed challenges against Buller and North Otago. It was later revealed the match between Canterbury and North Otago would be rescheduled and the only defence to go ahead due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
References
External links