The 2014 Heartland Championship was the ninth edition of the

Heartland Championship The Heartland Championship competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two successor competitions to the countr ...

, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur rugby unions in New Zealand. The tournament involved a round-robin stage in which the twelve teams played eight games each and then the top four advanced to the Meads Cup semifinals, while fifth to eighth advanced to the

Lochore Cup The Lochore Cup is a New Zealand rugby union trophy named after famed Wairarapa Bush and All Blacks player and coach Brian Lochore. It is contested during the Heartland Championship. It was first awarded in 2006, when the Heartland Championship ...

semifinals. In both of these knockout stages the top seeds (first and fifth) played at home against the lowest seeds (fourth and eighth), the second highest seeds (second and sixth) played at home against the third highest seeds (third and seventh) and the final had the higher seed play at home against the lower seed.

Teams

The 2014 Heartland Championship will be contested by the following teams.

Pre-season

Two Heartland Championship teams,

Thames Valley The Thames Valley is an informally-defined sub-region of South East England, centred on the River Thames west of London, with Oxford as a major centre. Its boundaries vary with context. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub, ...

and

Mid Canterbury Mid Canterbury (also spelt Mid-Canterbury and mid-Canterbury) is a traditional, semi-official subregion of New Zealand's Canterbury Region extending inland from the Pacific coast to the Southern Alps. It is one of four traditional sub-regions of C ...

, challenged Counties Manukau for the

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challeng ...

in two matches that took place in at Counties Manukau's home ground,

ECOLight Stadium Navigation Homes Stadium is a stadium in Pukekohe, New Zealand. Its usual tenants are the Counties Manukau Rugby Union, whose first-class team compete in the National Provincial Championship. In July 2009, Counties Manukau announced that Bayer ...

Pukekohe Pukekohe is a town in the Auckland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the southern edge of the Auckland Region, it is in South Auckland, between the southern shore of the Manukau Harbour and the mouth of the Waikato River. ...

."First Ranfurly Shield matches confirmed for 2014"
. ITM Cup. 30 November 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2014.

Standings

In the case 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 caseof a three-team or more tie on points the ranking 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.

Teams

Pre-season

Standings

Round by round

Points scorers

Regular season

Round 1

Round 2

Round 3

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Round 8

Finals

Semifinals

Finals

See also

References