95-623: The National Provincial Championship ( NPC ) is an annual round-robin rugby union competition in men's domestic New Zealand rugby . First played in 1976 , it is the second highest level of competition in New Zealand alongside the Ranfurly Shield . It is organised by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and since 2021, it has been known as the Bunnings NPC after Bunnings , its naming rights sponsor. A concurrent women's tournament
190-635: A World Cup . The union is required to reimburse the NZRU a pro rata sum if that player becomes available for any reason in order to have access to that athlete. Internationals who are unable to play because of test obligations are not subject to the salary cap. The winner of the Bunnings NPC trophy, also known as the Rugby Cup from the previous tournament , is chosen annually in New Zealand Rugby's National Provincial Championship final match. After
285-463: A bye . The schedule can therefore be computed as though the dummy were an ordinary player, either fixed or rotating. Instead of rotating one position, any number relatively prime to ( n − 1 ) {\displaystyle (n-1)} will generate a complete schedule. The upper and lower rows can indicate home/away in sports, white/black in chess , etc.; to ensure fairness, this must alternate between rounds since competitor 1
380-657: A breakaway amateur competition known as the Heartland Championship . Twenty-nine teams have competed since the inception of the competition in 1976. Auckland are historically the most successful union with seventeen titles and Canterbury is the most successful team during the professional-era, having won nine from eleven finals. Eight other teams have won titles from both periods: Wellington (6), Waikato (3), Otago (2), Taranaki (2), Tasman (2), Bay of Plenty (1), Counties Manukau (1) and Manawatu (1). The first form of competition came in 1904 with
475-464: A bye. If the number is even, an added player (ω) becomes the opponent. For an even number n {\displaystyle n} or an odd number n − 1 {\displaystyle n-1} of competitors, Schurig builds a table with n / 2 {\displaystyle n/2} vertical rows and n − 1 {\displaystyle n-1} horizontal rows. Then he populates it starting from
570-489: A certain number of wins or losses. The term round-robin is derived from the French term ruban ('ribbon'). Over time, the term became idiomized to robin . In a single round-robin schedule, each participant plays every other participant once. If each participant plays all others twice, this is frequently called a double round-robin . The term is rarely used when all participants play one another more than twice, and
665-411: A competitor to play the strongest opponents in a round robin in quick succession while others play them intermittently with weaker opposition. This asymmetry means that playing the same opponents is not necessarily completely equitable. There is also no scheduled showcase final match unless (by coincidence) two competitors meet in the last match of the tournament, with the result of that match determining
760-477: A competitor's chance of ultimate victory. Final records of participants are more accurate, in the sense that they represent the results over a longer period against the same opposition. The system is also better for ranking all participants, not just determining the winner. This is helpful to determine the final rank of all competitors, from strongest to weakest, for purposes of qualification for another stage or competition as well as for prize money. In team sports,
855-414: A finals round including quarterfinal, semifinal, and final matches. Based on first-round rankings, teams competed in a top-six pool and a bottom-eight repechage in the second round. The top two teams from the repechage joined the top-six teams in the quarterfinals. Pools were based on the seedings at the end of the 2005 National Provincial Championship . The New Zealand Rugby Union conducted a meeting after
950-524: A formula was established to determine which teams would not face each other based on their performance from the previous season. Canterbury had a remarkable run in the National Provincial Championship from 2008 to 2018, winning the title nine times and cementing their position as one of New Zealand's premier provincial teams. This success stemmed from a strong focus on player development, with many players going on to represent
1045-620: A league or knockout competition as with most football trophies. The holding union must defend the Shield in challenge matches, and a successful challenger becomes the new holder of the Shield. The Shield holder at the end of each season is required to accept at least seven challenges for the following year. All home games during league play, but not during knockout playoffs, in the NPC or Heartland Championship are automatic challenges. The remaining Shield defences must be made up of challenges from unions in
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#17327909782541140-402: A loan they had received from the organisation worth NZD 340,000. Furthermore, Northland had to make governance changes that include a new chief executive and the current board had to resign, seeking a re-election. In December 2005, the final pools and draws for the inaugural Air New Zealand Cup were made. The competition was established as a result of a thorough competitions review conducted by
1235-489: A lower-placed qualifier is perceived to be easier than for a higher-placed one). Four pairs in the 2012 Olympics Women's doubles badminton , having qualified for the next round, were ejected from the competition for attempting to lose in the round robin stage to avoid compatriots and better ranked opponents. The round robin stage at the Olympics was a new introduction, and these potential problems were readily known prior to
1330-400: A memorable 26–6 victory. Canterbury also lost to Tasman during the round-robin phase of that season. The rivalry continued, with the two teams meeting again in the finals of 2016 and 2017, where Canterbury emerged victorious. In April 2021, Bunnings , a hardware and retail store, became the new sponsor of the competition, leading to the name's return to the National Provincial Championship for
1425-605: A proposed salary cap from the Commerce Commission was made public in March 2006, according to the New Zealand Rugby Union . The organisation declared that it was confident that the pay cap restrictions would bring benefits to the public that would offset any reduction in competition. This was contingent upon the pay cap being strong and strictly enforced. The hiring of Craig Neil and Cameron Good to
1520-533: A record sixty-one Ranfurly Shield defenses, five South Pacific Championship titles, and recognition as the Halberg Awards Team of the Year in 1992. Canterbury emerged as the only team to consistently challenge Auckland's supremacy, with several matches becoming historic. The 1985 clash, where Auckland ended Canterbury's record-equalling streak of twenty-five matches, was famously dubbed the "Match of
1615-753: A review conducted by the New Zealand Rugby Union in November 2003, which prioritised issues related to the professional and amateur provincial games, including timing, costs, and the roles of the NZRU, Super 12 franchises, and provincial unions in the sport's management. By December 2005, the final pools and draws for the inaugural Air New Zealand Cup were established, with the season commencing in late July. The fourteen participating teams were Auckland , Bay of Plenty , Canterbury , Counties Manukau , Hawke's Bay , Manawatu , North Harbour , Northland , Otago , Southland , Taranaki , Tasman , Waikato , and Wellington . The competition format included two pools with
1710-437: A round in which players meets each other. For example, player 7 plays against player 11 in round 4. If a player meets itself, then this shows a bye or a game against player n. All games in a round constitutes a diagonal in the table. The above schedule can also be represented by a graph, as shown below: Both the graph and the schedule were reported by Édouard Lucas in as a recreational mathematics puzzle. Lucas, who describes
1805-497: A round, a non-leftmost position (not including 1 {\displaystyle 1} ) can only be taken by competitors of a fixed distance. In round 1 {\displaystyle 1} of the example, in the second position competitor 2 {\displaystyle 2} plays against 13 {\displaystyle 13} , their distance is 2 {\displaystyle 2} . In round 2 {\displaystyle 2} , this position
1900-400: A row from 2008 to 2013 belong to Canterbury. From 2006 to 2009 , Wellington was the only other team to make at least four straight appearances. Wellington has also lost a record number of six finals compared to Tasman's four, Auckland's three, Waikato's two, and Canterbury's two. The only union with a flawless record is Taranaki, which won their two finals appearance in 2014 and 2023. In
1995-602: A salary cap. The NZRU modified its employment policies between the 2006 and 2011 seasons , classifying all players as employees rather than independent contractors. Since all of the professional athletes were employed, the Commerce Act did not apply, and there was no violation of the Act's anti-competitive provisions. As a result, the Commission thought about overturning its judgement. Information about player salaries and
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#17327909782542090-540: A schedule where player 14 has a fixed position, and all other players are rotated counterclockwise n 2 {\displaystyle {\frac {n}{2}}} positions. This schedule is easily generated manually. To construct the next round, the last player, number 8 in the first round, moves to the head of the table, followed by player 9 against player 7, player 10 against 6, until player 1 against player 2. Arithmetically, this equates to adding n 2 {\displaystyle {\frac {n}{2}}} to
2185-619: A straight knockout system. The top one, two, or occasionally three teams in these groups then proceed to a straight knockout stage for the remainder of the tournament. In the circle of death it is possible that no champion emerges from a round-robin tournament, even if there is no draw, but most sports have tie-breaker systems which resolve this. Round-robins can suffer from being too long compared to other tournament types, and with later scheduled games potentially not having any substantial meaning. They may also require tie-breaking procedures. Swiss system tournaments attempt to combine elements of
2280-526: A table. In France this is called the Carousel -Berger system (Système Rutch-Berger). The schedule can also be used for "asynchronous" round-robin tournaments where all games take place at different times (for example, because there is only one venue). The games are played from left to right in each round, and from the first round to the last. When the number of competitors is even, this schedule performs well with respect to quality and fairness measures such as
2375-416: A tournament of 16 teams can be completed in just 4 rounds (i.e. 15 matches) in a knockout format; a double elimination tournament format requires 30 (or 31) matches, but a round-robin would require 15 rounds (i.e. 120 matches) to finish if each competitor faces each other once. Other issues stem from the difference between the theoretical fairness of the round robin format and practice in a real event. Since
2470-417: A two-round system, followed by a finals series consisting of quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. Teams competed based on their rankings from the first round, forming a top six pool and a bottom eight repechage in the second round. The top two teams from the repechage joined the top six teams in the quarterfinals. The pools were determined by seedings from the 2005 National Provincial Championship. Following
2565-476: A two-tier competition. The National Provincial Championship would now feature both professional and semi-professional players, comprising the top fourteen financially viable and high-performing regional teams. For sponsorship purposes, it was rebranded as the Air New Zealand Cup, while the remaining teams formed an amateur competition called the Heartland Championship . This restructuring followed
2660-571: A variety of tiebreaker criteria. Frequently, pool stages within a wider tournament are conducted on a round-robin basis. Examples with single round-robin scheduling include the FIFA World Cup , UEFA European Football Championship , and UEFA Cup (2004–2009) in football, Super Rugby ( rugby union ) in the Southern Hemisphere during its past iterations as Super 12 and Super 14 (but not in its later 15- and 18-team formats),
2755-613: Is a simple algorithm to create a schedule for a round-robin tournament. All competitors are assigned to numbers, and then paired in the first round: Next, one of the competitors in the first or last column of the table is fixed (number one in this example) and the others rotated clockwise one position: This is repeated until when the next iteration would lead back to the initial pairings: With an even number n {\displaystyle n} of competitors this algorithm realizes every possible combination of them (equivalently, that all pairs realized are pairwise different). First,
2850-474: Is also held, the Farah Palmer Cup . Following the 2005 season the league was restructured into a two-tier competition. The National Provincial Championship would include professional and semi-professional players, and consist of the top fourteen financial and sporting best performing regional teams. For sponsorship reasons it was rebranded as the Air New Zealand Cup. The remaining teams would form
2945-435: Is always on the first row. If, say, competitors 3 and 8 were unable to fulfil their fixture in the third round, it would need to be rescheduled outside the other rounds, since both competitors would already be facing other opponents in those rounds. More complex scheduling constraints may require more complex algorithms. This schedule is applied in chess and draughts tournaments of rapid games, where players physically move round
National Provincial Championship (2006–present) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3040-691: Is even, then in each of ( n − 1 ) {\displaystyle (n-1)} rounds, n 2 {\displaystyle {\begin{matrix}{\frac {n}{2}}\end{matrix}}} games can be run concurrently, provided there exist sufficient resources (e.g. courts for a tennis tournament). If n {\displaystyle n} is odd, there will be n {\displaystyle n} rounds, each with n − 1 2 {\displaystyle {\begin{matrix}{\frac {n-1}{2}}\end{matrix}}} games, and one competitor having no game in that round. The circle method
3135-1054: Is held by competitors 14 {\displaystyle 14} and 12 {\displaystyle 12} , also having distance 2 {\displaystyle 2} , etc. Similarly, the next position ( 3 {\displaystyle 3} against 12 {\displaystyle 12} in round 1 {\displaystyle 1} , 2 {\displaystyle 2} against 11 {\displaystyle 11} in round 2 {\displaystyle 2} , etc.) can only hold distance- 4 {\displaystyle 4} competitors. For every k < n 2 {\displaystyle k<{\frac {n}{2}}} , there are exactly n − 1 {\displaystyle n-1} pairs of distance k {\displaystyle k} . There are n − 1 {\displaystyle n-1} rounds and they all realize one distance- k {\displaystyle k} pair at
3230-504: Is never used when one participant plays others an unequal number of times, as is the case in almost all of the major North American professional sports leagues. In the United Kingdom , a round-robin tournament has been called an American tournament in sports such as tennis or billiards which usually have single-elimination (or "knockout") tournaments, although this is now rarely done. A round-robin tournament with four players
3325-468: Is owned by New Zealand, would sponsor the tournament from 2010 to 2012 . Air New Zealand opted to give up their sponsorship rights in order to concentrate their efforts on helping the New Zealand national men's team . ITM continued owning sponsorship naming rights until another bidder beat them for the 2016 season . The Heartland Championship was also backed by the business. It was referred to as
3420-413: Is sometimes called "quad" or "foursome". In sports with a large number of competitive matches per season, double round-robins are common. Most association football leagues in the world are organized on a double round-robin basis, in which every team plays all others in its league once at home and once away. This system is also used in qualification for major tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup and
3515-408: Is the fairest way to determine the champion from among a known and fixed number of contestants. Each contestant, whether player or team, has equal chances against all other opponents because there is no prior seeding of contestants that will preclude a match between any given pair. The element of luck is seen to be reduced as compared to a knockout system since one or two bad performances need not ruin
3610-574: The 2025 ICC Champions Trophy . In a more extreme example, the KBO League in baseball plays a 16-fold round robin, with each of the 10 teams playing each other 16 times for a total of 144 games per team. LIDOM (Baseball Winter League in the Dominican Republic) plays an 18-fold round robin as a semi final tournament between four classified teams. Group tournaments rankings usually go by number of matches won and drawn, with any of
3705-787: The All Blacks . The 2008 season marked the beginning of Canterbury's unprecedented dynasty, which continued until their streak was broken by Auckland in the 2018 final . They became the first team to win six consecutive titles after defeating Wellington in 2013 and also retained the Ranfurly Shield three times during this era. During this period, Canterbury produced over twenty international players, more than any other province in New Zealand. Centurions such as Owen Franks and Sam Whitelock , along with other notable talents like Wyatt Crockett , Sonny Bill Williams , Codie Taylor , and Richie Mo'unga , all began their careers with Canterbury. Each of these players made significant contributions to
3800-656: The Cricket World Cup along with Indian Premier League , major Twenty-20 Cricket tournament, and many American football college conferences , such as the Conference USA (which currently has 9 members). The group phases of the UEFA club competitions and Copa Libertadores are contested as a double round-robin, as are most basketball leagues outside the United States, including the regular season of
3895-536: The EuroLeague (as well as its former Top 16 phase); the United Football League has used a double round-robin for both its 2009 and 2010 seasons. Season ending tennis tournaments also use a round robin format prior to the semi on stages. The champion in a round-robin tournament is the contestant that wins the most games, except when draws are possible. In theory, a round-robin tournament
National Provincial Championship (2006–present) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3990-412: The New Zealand Rugby Union . The season started at the end of July, and fourteen teams participated. Auckland , Bay of Plenty , Canterbury , Counties Manukau , Hawke's Bay , Manawatu , North Harbour , Northland , Otago , Southland , Taranaki , Tasman , Waikato , and Wellington were the teams that were revealed. A two-pool, two-round competition in which the unions participated was followed by
4085-891: The West Coast . In the North Island , starting in the King Country and moving north, eleven teams competed for the Coronation Shield. Given the numerous competitions across New Zealand, there was a clear need for a national tournament. In 1972, Barry Smith proposed an inter-provincial competition to the Auckland Rugby Union . After gaining approval, the proposal was brought to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union's annual conference in early 1974. It included an overview of
4180-592: The inaugural season , the New Zealand Rugby Union held a meeting to evaluate the tournament's success and gather feedback from stakeholders and provincial unions. It was confirmed that the fourteen teams would remain for the 2007 season , though the format would be adjusted. The new structure included seven matches each week during a ten-week modified round robin, followed by quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. Notably, this modified round robin did not require all teams to compete against one another, as
4275-503: The "third tier" of rugby union in New Zealand. Below this tier are numerous club competitions, which are organised by each provincial union. With the creation of two distinct provincial competitions in 2006 , thirteen teams, together with the newly established Tasman Rugby Union , remained in the newly restructured competition. The remainder formed an amateur competition called the Heartland Championship . The teams who were chosen to stay were reorganised to play professionally. In order for
4370-540: The All Blacks, with many playing over fifty test matches . Few teams could match Canterbury's dominance until their neighbouring province, Tasman , became competitive and gained promotion in 2013. This led to the end of Canterbury's six-championship winning streak, as Tasman convincingly defeated them in the 2014 semi-final at Trafalgar Park . Ireland international James Lowe and former All Black Jimmy Cowan both scored tries, converted by Marty Banks , securing
4465-528: The Century." In front of a record crowd of 52,000 at Lancaster Park , Canterbury nearly staged a stunning comeback from a 24–0 half-time deficit, but Auckland held on to win 28–23, setting a new benchmark with sixty-one consecutive defences over eight years. However, Auckland's fortunes waned with the professionalisation of rugby , officially declared in August 1995. The introduction of Super 12 in 1996 marked
4560-494: The Championship each year. Only one side, Hawke's Bay , has won the Championship more than once, their 2020 victory adding to their 2011 and 2015 successes. Of the twelve teams that have participated in the Championship, there have been eight different winners. With the exception of Taranaki in its final season, no Championship team has ever won each of its four crossover matches in a single season. The inaugural trophy
4655-566: The ITM Cup during its existence. However, they wished to extend their sponsorship once their agreement expired in 2015. ITM submitted a bid, however the New Zealand Rugby Union informed them that it had not been accepted. ITM was not given the opportunity to match the new sponsor's investment, and no explanation as to why it was overlooked for both competitions the following year. New Zealand owned home improvement and garden retailer, Mitre 10 took over sponsorship in 2016 after they were announced
4750-467: The Premiership after the 2010 ITM Cup , and teams ranked eighth to fourteenth made up the Championship. Each team would play four crossover games in addition to every other team in their division. The Premiership and Championship division structures were removed after the 2021 season , returning all fourteen teams to compete for a single title. This was partly because teams had requested a change to
4845-539: The Premiership in order to compete for the title. Nine teams were promoted over this time. Bay of Plenty , Counties Manukau , Manawatu , North Harbour , Taranaki , Tasman , Waikato, and Wellington had once all received promotion, whereas Hawke's Bay had been promoted on three different occasions. With nine titles, Canterbury leads all other teams in final victories; Auckland , Tasman, Taranaki and Waikato each have two; Wellington has one. The most final appearances of eleven and most consecutive appearances with six in
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#17327909782544940-408: The Shield. The Shield is currently held by Hawke's Bay , who claimed it from Wellington on 30 September 2023. The Duane Monkley medal, named in honour of the legendary Waikato player who played 135 games for the province between 1987 and 1996, was unveiled by New Zealand Rugby in 2017. The player of the year award is decided by a season-points system. Match officials choose their players of
5035-531: The West Coast were split into North Island and South Island sub-divisions, with the potential for promotion to the top division. Between 1980 and the early 2000s, Auckland experienced a golden era, dominating competitions and consistently retaining the Ranfurly Shield . During this time, they reached eighteen finals, finishing as runners-up multiple times, and secured over half of the available competition titles, totaling fifteen. This remarkable run included
5130-446: The algorithm obviously realizes every pair of competitors if one of them equals 1 {\displaystyle 1} (the non-moving competitor). Next, for pairs of non- 1 {\displaystyle 1} competitors, let their distance be the number k < n 2 {\displaystyle k<{\frac {n}{2}}} of times the rotation has to be carried out in order that one competitor arrives at
5225-540: The amount of rest between games. On the other hand, when the number of competitors is odd, it does not perform so well and a different schedule is superior with respect to these measures. Alternatively Berger tables, named after the Austrian chess master Johann Berger , are widely used in the planning of tournaments. Berger published the pairing tables in his two Schach-Jahrbücher (Chess Annals), with due reference to its inventor Richard Schurig. This constitutes
5320-462: The area to field a squad for the 2006 season, Tasman was established in December 2005. This became the newest provincial union in New Zealand, having been created through the amalgamation of Nelson Bays and Marlborough Rugby Union . Another one of New Zealand's newest provincial rugby unions, North Harbour was founded in 1985, which was followed by Tasman. After North Harbour being promoted to
5415-534: The big five had won the premiership title since 1980. Since then, both teams have secured the title twice, with Taranaki also holding the Ranfurly Shield on two occasions and Tasman winning it for the first time in 2024. During this era, notable All Blacks such as the Barrett brothers, Beauden , Jordie , and New Zealand captain Scott all represented Taranaki, while Tasman boasted talents like Will Jordan , one of
5510-435: The championship. A notable instance of such an event was the 1950 FIFA World Cup match between Uruguay and Brazil . Further issues arise where a round-robin is used as a qualifying round within a larger tournament. A competitor already qualified for the next stage before its last game may either not try hard (in order to conserve resources for the next phase) or even deliberately lose (if the scheduled next-phase opponent for
5605-659: The competition's name back to the National Provincial Championship. The Bunnings NPC would be the official name of the competition. Additionally, Bunnings would support the Heartland Championship, Super Rugby Aotearoa under-20 competition, and the Farah Palmer Cup. In March 2024, the NPC signed a 4-year sponsorship deal with insurance firm Gallagher as an "official national partner" which sees their logo displayed on team jerseys, in stadiums, and during televised matches. The preliminary determination on
5700-581: The continental tournaments (e.g. UEFA European Championship , CONCACAF Gold Cup , AFC Asian Cup , CONMEBOL Copa América and CAF Cup of Nations ). There are also round-robin cricket , bridge , chess , draughts , go , ice hockey , curling , and Scrabble tournaments. The World Chess Championship decided in 2005 and in 2007 on an eight-player double round-robin tournament where each player faces every other player once as white and once as black. There has been several major international cricket tournaments held in this format including ICC events, including
5795-462: The country's leading international try scorers, and Ireland international James Lowe . The fourteen provincial unions that have participated in the current National Provincial Championship since its founding in 2006 are listed below. Ten teams are situated in the North Island and four teams in the South Island . The NPC, which comes after Super Rugby and international rugby, constitutes
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#17327909782545890-542: The current structure and desired that every side have the opportunity to compete for the championship. Andrew Thompson, the chairman of the Taranaki Rugby Football Union board, collaborated with the other provinces to provide a new format to the NZR . Only two teams, Auckland and Canterbury, haven't competed in the Championship tier. Northland and Otago , on the other hand, have both participated in
5985-408: The end of their dominance as many international players became unavailable. Notable stars like Sean Fitzpatrick , who captained the All Blacks and played 154 games for Auckland, and Grant Fox , who set a record for the most shield points (932), were pivotal during this era, along with John Kirwan , who scored forty-four tries. After the 2005 season , the league underwent a restructuring to create
6080-485: The first division in 1987, they entered the National Provincial Championship by taking first place in the third division in its inaugural year. While the former competition received further additional participants such as the Central Vikings , another two unions underwent name changes throughout its time. In 1994, the 1920-founded North Auckland Rugby Union changed its name to Northland . South Auckland Counties
6175-415: The first time since the 2005 season . Additionally, the Rugby Cup was reintroduced as the competition's trophy after being replaced by three other trophies between 2006 and 2021. Following a further review by New Zealand Rugby , the competition format was also restructured, allowing fourteen teams to compete for a single title, eliminating the divisions that had been in place since the 2010 season . Beyond
6270-537: The fourteen-team structure, both teams appealed the decision to be eliminated and won their case. But their existence at top level was conditional upon them meeting further requirements. The relationship between the Nelson and Marlborough unions, which broke down the previous year, needed to be repaired and kept together by Tasman. Additionally, they had to persuade the NZR of their financial viability and begin making payments on
6365-544: The inaugural season to assess how well the tournament went in its first year and to seek formal feedback from its stakeholders and the provincial unions. The meeting's conclusion confirmed that the fourteen teams currently playing would remain for the 2007 season . Later, it was revealed that the format would be altered, with seven matches being played each week during a ten-week modified round robin , followed by quarterfinals, semifinals, and final matches. The modified round robin didn't have all teams playing one another. This
6460-584: The introduction of the Ranfurly Shield as a challenge trophy. Each year, fixtures were arranged in Wellington during the annual meeting of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union , where an elected representative from each provincial union would propose dates and opponents that ideally avoided conflicts with local club competitions. Across the country, neighbouring regions organised regular matches for challenge trophies. One of
6555-556: The match and award three points, two points, and one point for the game's top three performers. Prior to 2017, it was simply given to the best player during the season and was selected by a committee of committee members, retired players, and media representatives. Round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn. A round-robin contrasts with an elimination tournament , wherein participants are eliminated after
6650-403: The method as simple and ingenious , attributes the solution to Felix Walecki, a teacher at Lycée Condorcet . Lucas also included an alternative solution by means of a sliding puzzle . To easily remember this method, the following mnemonic can be used. Starting from the first round, the next round is constructed: and then, If the number of players is odd, the player in the first venue gets
6745-537: The most prestigious competitions, the Hanan Shield , was established in 1946 by Timaru's former mayor, A.E.S. Hanan, and was contested by Mid Canterbury , South Canterbury , and North Otago . Another significant trophy, the Seddon Shield, was first challenged in 1906. Named after former New Zealand premier Richard Seddon, it featured representative teams from Buller , Nelson Bays , Marlborough , and
6840-488: The new title sponsor for the national domestic rugby union competition. With the inclusion of the Farah Palmer Cup , and support of the Jock Hobbs Memorial National under-19 tournament, Mitre 10 became the first sponsor of all major fifteens domestic rugby competitions in New Zealand. Bunnings assumed sponsorship of the tournament on a three-year arrangement prior to the 2021 season , changing
6935-519: The other domestic competition. For example, since North Harbour , an Air New Zealand Cup team, held the Shield at the end of the 2006 season despite losing their home quarter-final to Otago , they were forced to defend the Shield against two Heartland Championship teams during the 2007 pre-season, since they had only five home games scheduled in the 2007 Air New Zealand Cup regular season, which they did against Thames Valley and Horowhenua Kapiti . Having successfully done so, all their home fixtures in
7030-467: The polished stone base by Waihi stone carver Jeff Beckwith. The 45-centimeter-tall cup was constructed of 2.7 kilograms of sterling silver and weighed 3.9 kilograms. The Ranfurly Shield , colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is perhaps the most prestigious trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First presented to Auckland in 1902, the Shield is based on a challenge system, rather than
7125-496: The position the other had. In the example given ( n = 14 {\displaystyle n=14} ), 2 {\displaystyle 2} has distance 1 {\displaystyle 1} to 3 {\displaystyle 3} and to 14 {\displaystyle 14} and it has distance 6 {\displaystyle 6} to 8 {\displaystyle 8} and to 9 {\displaystyle 9} . In
7220-410: The positions of manager and advisor for the salary cap was later confirmed by Steve Tew . Along with the announcement, it was stated that each of the fourteen teams was permitted to spend up to two million NZD annually on player salaries and other benefits. The Commerce Commission was considering overturning its ruling that allowed the New Zealand Rugby Union to impose player movement restrictions and
7315-464: The previous five years. The premier division included Auckland , Bay of Plenty , Canterbury , Counties , Hawke's Bay , Manawatu , Marlborough, North Auckland , Otago , Southland , and Wellington , determined by a ranking system. The remaining provinces, Buller, East Coast , Horowhenua , King Country , Mid Canterbury, Nelson Bays, North Otago, Poverty Bay , South Canterbury, Taranaki , Thames Valley , Waikato , Wairarapa Bush , Wanganui and
7410-400: The previous row, with the exception of player n {\displaystyle n} . When the result of the addition is greater than ( n − 1 ) {\displaystyle (n-1)} , then subtract ( n − 1 ) {\displaystyle (n-1)} from the sum. This schedule can also be represented as a (n-1, n-1) table, expressing
7505-406: The round-robin and elimination formats, to provide a worthy champion using fewer rounds than a round-robin, while allowing draws and losses. The main disadvantage of a round robin tournament is the time needed to complete it. Unlike a knockout tournament where half of the participants are eliminated after each round, a round robin requires one round less than the number of participants. For instance,
7600-525: The round-robin major league champions are generally regarded as the "best" team in the land, rather than the cup winners, whose tournaments usually follow a single-elimination format. Moreover, in tournaments such as the FIFA or ICC World Cups, a first round stage consisting of a number of mini round robins between groups of 4 teams guards against the possibility of a team travelling possibly thousands of miles only to be eliminated after just one poor performance in
7695-419: The round-robin phase were Shield defences until they lost the shield to Waikato . The Shield continues to change hands throughout the regular season; to continue the 2007 example, the week after gaining the Shield from North Harbour, Otago lost at home to Canterbury , who held the Shield until losing at home in the final week of the regular season to Auckland ; hence, at the end of the 2007 season, Auckland held
7790-483: The salary limit was made public in 2015. It was revealed that no matter if a player participates in a single game or not, the minimum worth of any contract is NZD 18,000, and that sum counts towards the salary cap. No union can spend more than a little over one million on salaries. Any individual contract cannot be worth more than NZD 55,000 per season. The NZRU pays provincial unions $ 50,000 for each contracted New Zealand international they have on file that participates in
7885-408: The same position. Clearly, these pairs are pairwise different. The conclusion is that every distance- k {\displaystyle k} pair is realized. This holds for every k {\displaystyle k} , hence, every pair is realized. If there are an odd number of competitors, a dummy competitor can be added, whose scheduled opponent in a given round does not play and has
7980-601: The scheme, addressing finance, travel, sponsorship opportunities, implications for club and sub-union competitions, traditional representative matches, international laws, and Sunday play. Following discussions in October 1975, modifications were made and ultimately accepted by all provinces. Radio New Zealand secured sponsorship rights worth NZD 100,000 and helped market the new competition, later joined by Lion Breweries , National Mutual, and Air New Zealand . Teams were divided into two divisions based on their performance over
8075-417: The semi-finals, a New Zealand city is selected to host the contest, with the semi-final victor with the highest seed receiving home field advantage. Waikato defeated Wellington to become the first province to win the competition following its reorganisation and departure from the former tournament, which concluded in 2005 . Prior to the tournament undergoing a redesign in 2006, the previous competition
8170-470: The sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of appearances, then by number of wins, and finally by season of first appearance. For the 2011 season , three midweek games were agreed upon by all provincial teams in a one-off arrangement to accommodate an expanded Super 15 and the Rugby World Cup . The entire competition would be played over eight weeks, reduced from twelve. The final
8265-608: The teams. This famously happened during the 1994 FIFA World Cup Group E , where all four teams finished with a record of one win, one draw, and one loss. This phenomenon is analogous to the Condorcet paradox in voting theory. If n {\displaystyle n} is the number of competitors, a pure round robin tournament requires n 2 ( n − 1 ) {\displaystyle {\begin{matrix}{\frac {n}{2}}\end{matrix}}(n-1)} games. If n {\displaystyle n}
8360-435: The tournament; changes were made prior to the next Olympics to prevent a repeat of these events. Another disadvantage, especially in smaller round-robins, is the "circle of death", where teams cannot be separated on a head-to-head record. In a three-team round-robin, where A defeats B, B defeats C, and C defeats A, all three competitors will have a record of one win and one loss, and a tiebreaker will need to be used to separate
8455-415: The traditional Super Rugby bases of Auckland , Canterbury , Otago , Waikato , and Wellington , only two other provinces have achieved notable success during the professional era, Taranaki and Tasman . Their rise began with their matchup in the 2014 final , where Taranaki claimed their first national title in history with a thrilling 36–32 victory. This marked the first time a provincial union outside
8550-451: The victor is gradually arrived at through multiple rounds of play, teams who perform poorly, who might have been quickly eliminated from title contention, are forced to play out their remaining games. Thus games are played late in the competition between competitors with no remaining chance of success. Moreover, some later matches will pair one competitor who has something left to play for against another who does not. It may also be possible for
8645-483: Was based on a team's performance in competition during the previous season . A formula was established to determine which teams did not play each other. The competition was known as the Air New Zealand Cup from 2006 to 2009. Air New Zealand , the national carrier of New Zealand , held the naming rights during that time. It was announced in March 2010 that the building suppliers' cooperative ITM, which
8740-430: Was established with full union status in 1955. The following year, the name was abbreviated to Counties, and in 1996 the organisation changed its name to Counties Manukau . Following a review conducted after the 2007 season , New Zealand Rugby declared Northland and Tasman might be removed from the competition due to widespread support for a smaller Air New Zealand Cup. However, after members unanimously decided to keep
8835-581: Was first displayed at the tournaments' launch at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium in July 2006. It was also stated that it would be on display for the general public to witness during the competition's opening game, which was played in Napier between Hawke's Bay and Canterbury . Thorkild Hansen, the son of Jens Hoyer Hansen , crafted the trophy by hand. Black basalt from the Bombay Hills was used to create
8930-553: Was held the week before the World Cup began; there were no semifinals. This was necessary because, according to IRB regulations, the World Cup host was required to cease all domestic rugby action a fortnight or more before the beginning of the competition in order to give all venues enough time to display their sponsors' logos. The brand-new two division format was introduced at this time. Those placed from first to seventh made up
9025-399: Was split into three divisions, with division one being acknowledged and recognised as the champion. The promotion and relegation structure was reintroduced in 2011 until disbanding after the 2021 season . These divisions were known as the Premiership and Championship. The winner of the Premiership was crowned the competition's champion, whereas the winner of the Championship was elevated to
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