131-623: 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
262-635: 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
393-463: 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
524-657: 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
655-464: 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
786-565: A central role in New Zealand public broadcasting . The New Zealand Parliament fully funds its AM network, used in part for the broadcast of parliamentary proceedings. RNZ has a statutory role under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act 2002 to act as a "lifeline utility " in emergency situations. It is also responsible for an international service (known as RNZ Pacific ); this is broadcast to
917-489: 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
1048-411: 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
1179-477: 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,
1310-726: A false account of the Russian invasion of Ukraine . Wire agency articles were said to have been "edited to align with the Russian view of events." The editing was linked to one employee, journalist Michael Hall, who subsequently resigned. An RNZ audit identified 49 examples of what it called inappropriate editing on various international affairs. Nearly half related to the war in Ukraine, while others related to China, Israel and countries in Europe and South America. A Stuff reporter interpreted
1441-414: 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
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#17327647535371572-524: 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
1703-620: 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
1834-402: 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
1965-446: A lower cost and without such significant structural change." He confirmed that both TVNZ and RNZ would receive additional government funding. Prior to the public media entity's cancellation, the two public broadcasters had spent a total of NZ$ 1,023,701 on the merger process; with RNZ spending NZ$ 431,277 by mid-November 2022. On 9 June 2023, Radio New Zealand launched an investigation after discovering several stories that it said gave
2096-489: 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
2227-400: 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
2358-769: A nearby station or relayed National Radio . Following the sale to The Radio Network most of these stations became part of the Community Radio Network with programming outside the breakfast show originating from Taupō. These stations later became part of the Classic Hits network in 2001. Radio New Zealand operated a youth network of stations under the ZM brand with the three original stations being in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The Auckland station 1ZM changed format in 1987 to Classic Hits leaving just
2489-472: A network of regional reporters. Magazine programmes include a broad range of contributors, interviews, music pieces and dramas, with reports and regular features in English and Māori . The network provides coverage of business, science, politics, philosophy, religion, rural affairs, sports and other topics. RNZ National broadcasts on AM and FM via mono terrestrial transmitters based around New Zealand and
2620-605: 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
2751-533: 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
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#17327647535372882-753: 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
3013-437: 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
3144-497: 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
3275-400: 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
3406-602: 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
3537-540: 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
3668-619: 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
3799-526: 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
3930-416: 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
4061-417: 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
National Provincial Championship (2006–present) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4192-476: 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
4323-571: 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),
4454-449: A younger audience as part of a new multimedia music brand. The move was widely condemned across New Zealand, with many people seeing it as a gutting of the arts in New Zealand. Former Prime Minister Helen Clark issued a statement on Twitter saying that it "equates to a dumbing down of cultural life in NZ". Two thousand protesters signed a petition. The RNZ board reversed its decision when
4585-613: 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,
4716-915: Is also a Parliamentary Press Gallery office situated in the Beehive in Wellington. Before 1996, the News service provided news to all commercial stations operated by Radio New Zealand as well as many independently owned stations. New owner The Radio Network launched its own news service. As well as on the hour news bulletins, the RNZ News service provides 24-hour programming and news and current affairs scheduled—programmes such as Morning Report with Ingrid Hipkiss and Corin Dann , Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan and Checkpoint with Lisa Owen. Regional Reporters : The RNZ website, rnz.co.nz (formerly radionz.co.nz)
4847-474: 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
4978-453: Is also streamed online, with podcasts and transcripts available. The House is broadcast on RNZ on the House sitting days at 6:55 pm and Sunday at 7:30 am and 10:45 pm. It looks at legislation, issues and insights from Parliament. To help fund the operation of the station, RNZ has leased the remaining hours to Christian broadcaster Rhema Media since 1997, which uses
5109-435: 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
5240-691: 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
5371-1054: 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
National Provincial Championship (2006–present) - Misplaced Pages Continue
5502-504: 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
5633-481: Is not available due to insufficient copyright clearances . The website was awarded the Qantas Media Award for Best Website Design in 2007, a New Zealand Open Source Award in 2008, New Zealand Radio Award for Best Radio Website in 2009, and ONYA awards for Best use of HTML and CSS and Best Accessibility in 2010. The site was re-launched on 26 May 2013 with a new design and a custom CMS built using
5764-409: 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
5895-413: 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
6026-408: 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
6157-574: 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
6288-787: 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
6419-656: 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
6550-536: 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
6681-412: 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
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#17327647535376812-644: The North Island . There also is a relay via WRN Broadcast and a livestream on the internet. RNZ has a wide variety of podcasts and series. Series can be downloaded in Oggcast format. RNZ's main news centres are located in Wellington and Auckland , with additional newsrooms in Whangārei , Hamilton , New Plymouth , Napier Hawkes Bay , Palmerston North , Nelson , Christchurch , and Dunedin . There
6943-526: The Optus satellite. It is also available on Sky Digital TV channel 421, Freeview satellite channel 50, and is available in stereo on the terrestrial Freeview HD service. RNZ Concert is an FM radio network broadcasting classical and jazz music, as well as world music, specialist programmes and regular news updates. Founded in 1975 as the Concert Programme, the network was renamed Concert FM in
7074-704: The Optus satellite. It is also available on Sky Digital TV channel 422, and on Freeview's satellite and terrestrial services on channel 51. The AM Network is a network of radio transmitters operated by RNZ, which broadcast all sittings of the New Zealand Parliament through a contract with the Clerk of the House of Representatives. Sitting hours are seasonal, and may be extended due to certain circumstances, but are generally 14:00 to 18:00 Tuesday and Wednesday, 14:00 to 17:00 Thursday and 19:00 to 22:00 Tuesday and Wednesday. AM Network Parliamentary coverage
7205-640: The South Pacific in both English and Pacific languages through its Pacific shortwave service. The first radio broadcast in New Zealand was made on 17 November 1921 by radio pioneer Professor Robert Jack . Government-funded public service radio in New Zealand was historically provided by the Radio Broadcasting Company between 1925 and 1931, the New Zealand Broadcasting Board between 1931 and 1936,
7336-831: 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
7467-535: The fourth National government , the government's commercial radio operations were sold to private investors as The Radio Network in 1996 and the government's non-commercial assets (known previously as New Zealand Public Radio) became the current Radio New Zealand Crown entity. RNZ had its headquarters in Broadcasting House in Bowen St, Wellington behind the parliamentary buildings . Construction of
7598-592: 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
7729-503: 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
7860-453: The 1980s. In the 1980s and early 1990s, most stations listed below switched to an FM frequency but continued to broadcast on the original AM frequency. Some stations utilised the AM frequency for specialised shows such as local talkback, sports talk and local news shows. In 1993, the majority of these stations were split in two with the AM frequency used to broadcast Auckland based Newstalk ZB which
7991-709: The AM network which relays Parliamentary proceedings. RNZ Pacific (formerly Radio New Zealand International or RNZI) is its overseas shortwave service, broadcasting to the South Pacific and beyond, while Radio New Zealand News provides comprehensive, up-to-the-minute news and current affairs information. RNZ also allows for the archiving of broadcast material of historical interest. It must also produce, and commission high quality programming based on research of public needs, and balance mass appeal and minority appeal programming. In achieving these objectives, it must be socially and financially responsible. In February 2020, it
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#17327647535378122-540: 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
8253-632: The Bowen St building began in 1959 and it was opened in 1963. In 1997 the building was demolished and RNZ moved to Radio New Zealand House on The Terrace. The broadcaster is bound by the Charter and Operating Principles included in the Radio New Zealand Act, which is reviewed by the New Zealand Parliament every five years. The Radio New Zealand Amendment Act 2016 received Royal assent on 1 April 2016. Purpose: RNZ broadcasts over three nationwide networks; RNZ National, RNZ Concert and
8384-528: 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
8515-494: 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
8646-566: 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
8777-737: The National Broadcasting Service between 1936 and 1962, the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation between 1962 and 1975, and the Radio New Zealand state-owned enterprise between 1975 and 1995. The organisation placed a strong emphasis on training its staff in Received Pronunciation , until it began promoting local and indigenous accents in the 1990s. As part of the process of privatisation carried out by
8908-467: 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
9039-539: 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
9170-425: The Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and current-affairs network, RNZ National , and a classical-music and jazz network, RNZ Concert , with full government funding from NZ On Air . Since 2014, the organisation's focus has been to transform RNZ from a radio broadcaster to a multimedia outlet, increasing its production of digital content in audio, video, and written forms. The organisation plays
9301-408: 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
9432-430: The Wellington and Christchurch stations. Since the sale to The Radio Network ZM has been expanded to a nationwide network based in Auckland. Sports Roundup was a network which conducted seasonal sports broadcasts in the main centres during the 1980s and 1990s, particularly used to broadcast Cricket matches in New Zealand. Following the sale to The Radio Network, Sports Roundup became known as Radio Sport , which went off
9563-531: 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
9694-740: The air permanently in 2020. In August 2024, The New Zealand Herald reported that RNZ National's overall cumulative audience had fallen from over 700,000 in early 2020 to 529,800 in 2024. During that period, RNZ's flagship Morning Report show had declined from a cumulative audience of 500,000 in early 2020 to 376,500 in 2024. Meanwhile, commercial competitor Newstalk ZB 's breakfast show hosted by Mike Hosking had risen from under 400,000 to 445,300. In response, RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson said that RNZ had distributed its output across other platforms including its website, app , and podcasts, and also had content deals with over 65 partners. Thompson also said that RNZ had expanded its reach from 15% to 70% of
9825-446: 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
9956-540: 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
10087-462: 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
10218-534: 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
10349-435: 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
10480-659: 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
10611-581: 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
10742-462: 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
10873-542: 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
11004-718: The edits to be broadly from a tankie point of view, in which aggression from authoritarian governments with a communist past are supported or downplayed, usually as part of opposition to the United States and its allies. In early August 2023, the independent review found that Hall had breached both Radio New Zealand's editorial standards and the company's contract with Reuters. The review also criticised RNZ's management for overreacting to coverage of Hall's actions and found that internal cultural, system, and teamwork issues at contribute to Hall's inappropriate edits. The review's panel recommended that RNZ merge its digital news team with its main news team and appoint someone to focus on improving
11135-408: 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
11266-485: 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
11397-415: 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
11528-537: 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
11659-588: The freedom to go away and figure out exactly how to do that." The CEO of RNZ commented in April 2014 that The Wireless is "the most exciting innovation from RNZ in recent years." The Wireless ceased operating as an independent publication in 2018, and was folded back into RNZ. Tahi, a youth-oriented platform, was launched in December 2021. Prior to 1996, Radio New Zealand operated a large number of commercial stations around New Zealand. These stations were typically local stations with their own local identity with
11790-495: The frequencies to broadcast the low-budget easy listening Star network. The transmitters were previously used by the Concert Programme before it moved to FM broadcasting . The RNZ Pacific network (also known outside New Zealand as RNZ International, or RNZI) broadcasts on shortwave and via Digital Radio Mondiale to New Zealand's neighbouring countries in the Pacific from transmitters located at Rangitaiki, near Taupō , in
11921-405: The government announced it would grant RNZ a third FM channel. On 23 June 2022, Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson introduced draft legislation to formally merge public broadcasters Radio New Zealand and TVNZ into a new non-profit autonomous Crown entity called Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media (ANZPM), commencing 1 March 2023. Under the draft legislation, RNZ would become a subsidiary of
12052-544: 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
12183-526: 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
12314-556: 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
12445-403: 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
12576-602: The mid-1990s and assumed its current name in 2007 as part of a wider name change within Radio New Zealand to associate Concert FM with the RNZ brand. RNZ Concert was refreshed in February 2018, with several new programmes and presenters, and a renewed focus on live music and storytelling on New Zealand's music and arts communities. The station broadcasts in FM stereo via terrestrial transmitters located around New Zealand, as well as from
12707-537: 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
12838-426: The new entity, which would be funded through a mixture of government and commercial funding. The proposed ANZPM would be headed by a board and operate under a media charter outlining goals and responsibilities including editorial independence. On 8 February 2023, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced that the merger of TVNZ and RNZ into ANZPM had been cancelled, stating that "support for public media needs to be at
12969-408: The new owner became known as The Radio Network . The following stations were previously owned by Radio New Zealand, some listed stations were closed down before the 1996 sale and Gore radio station Radio Hokonui was sold privately in 1994. All of the early local radio stations started by Radio New Zealand originally broadcast on an AM frequency. FM broadcasting did not begin in New Zealand until
13100-488: 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
13231-691: The open source Ruby on Rails framework. The website was further redesigned and relaunched in July 2016, and the domain was moved to rnz.co.nz in May 2019. In July 2023, two news portals were opened for Chinese and Indian New Zealander community audiences, with the Chinese section featuring stories in Simplified Chinese . In October 2013, Radio New Zealand launched the youth-focused and non-commercial website 'The Wireless'. The website emerged from
13362-576: The organisation's editorial standards. The RNZ board chairperson Jim Mather stated that RNZ accepted the report and would implement its recommendations. RNZ National , formerly National Radio, is RNZ's independent news and current affairs platform and offers both its own on-air and online services and those from third party services. It includes the news and current affairs programmes Morning Report , Midday Report and Checkpoint as well as having news bulletins every hour. Its news service has specialist correspondents, overseas correspondents, reporters and
13493-565: The origin of many stations going back to the 1930s up until more recent stations created in the 1990s. Stations in the larger centres were usually local 24 hours a day, and stations in the smaller centres featured a mixture of part-local and part-networked programming. In 1996 the New Zealand Government sold off all of their commercial stations to a syndicate that included United States radio company Clear Channel Communications and publisher Wilson & Horton , in New Zealand
13624-519: 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
13755-467: 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
13886-496: 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
14017-410: 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
14148-464: 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
14279-400: 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
14410-482: The push for a youth radio station as part of Radio New Zealand's offerings. Instead of creating a youth radio station, RNZ decided to create a website or online magazine that focused on 18- to 30-year-olds which would be more relevant to the demographic. Project manager Marcus Stickley noted that: "RNZ has had the wisdom to recognize that it didn't necessarily need to be under the RNZ brand. It needed to develop something specifically for that audience, and they've given us
14541-406: 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,
14672-525: 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
14803-419: 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
14934-483: 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
15065-408: 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
15196-601: 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
15327-417: 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
15458-470: 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
15589-608: 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}
15720-414: The top left corner by repeating the sequence of numbers from 1 up to n − 1 {\displaystyle n-1} . Here is an example table for 7 or 8 competitors: Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( Māori : Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa ), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ , is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under
15851-435: 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
15982-415: 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
16113-451: 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
16244-506: Was announced by Music Content Director Willy Macalister and Chief Executive Paul Thompson that RNZ Concert was to undergo major changes: it would be moved from the FM to the AM band, streamed online and the current service replaced by an automated non-stop play format. Seventeen jobs would be lost from RNZ Music, including all the Concert presenters. It would be replaced on FM radio with music for
16375-483: 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
16506-430: 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
16637-530: 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
16768-553: 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
16899-410: Was launched in October 2005 and includes news coverage, programme information, online station streaming and podcasting. RNZ National , RNZ Concert , AM Network coverage of Parliament , and RNZ Pacific are available as Windows Media Audio streams. Almost all RNZ-produced programmes are available back to January 2008, and have MP3 and Ogg Vorbis and download and podcasts options. Some material
17030-407: Was originally Auckland's 1ZB. The local station on the FM frequency adopted a common format and brand called Classic Hits with all stations retaining local programming under Radio New Zealand's operation. Radio New Zealand community stations operated in the heartland areas of New Zealand, typically these stations ran limited local programming such as a local breakfast show and at other times relayed
17161-399: 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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