The 2007 National Provincial Championship was the second season of the National Provincial Championship (known as the Air New Zealand Cup for sponsorship reasons), a provincial rugby union competition involving 14 teams from New Zealand. Matches started on 26 July 2007, and the Final, in which Auckland defeated Wellington, was held on 20 October.
This season was the second of the expanded competition, which succeeded the First Division of the National Provincial Championship. There were some major changes to the competition from that of the 2006 season. The original Rounds One (initial pool play) and Two (Top Six and Repechage phases) were scrapped. Instead, there was a 10-week round robin in which every team will miss out on playing 3 teams in the competition. This was followed by the quarterfinals, semifinal and the final as in 2006.
Unless otherwise noted the information is sourced from here:
Standings The top eight teams in pool play advanced to the quarterfinals.
PosNamePldWDLFA+/−TBLBPts1Auckland101000371145+22680482Canterbury10901351135+21660423Wellington10802354172+18261394Hawke's Bay10703254221+3351345Waikato10604289231+5831286Southland10604231203+2811267Otago10514213275−8111248Taranaki10406218234−1634239North Harbour10424222267−45202210Northland10316206214−8141911Tasman10208184262−59041212Manawatu10217158331−173101113Bay of Plenty10109154297−14323914Counties Manukau10019130348−218002
Table notes: Secured home quarterfinal berth Secured away quarterfinal berth Abbreviations: It is possible to receive 2 bonus points in a loss. In the event of a tie on points, the higher ranked team is decided on the basis of who won when they met in pool play. If they remain tied, then it is decided by points differential.
Fixtures and results Week Dates 1 26–29 July 2 2–5 August 3 9–12 August 4 16–19 August 5 23–26 August 6 30 August – 2 September 7 6–9 September 8 13–16 September 9 20–23 September 10 27–30 September
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Knockout stage
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Final
Statistics Point scorers Points Player Province 155 James Gopperth Wellington 149 Stephen Brett Canterbury 122 Matt Berquist Hawke's Bay 120 Stephen Donald Waikato 115 Jack McPhee North Harbour 110 Isa Nacewa Auckland 101 Brent Ward Auckland
Try scorers Tries Player Province 8 Brent Ward Auckland 7 Shannon Paku Wellington 6 Jason Shoemark Hawke's Bay 6 Zac Guildford Hawke's Bay 6 Shayne Austin Taranaki 6 Lachie Munro Auckland 6 Scott Hamilton Canterbury
See also
2007 Heartland Championship Air New Zealand Cup
References