2006 Heartland Championship


The 2006 Heartland Championship was an amateur rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was the first season of the competition, a direct successor to the Second and Third Divisions of the country's former rugby competition, the National Provincial Championship. The competition featured 12 teams, divided into two pools of six teams.
At the end of Round 1, the top three teams from each pool contested the Meads Cup, and the bottom three from each pool contested the Lochore Cup. Competition points from Round 1 carried over to Round 2, in which each team in each cup competition played a round-robin with the three teams it did not play in Round 1. At the end of Round 2, the top four teams in each cup competition entered a single-elimination playoff for the Meads and Lochore Cups. The cups were named after Colin Meads and Brian Lochore, both legendary players for the country's national team, the All Blacks.
The inaugural Meads Cup champion was Wairarapa Bush, and Poverty Bay lifted the first Lochore Cup.

Round 1

Standings

The top three places in each pool, highlighted in blue, advanced to the Meads Cup. The remaining teams entered the Lochore Cup.

Pool A

Pos.TeamPldWDLForAgainst+/-BPPts
1 Wairarapa Bush550011174+37121
2 North Otago540120074+126420
3 Mid Canterbury52039298-6210
4 Buller520393125-3219
5 East Coast510464125-6126
6 West Coast510481145-6426

Pool B

Pos.TeamPldWDLForAgainst+/-BPPts
1 Wanganui541018679+107321
2 South Canterbury53027776+1214
3 Horowhenua-Kapiti521298133-35212
4 Poverty Bay5203123140-17210
5 Thames Valley520385126-41210
6 King Country50237792-1526

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Round 2

Standings

Meads Cup Pool

Lochore Cup Pool

Fixtures and Results

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Semifinals

Fixtures and Results

Meads Cup

Lochore Cup

! style="background:silver" | King Country
! style="background:silver" | 17

Finals

Fixtures and Results

Meads Cup

Lochore Cup