The Air New Zealand Cup consists of a 14-team, two-pool competition comprising:

- The two pools are seeded based on finishing positions in the previous year’s competition (which for the 2006 competition will be finishing positions in the 2005 Air New Zealand NPC).

- Click here to view the competition structure

- The competition takes place over three “rounds”.

Round One involves:

• the teams within each pool playing a round robin;

• each team playing three home/three away, and having a bye;

• at the conclusion of Round One, the top three teams from each pool moving to the “Top Six” and the bottom four teams from each pool moving to either Repechage A or Repechage B in Round Two of the competition.

Round Two will comprise:

Top Six:

• teams will play the three teams they did not play in Round One (with either two home/one away or one home/two away);

• the number of home games will be determined by finishing position at the endof Round One (i.e. the teams with the most points at the end of Round One will have the most home games in Round Two);

• all points from Round One will carry through to Round Two;

• all points from both Round One and Round Two will count in determining the finishing position of teams at the conclusion of Round Two;

• all teams in the Top Six will move to the quarterfinals;

Repechage A and Repechage B:

• Repechage A will be made up of four teams: the teams finishing fourth and seventh in Pool A in Round One and the teams finishing fifth and sixth in Pool B in Round One;

• Repechage B will be made up of four teams: the teams finishing fourth and seventh in Pool B in Round One and the teams finishing fifth and sixth in Pool A in Round One;

• teams will play a round robin within each Repechage (with either two home/one away or one home/two away);

• the number of home games will be determined by finishing position at the end of Round One (i.e. the teams with the most points at the end of Round One will have the most home games in Round Two);

• no points from Round One will carry through to Round Two;

• only points earned in Round Two will count in determining the winner of each of Repechage A and Repechage B;

• the winner of each of Repechage A and Repechage B will move to the quarterfinals (as the seventh-and eighth-ranked quarterfinalists).

Round Three will comprise:

Quarterfinals:

• made up of the:

- Top Six (ranked one to six on finishing position in the Top Six); and

- the winner of Repechage A and the winner of Repechage B (ranked seventh and eighth based on points from Round Two);

• home games will be awarded to the teams ranked one to four;

Semifinals:

• made up of the winners of each of the four quarterfinals;

• home games will be awarded to the teams ranked the highest in the quarterfinals;

Final:

• made up of the winners of each semifinal;

• the home game will be awarded to the team ranked highest in the quarterfinals.


COMPETITION DRAWS & GAMES

- The Air ew Zealand Cup will run for a total of 13 weeks.

- Each Provincial Union participating in the Air New Zealand Cup will be guaranteed a minimum of nine games in any one year (with at least four home games). Provincial Unions making the finals could play as many as 12 games (with up to eight home games).


COMPETITION POINTS & TIE-BREAKERS

- Points for the Air New Zealand Cup will be the same as for the Air New Zealand NPC, that is:

a. 4 points for a win;
b. 2 points for a draw;
c. 1 point for losing by 7 or fewer points; and
d. 1 point for scoring 4 or more tries.

- Tie-breakers at the end of Round One and Round Two of the Air New Zealand Cup will be decided in a similar way to that in which tie-breakers are decided for the Air New Zealand NPC round robin, that is (in the following order):

a. Where two unions are tied, the union that won the most recent game played between them during that year’s competition is to have the higher position;

b. The union with the higher differential of points scored for and against in that round of the competition is to have the higher position;

c. The union that scored the most tries in that round of the competition is to have the higher position;

d. By the toss of a coin.

- Tie-breakers at the end of the quarterfinals, semifinals and final of the Air New Zealand Cup will be decided in a similar way to that in which tie-breakers were decided in the Air New Zealand NPC semifinals and final, that is (in the following order):

a. A further ten minutes of extra time each way will be played;

b. The team scoring the most tries in the game is considered the winner;

c. The winner of the most recent game played between them during that year’s competition is considered the winner;

d. The team having the higher differential of points scored for and against during that year’s competition is considered the winner;

e. By the toss of a coin, in the case of a quarterfinal or semifinal.

3.14 In the event that teams are tied at the end of the Air New Zealand Cup final and the winner is unable to be determined by applying criteria (a.) to (d.) above, the teams will be declared joint winners of the Air New Zealand Cup.