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George Smith (75)
Ranfurly Shield, Mitre 10 Cup and Heartland Championship draws have been released.
Ranfurly Shield: pre-season Challenges.
Holders Canterbury have kept up the tradition of accepting a pre-season Challenge from the top Heartland Championship side (Wanganui), and one from a neighbouring Heartland Union.
Canterbury v Wanganui, Wednesday 21 June at AMI Stadium
Mid-Canterbury v Canterbury, Friday 4 August at the Ashburton Showgrounds
Both matches wil be afternoon games, with kick-off times to be confirmed
Assuming Canterbury successfully defend those challenges, the first defence to Mitre 10 Cup opposition will be Otago on 27 August. Other scheduled challengers are:
08 Sep Southland
13 Sep Counties Manukau
30 Sep Waikato
06 Oct Taranaki
Should Canterbury lose any of these then the new holder will defend the Shield in all their remaining regular season home games (see link to draw below).
Mitre 10 Cup & Heartland Championship
Draws for the 14-team fully professional Mitre 10 Cup and 12-team amateur Heartland Championship have been released. These are closed competitions with no promotion/ relegation between the two.
http://files.allblacks.com/competitions/draws/2017_Mitre10Cup_Draw.pdf
http://files.allblacks.com/competitions/draws/2017_Heartland_Draw.pdf
The Mitre 10 Cup will again be played in Premiership and Championship divisions:
Premiership: Canterbury (defending champions), Auckland, Counties Manukau, Otago (promoted from Championship), Taranaki, Tasman, and Waikato.
Championship: Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay (relegated from Premiership), Manawatu, North Harbour, Northland, Southland, and Wellington.
Defending Heartland Champions are Wanganui (Meads Cup, top four teams after regular season) and North Otago (Lochore Cup, teams ranked fifth to eighth after regular season). Other teams are Buller, East Coast, Horowhenua-Kapiti, King Country, Mid Canterbury, Poverty Bay, South Canterbury, Thames Valley, Wairarapa-Bush, and West Coast.
All going well the Mitre 10 Cup blog will return just prior to kickoff on 17 August.
Ranfurly Shield: pre-season Challenges.
Holders Canterbury have kept up the tradition of accepting a pre-season Challenge from the top Heartland Championship side (Wanganui), and one from a neighbouring Heartland Union.
Canterbury v Wanganui, Wednesday 21 June at AMI Stadium
Mid-Canterbury v Canterbury, Friday 4 August at the Ashburton Showgrounds
Both matches wil be afternoon games, with kick-off times to be confirmed
Assuming Canterbury successfully defend those challenges, the first defence to Mitre 10 Cup opposition will be Otago on 27 August. Other scheduled challengers are:
08 Sep Southland
13 Sep Counties Manukau
30 Sep Waikato
06 Oct Taranaki
Should Canterbury lose any of these then the new holder will defend the Shield in all their remaining regular season home games (see link to draw below).
Mitre 10 Cup & Heartland Championship
Draws for the 14-team fully professional Mitre 10 Cup and 12-team amateur Heartland Championship have been released. These are closed competitions with no promotion/ relegation between the two.
http://files.allblacks.com/competitions/draws/2017_Mitre10Cup_Draw.pdf
http://files.allblacks.com/competitions/draws/2017_Heartland_Draw.pdf
The Mitre 10 Cup will again be played in Premiership and Championship divisions:
Premiership: Canterbury (defending champions), Auckland, Counties Manukau, Otago (promoted from Championship), Taranaki, Tasman, and Waikato.
Championship: Bay of Plenty, Hawkes Bay (relegated from Premiership), Manawatu, North Harbour, Northland, Southland, and Wellington.
Defending Heartland Champions are Wanganui (Meads Cup, top four teams after regular season) and North Otago (Lochore Cup, teams ranked fifth to eighth after regular season). Other teams are Buller, East Coast, Horowhenua-Kapiti, King Country, Mid Canterbury, Poverty Bay, South Canterbury, Thames Valley, Wairarapa-Bush, and West Coast.
All going well the Mitre 10 Cup blog will return just prior to kickoff on 17 August.