# 2021 Heartland Championship

The 2021 Heartland Championship, was the 15th edition of the Heartland Championship, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur provincial unions in New Zealand. There was no Heartland Championship held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 restrictions.
The tournament included a round-robin regular season in which the twelve teams played eight games each. In past seasons the top eight teams from the regular season would then advance to the semifinals:
* The teams ranked first to fourth play for the Meads Cup
* The teams ranked fifth to eighth play for the Lochore Cup
* The bottom four teams are eliminated.
However, in the 2021 Heartland season there were no semifinals played and the top two teams played a final for the Meads Cup while the 3rd and 4th ranked teams played for the Lochore Cup.
2021 was the first year that the Osborne Taonga, a new trophy named after 16-test All Black Bill Osborne, was played for. It was awarded to the winner of a play off between the 5th and 6th ranked teams from the regular season. In the following seasons it will then be challenged for by Heartland teams, following similar rules to the Ranfurly Shield.

## Teams

The 2018 Heartland Championship was contested by the following teams:
| Team | Super Rugby partner | Hometown |
| Buller | Crusaders | Westport |
| East Coast | Hurricanes | Ruatoria |
| Horowhenua-Kapiti | Hurricanes | Levin |
| King Country | Chiefs | Taupō and Te Kuiti |
| Mid Canterbury | Crusaders | Ashburton |
| North Otago | Highlanders | Oamaru |
| Poverty Bay | Hurricanes | Gisborne |
| South Canterbury | Crusaders | Timaru |
| Thames Valley | Chiefs | Paeroa |
| Wairarapa Bush | Hurricanes | Masterton |
| Wanganui | Hurricanes | Wanganui |
| West Coast | Crusaders | Greymouth |

## Regular season standings

In the regular season, South Canterbury topped the standings with the maximum 40 points after winning all eight games.
| Pos. | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts |
| 1 | South Canterbury | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 365 | 124 | +241 | 8 | 0 | 40 |
| 2 | Thames Valley | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 291 | 148 | +143 | 5 | 0 | 33 |
| 3 | Whanganui | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 286 | 149 | +137 | 5 | 1 | 30 |
| 4 | North Otago | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 220 | 198 | +22 | 4 | 1 | 25 |
| 5 | Poverty Bay | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 263 | 223 | +40 | 5 | 3 | 24 |
| 6 | Mid Canterbury | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 226 | 209 | +17 | 4 | 0 | 24 |
| 7 | Horowhenua-Kapiti | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 214 | 197 | +17 | 3 | 1 | 24 |
| 8 | East Coast | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 242 | 258 | −16 | 6 | 2 | 20 |
| 9 | West Coast | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 181 | 219 | −38 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| 10 | Wairarapa Bush | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 139 | 254 | −115 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 11 | Buller | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 126 | 320 | −194 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | King Country | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 113 | 367 | −254 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
* Meads Cup qualification
* Lochore Cup qualification
All Black captain Sam Cane played for King Country.
East Coast had the services of former All Blacks Rico Gear, Hosea Gear and Ma'a Nonu.

## Finals
### Meads Cup

In the Meads Cup final South Canterbury, the top ranked team from the regular season played at their home ground against the second placed team, Thames Valley. South Canterbury won the fixture by 35 points to 16.
The 2021 Heartland season was:
* the first year that South Canterbury won the Meads Cup.
* the 5th time a team had gone unbeaten during the regular season. South Canterbury joined Buller who achieved this in 2014 and Wanganui who were unbeaten in 2008, 2016 and 2018.
* the first time a team had achieved maximum 40 points.

### Lochore Cup

In the Lochore Cup Whanganui, the third placed team from the regular season, played at their home ground against the fourth ranked North Otago.
Whanganui prevailed in the final by 22 points to 16.

### Bill Osborne Taonga

The 5th ranked team from the regular season, Poverty Bay, was the inaugural winner of this trophy after beating the 6th placed Mid Canterbury by 33 points to 26. Poverty Bay therefore earned the right to defend the trophy in the 2022 season.