# 2017 Heartland Championship

The 2017 Heartland Championship, was the twelfth edition of the Heartland Championship, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur rugby unions in New Zealand. The tournament included a round-robin stage in which the twelve teams played eight games each and then the top four advanced to the Meads Cup semifinals, while fifth to eighth advanced to the Lochore Cup semifinals.
In both of these knockout stages the top seeds (first and fifth) played at home against the lowest seeds (fourth and eighth), the second highest seeds (second and sixth) played at home against the third highest seeds (third and seventh) and the final had the higher seed play at home against the lower seed.
Wanganui won the Meads Cup for the third time in a row and the sixth time overall.
It was the first win in the Lochore Cup for Mid Canterbury. They had previously won the Meads Cup in 2013 and 2014. As a result, Mid Canterbury joined North Otago, Wairarapa Bush and Wanganui as the provinces to have won both the Meads Cup and Lochore Cup.
During the Heartland Championship, former All Blacks Piri Weepu, Alby Mathewson and Regan King played for Wairarapa Bush, King Country and Mid Canterbury respectively.

## Teams

The 2017 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 |
| 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 |

## Standings

Following the round-eight-week regular season South Canterbury was the top qualifier with 36 points from winning seven games, after losing their first game to Buller.
| Pos. | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TB | LB | Pts |
| 1 | South Canterbury | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 273 | 190 | +83 | 7 | 1 | 36 |
| 2 | Horowhenua-Kapiti | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 227 | 107 | +120 | 3 | 1 | 32 |
| 3 | Buller | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 250 | 203 | +47 | 3 | 1 | 28 |
| 4 | Wanganui | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 279 | 125 | +154 | 3 | 3 | 26 |
| 5 | Mid Canterbury | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 275 | 224 | +51 | 2 | 1 | 26 |
| 6 | West Coast | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 209 | 201 | +8 | 5 | 1 | 26 |
| 7 | North Otago | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 235 | 178 | +57 | 5 | 4 | 25 |
| 8 | Poverty Bay | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 185 | 229 | −44 | 4 | 0 | 20 |
| 9 | Thames Valley | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 209 | 174 | +35 | 4 | 4 | 20 |
| 10 | King Country | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 206 | 323 | −117 | 5 | 3 | 12 |
| 11 | Wairarapa Bush | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 174 | 313 | −139 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
| 12 | East Coast | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 98 | 353 | −255 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* Meads Cup qualification
* Lochore Cup qualification
* (1) the winner of the round robin match between the two provinces; then
* (2) highest point difference; then
* (3) most tries scored; then
* (4) a coin toss.
In the case of a three-team or more tie on points the ranking of teams is decided by:
* (1) the province with the most wins against other tied provinces in the Round Robin; then
* (2) if two teams remain tied they shall be ranked according to the criteria listed above, but if more than two teams remain tied, they shall be ranked according to criteria (2) to (4) only.

## Finals
### Meads Cup

Although they qualified 4th, Wanganui won their Meads Cup semi-final away to South Canterbury and followed up with a win over Horowhenua-Kapiti at Levin.
| Meads Cup semi-finals | Meads Cup semi-finals | Meads Cup semi-finals | Meads Cup final | Meads Cup final | Meads Cup final |
| 2 | Horowhenua-Kapiti | 18 | | | |
| 3 | Buller | 17 | | | |
| 3 | Buller | 17 | 2 | Horowhenua-Kapiti | 14 |
| | | | 4 | Wanganui | 30 |
| 4 | Wanganui | 29 | 4 | Wanganui | 30 |
| 1 | South Canterbury | 24 | | | |

### Lochore Cup

Mid Canterbury who finished the regular season fifth and therefore top qualifier for the Lochore Cup accounted for Poverty Bay in their semi-final and West Coast in the final by comfortable points margins.
| Lochore Cup semi-finals | Lochore Cup semi-finals | Lochore Cup semi-finals | Lochore Cup final | Lochore Cup final | Lochore Cup final |
| 1 | Mid Canterbury | 56 | | | |
| 4 | Poverty Bay | 22 | | | |
| 4 | Poverty Bay | 22 | 1 | Mid Canterbury | 47 |
| | | | 2 | West Coast | 15 |
| 2 | West Coast | 24 | 2 | West Coast | 15 |
| 3 | North Otago | 14 | | | |