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2011 ITM Cup introduces new tournament format – Rugby Union news

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2011 ITM Cup introduces new tournament format – Rugby Union news
New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) has announced the 2011 schedule and format for the New Zealand’s domestic Competition, ITM Cup.  NZRU officials, in a statement released on the Union’s official website, released the 2011 ITM Cup season details on Monday, July
4. The NZRU Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Steve Tew and ITM CEO Gordon Buswell were also present on the occasion.
14 domestic teams belonging to different geographical areas of New Zealand participate in the competition. The most important change in this year’s ITM Cup format includes the naming of the 23-man squad for match day instead of a 22-man squad used earlier. Additionally,
other than Monday, an ITM Cup match will be played in all the remaining days of the week.
The 14 teams will play 72 matches in the 2011 ITM Cup in 13 rounds spread over a duration of approximately eight to nine weeks. The ITM Cup final will be played before the start of the 2012 Super Rugby season.
Furthermore, ITM has adopted the Aviva Premiership based structure in which the lowest scoring team is relegated from the Top Level competition, which is later replaced by a top qualifier from the championship. In the ITM Cup there are two levels of teams
the highest is the ITM Cup Premiership and ITM Cup Championship which is the Qualifying Level for Premiership.
However, it is different from the Aviva Premiership as the original set of 14 teams is divided into two divisions based on the 2010 ITM Cup’s results.
Speaking on the occasion, Steve Tew said, “ITM Cup is a great part of our national identity and provincial pride. It’s the launch pad for a lot of New Zealand’s rugby talent which is why it’s so exciting – you never know who might star, and which teams might
pull off the unthinkable.”
While elaborating on the ITM Cup Premiership and Championship levels, Tew said, “The unique format sees every team playing all other teams within their Premiership or Championship, as well as four crossover matches from the other group. That ensures we will
get to see plenty of the traditional inter-provincial tribalism and rivalry.”
The ITM Premiership sides include Wellington, Waikato, Taranaki, Canterbury, Southland, Auckland and Bay of Plenty. While the ITM Championship sides includes Hawke’s Bay Area,  Counties Manukau, Northland, North Harbour, Tasman,  Manawatu and Otago.
Tew further added that the new format will further intensify the provincial rivalry on the field and would attract more crowds and help the teams to work hard to achieve better results. He said, “This year’s revamped ITM Cup in particular, sets the scene
for some fantastic provincial rugby rivalry and good old fashioned grudge matches.”
The 2011 ITM Cup kicks start with an Otago and North Harbour encounter on Thursday, July 14.  The last round match will be played between Taranaki and Hawke’s Bay at NPlymouth on Sunday, August 28.
 

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