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New Zealand Rugby
Expanded Farah Palmer Cup kicks off this weekend
| New Zealand Rugby Media Release 1 September 2017 |
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| AllBlacks.com | Farah Palmer Cup | Community Rugby | Facebook | |||||
| Expanded Farah Palmer Cup kicks off this weekend • Increase in teams sees new competition structure • Debut for Tasman • New medal introduced for best player |
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| More teams than ever before will take the field in the 2017 Farah Palmer Cup, with the return of Hawke’s Bay and inclusion of Tasman for the first time. With two more teams expanding the competition to 11 teams, this year’s Farah Palmer Cup will mirror the Mitre 10 Cup with a premiership and championship division, kicking off this weekend and running for nine weeks. New Zealand Rugby’s Head of Women’s Rugby Development Cate Sexton said the continuing growth of the Farah Palmer Cup reflects the rising interest in the women’s game. “More and more girls and women are getting involved in rugby, last year alone we saw an increase of 11% in player numbers and that shows with the continued expansion of this competition. “It is great to see the hard work being done at grass roots level to grow the game result in more provincial unions entering the Farah Palmer Cup. “This competition is a real stepping stone for players with aspirations to play in the black jersey,” said Sexton. Counties Manukau had a breakthrough season in 2016, claiming their first ever women’s provincial title with a dominant victory over Auckland in the final. They both will be joined by Canterbury, Wellington, Manawatu and Waikato battling for the Farah Palmer Cup in the premiership division. North Harbour, Otago, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay and Tasman make up the championship division with the winning side gaining promotion for the following season. Teams play each team in their division once, and have two crossover matches. The competition kicks off with cross over round, a local derby between Hawke’s Bay and Wellington, Bay of Plenty hosting Auckland, Tasman up against Waikato and Counties Manukau going up against North Harbour. Auckland are the holders of the JJ Stewart Trophy, considered the Ranfurly Shield of women’s rugby. The newly introduced Player of the Year medal, named after Black Ferns captain Fiao’o Fa’amausili will be up for grabs this season. A season-points system will be in place, with match officials picking their players of the match, with three points, two points and one point for the game’s top three performers. The winner will be the player sitting at the top of chart and will not be revealed until the ASB Rugby Awards on December 14th. Two players are set to reach special milestones in the 2017 season of an unprecedented 100 women’s provincial championship matches. Auckland’s Emma Jensen currently has 98 competition caps (24 for Waikato and 74 for Auckland Storm) while her team mate Fiao’o Fa’amausili has 97 caps for the Storm. Competition finals The Farah Palmer Cup Premiership and Championship Finals will be played in the last weekend of October. Week One Preview Click here to download this weekend's preview Media Guide Click here to download the 2017 Farah Palmer Cup media guide. |
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COMPETITION INFORMATION
The Women’s Provincial Championship will consist of a Round
Robin with all teams playing in a single pool, followed by a Final.
The two Provincial Unions with the highest number of competition
points at the completion of the Round Robin will proceed to the
Final, and be ranked as follows:
• The Provincial Union with the highest number of competition
points at the completion of the Round Robin will have a finals
ranking of 1.
• The Provincial Union with the next-highest number of
competition points at the completion of the Round Robin will
be ranked 2.
Based on the Finals Rankings the Final will be played as follows:
1 plays 2.
The winning finalist will be awarded the Women’s Provincial
Championship trophy.
In the event that two or more Provincial Unions are tied with the
same number of competition points, the finishing positions of
the Provincial Unions will be determined in accordance with the
following criteria, which will be applied in the order in which they
appear below until a result as to the positions of the relevant
Provincial Unions is determined:
Where any two Provincial Unions are tied:
• The winner of any Round Robin match played between the
two Provincial Unions in that year shall have the higher
position;
• The Provincial Union which has the higher points difference in
the Round Robin will have the higher position.
Where three or more Provincial Unions are tied:
• The tied Provincial Union with the most competition points in
that year against the other tied Provincial Unions shall have
the higher position;
• If three or more Provincial Unions have an equal number
of competition points against the other tied Provincial
Unions, the tied Provincial Union which has the higher points
difference in the Round Robin will have the higher position.
If a tie cannot be broken by the criteria above:
• The Provincial Union that scored the most tries in the Round
Robin shall have the higher position;
• The Provincial Union that scored the most points in the Round
Robin shall have the higher position
• The toss of a coin will be used.