The 2010 ITM Cup season was the fifth season of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

's provincial

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on July 29, when

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

hosted Northland. It involved the top fourteen rugby unions of New Zealand. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as the ITM Cup and it was the first season under the lead sponsor. The winner of the competition,

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

was promoted along with the top seventh placed teams to the Premiership, the bottom seventh placed teams were relegated to the Championship.

Format

The

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Teknologi Mara, a public university in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia * Institute for Information, Tel ...

standings were sorted by a competition points system. Four points were awarded to the winning team, a draw equaled two points, whilst a loss amounted to zero points. Unions could also win their side a respectable bonus point. To receive a bonus point, they must have scored four tries or more or lose by seven or fewer points or less. Each team was placed on their total points received. If necessary of a

tiebreaker In games and sport, a tiebreaker or tiebreak is any method used to determine a winner or to rank participants when there is a tie - meaning two or more parties have achieved a same score or result. A tiebreaker provides the additional criterion ...

, when two or more teams finish on equal points, the union who defeated the other in a head-to-head got placed higher. In case of a draw between them, the side with the biggest points deferential margin got rights to be ranked above. If they were tied on points difference, it was then decided by a highest scored try count or a

coin toss A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by a ...

. This seeding format was implemented since the beginning of the 2006 competition. The competition was a decider for the top and bottom seven placed unions that would respectively become a part of the Premiership and Championship divisions for the 2011 season. This would form a promotion-relegation process with the winner of the Championship receiving automatic promotion to the Premiership, replacing the seventh-placed team in the Premiership which would be relegated to the Championship for the following year. The regular season consisted of two types of matches where each team played the other thirteen unions over the course of thirteen consecutive weeks. Furthermore teams played home and away, either hosting six games and travelling for seven or hosting seven and travelling for six. The finals format allowed the top four teams move on to the semi-finals. The top two winners, based on table points, received a home semi-final. In the first round of the finals, the semi-finals, the second placed winner hosted the third placed winner, and the first placed winner hosted the fourth placed winner. The final was hosted by the top remaining seed.

Standings

Source: ITM Cup standings 2010

Standings progression

Regular season

The 2010 ITM Cup was played across 13 weeks, with every team playing one another during Thursday to Sunday night fixtures. The competition started on Thursday, 29 July, with

taking on Northland at

Yarrow Stadium Stadium Taranaki is situated in the central suburb of Westown in New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand, with main vehicle access off Maratahu Street. Named the third best rugby stadium on earth by ''New Zealand Rugby World'' magazine in May 2009 ...

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Play-offs

Semi-finals

Final

Statistics

Leading point scorers

Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published o
provincial.rugby
(see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).

Leading try scorers

Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published o
provincial.rugby
(see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).

Points by week

Source: ITM Cup Fixtures and Results 2010

Tries by week

Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published o
provincial.rugby
(see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).

Format

Standings

Standings progression

Regular season

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Play-offs

Semi-finals

Final

Statistics

Leading point scorers

Leading try scorers

Points by week

Tries by week

Ranfurly Shield

Pre-season challenges

See also

References

External links