New domestic rugby competitions structure unveiled
23/07/2009

A new domestic rugby competition structure featuring a 10-team Premier Division, a six-team Division One and a 10-team Heartland competition will be launched in 2010.

The new competitions were adopted by the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) Board at a special meeting on Saturday and follow a series of workshops involving New Zealand’s 26 Provincial Unions, Rebel Sport Super 14 Franchises, and the New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association.

The decision follows the NZRU Board’s in-principle decision to endorse the new structure made at its June meeting, subject to the development of a Division One competition that is meaningful, sustainable, attractive and aspirational.

NZRU Chairman Jock Hobbs said the decision was an important step in resolving the sustainability issues and uncertainty which had hampered the success of the Air New Zealand Cup.

“We had a very clear message from our Provincial Unions earlier this year that change was necessary and that we needed to act quickly and decisively. With the support and involvement of our Provincial Unions, we have done that, and believe this structure is one which meets the competition principles which New Zealand’s rugby collective decided were important.”

The key principles agreed in May and June were that the premier competition must:

♦ Include Super Rugby players;

♦ Have a stand-alone window (which also recognises the windows for club rugby and  Super Rugby);

♦ Feature a full round-robin and playoffs;

♦ Have promotion-relegation;

♦ Guarantee four or five home games per team;

♦ Be completed within a 10-12 week window; and

♦ Be concluded by the end of October.

NZRU CEO Steve Tew said features of the new competitions include automatic promotion-relegation between the Premier Division and Division One, a common window for domestic competitions allowing for the involvement of Super Rugby players, a single national finals day across all three competitions, and a protected club window.

Further consideration will also be given to promotion-relegation between the new Division One competition and the Heartland competition.

A Solvency Test and Assessable Criteria, as agreed to by participating Air New Zealand Cup Provincial Unions, will be used to determine the 10 Unions that will participate in the Premier Division in 2010 with the remaining four Unions playing in Division One in 2010. 

This will include 2009 on and off-field results with the assessment taking place after the conclusion of this year’s Air New Zealand Cup on 20 November 2009.

“There is a real incentive for Provincial Unions to perform both on and off the field in 2009 as these results will be part of the assessment criteria. Similarly, for those provinces that do play in Division One in 2010, there is a pathway back via promotion-relegation,” said Mr Tew.

The NZRU recognised that the announcement of the new competitions had the potential to generate some anxiety for Provincial Unions and their supporters said Mr Tew.

“The clear message from Provincial Unions was that we needed to act sooner rather than later on implementing changes and creating certainty in terms of our domestic competitions.”