An opening weekend Ranfurly Shield defence for Wellington and a number of afternoon local derby matches are among the highlights of the 2009 Air New Zealand Cup, following the announcement of the competition schedule.
The Air New Zealand Cup kicks off on Thursday 30 July and will play over 15 weeks, with the final on Saturday 7 November. It will be a full round robin format with all teams playing each other and hosting either six or seven home matches.
One feature of the competition is the scheduling of a number of “derby” games in the afternoon to give travelling fans time to get to and from the games. These include Northland v Auckland (round 3), Bay of Plenty v Waikato (round 4), Canterbury v Otago (round 7), Auckland v North Harbour (round 8) and Auckland v Counties Manukau (round 12).
Many of the key provincial match-ups will be played on the traditional Saturday night, including Auckland v Canterbury (round 2), Wellington v Auckland (round 4) Wellington v Canterbury (round 5), Waikato v Hawke’s Bay (round 6) and Auckland v Waikato (round 13).
The “holy grail” of New Zealand domestic rugby, the Ranfurly Shield, will go on the line when Wellington hosts Otago in week one. If Wellington wins that match, it will then face strong challenges from Canterbury and Auckland in rounds 4 and 5.
Meanwhile, some Air New Zealand Cup matches played on the same day as All Blacks Tests in New Zealand and Australia (22 August, 12 September and 19 September) have been brought forward so that rugby fans across New Zealand will have the opportunity to take in both the provincial and Test matches.
For a copy of the schedule, email gayle@sport-unleashed.com
No comments:
Post a Comment