Changes coming to Taranaki club rugby

Will Johnston 

Taranaki’s premier club rugby competition has been shaved by two weeks as the rugby union made changes to its format.  

Announced late on Friday afternoon, the CMK-sponsored competition will start on Saturday, April 13, a fortnight later than usual, with finals three months later held on July 13.  

Permanent changes were on the cards after the rugby union toyed with a shorter season in 2020 and 2022 amid Covid challenges. There was one round in 2020, while a north-south format was introduced followed by one full round last year.  

Major changes include a 12-week regular season window, down from two full rounds – 14 weeks. Premier, division one and colts grades will mirror each other, as normal.  

A championship round will be played first copying elements from the national provincial championship (NPC), where an odds and evens format will be introduced based off this year’s seedings, despite Taranaki only having eight teams in the competition, compared to 14 in NPC.  

The top-ranked club after the championship round will win $1,500 in prize money, making the competition meaningful. Last year, the top club hosted the final. Points will be halved, then all teams will play each other once in the premiership round. Each club will host six home matches during the year, down by one on last season.     

Taranaki Rugby community operations lead Ben Hitchcock said the changes stem from community consultation and meetings with the clubs.  

“We have landed on a structure and format that encompasses aspects of what all clubs want,” he said.  

“This ranges from stand-alone clubs to premier clubs. As a union we want to provide memorable experiences whilst being innovative.” 

Competition information said one of the reasons for the change in structure will allow players to play right through to the final before representative commitments behind.  

However, Taranaki hasn’t been affected by that for several years as many of its representative players were available for their clubs during this year’s play-off matches. There was also a three-week window before the start of the NPC giving adequate preparation time.  

A delayed start will allow other sports to finish at the end of March, in particular cricket and rugby league, it said. Cricket finals have traditionally been on the opening round of club rugby, while league finishes a few weeks before. Other unions are avoiding playing on public holidays and Taranaki has followed this starting two weeks after Easter. 

Meanwhile in the division two competition, each team will play either 11 or 12 regular season matches before a play-off series. It’s still undecided whether that will include quarter or semi-finals.  

Taranaki Rugby chief executive Mike Sandle backs the move saying the union highly values the club competitions in the region.  

“We have been innovative and creative (and) looking to try something new,” he said.  

“We have developed a model that can add some real excitement to all our local CMK competitions. The importance of our competitions has been highlighted through our engagement in 2023 and various representative programme success this year.”  

The draw will be announced in November.  

The premier women’s competition start date and season format is to be confirmed.