2016 Heartland Championship
| Date | 27 August 2016–29 October 2016 |
|---|---|
| Countries |
 New Zealand
|
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
 Wanganui (Meads Cup) North Otago (Lochore Cup) |
| Runner-up |
.png){kind=small} Buller (Meads Cup) King Country (Lochore Cup) |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 54 |
|
← 2015
2017 →
|
|
| Meads Cup qualification | |
| Lochore Cup qualification |
The 2016 Heartland Championship, known as the 2016 Mitre 10 Heartland Championship for sponsorship reasions, will be the eleventh edition of the Heartland Championship, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur rugby unions in New Zealand. The tournament will involve a round-robin stage in which the twelve teams play eight games each and then the top four advance to the Meads Cup semifinals, while fifth to eighth advance to the Lochore Cup semifinals. In both of these knockout stages the top seeds (first and fifth) play at home against the lowest seeds (fourth and eighth), the second highest seeds (second and sixth) play at home against the third highest seeds (third and seventh) and the final will have the higher seed play at home against the lower seed.
The New Zealand Rugby Union decided to implement new law changes for the Heartland Championship this season. These law changes involve a new points scoring system:
The 2016 Heartland Championship will be contested by the following teams.
Three Heartland Championship teams, Thames Valley, King Country and Wanganui challenged Waikato for the coveted Ranfurly Shield. Thames Valley last challenged for the Ranfurly Shield in 2014 against Counties Manukau (losing 68–0), whereas both King Country and Wanganui last challenged for it in 2012 against Taranaki (losing 67–16 and 51–7, respectively).
The first challenge came from Thames Valley in June, when the Swamp Foxes succumbed 83–13 to Waikato. In July the holders retained their Shield in a 55-to-nothing victory against King Country. The last Heartland Championship challenge for 2016 saw Waikato defeat Wanganui 32–12 in Cambridge.
In the case of a two-team tie on points the ranking of teams is decided by:
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