ITM Cup
Current season, competition or edition: 2016 Mitre 10 Cup
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The official Mitre 10 Cup logo
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| Formerly |
Air New Zealand Cup (2006–2009) ITM Cup (2010–2015) |
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| Sport | Rugby union |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Inaugural season | 2006 |
| Owner(s) | New Zealand Rugby Union |
| CEO | Steve Tew |
| Divisions |
Premiership Championship |
| No. of teams | 14 |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Canterbury (8th title) |
| Most titles | Canterbury (8 titles) |
| TV partner(s) |
Sky Sport Fox Sports Sky Sports |
| Sponsor(s) | Mitre 10 |
| Related competitions |
Heartland Championship Lochore Cup Meads Cup Ranfurly Shield Women's Provincial Championship |
| Official website | Mitre10Cup.co.nz |
The Mitre 10 Cup (colloquially referred to as "National Provincial Championship" or "NPC") is the highest level of New Zealand domestic rugby union competition, contested annually from late August to early November and managed by the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU). Building on competitions dating back to the National Provincial Championship in 1976, with teams from a number of provinces, the Mitre 10 Cup officially started with the 2006 season with 14 teams after the National Provincial Championship (NPC) was split into this professional competition and the amateur Heartland Championship competition. The competition was known as the Air New Zealand Cup to the end of the 2009 season; the name then changed to the ITM Cup for the 2010 season after ITM, the trading name of Independent Timber Merchants Co-operative Ltd., a New Zealand building supplies retailer took over as lead sponsor. In 2016 the New Zealand-owned home improvement and garden retailer, Mitre 10 took over sponsorship after out-bidding ITM.
The Mitre 10 Cup competition has changed a number of times. There have been up to three Divisions, with promotion/relegation between the two bottom divisions. Since 2006 there have been semi-finals and a final in each Division. Winners receive four competition points; if the game was a draw two points are awarded to each team. The Rugby union bonus points system is also used, where any team scoring four or more tries or losing by less than seven points receives an extra competition point. The top four teams at the end of the round-robin phase then played semifinals – the first placed team hosting the fourth team, and the second team hosting the third team. The two winners played the final at the home ground of the top surviving seed.
From 2013 onwards, the Mitre 10 Cup has two Divisions, the Premiership and the Championship, each with seven teams. All teams play all other teams in their own Division and four teams from the other Division. This keeps up some of the traditional provincial rivalries.
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