ITM Cup Format - 2011 and Beyond

As announced in December 2009, the ITM Cup format changes from 2011 with 14 teams competing in the ITM Cup competition. Teams ranked 1 to 7 will play in the ITM Premiership and teams ranked 8 to 14 will play in the ITM Championship.

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Next year, to accommodate the Rugby World Cup, the ITM Cup will be played in a condensed eight-week window with no semifinals. Teams in the ITM Premiership will compete for the ITM Cup title, and teams in the ITM Championship will compete for promotion into the Premiership the following year.

The team that finishes last in the Premiership will be relegated to the Championship the following year.

The competition will resume its standard format in 2012 – with semifinals and Finals for the ITM Cup (both Premiership and Championship).

In 2010:

- End of 2010 season results determine 2011 rankings for 14 Provincial Unions

- Teams ranked 8 to 14 were determined at the end of the round robin

- Team rankings 1 to 7 will be confirmed after the ITM Cup Final on 5 November 2010 (with the winner being ranked in first place)

- Provincial Unions begin selecting preferences for crossover matches (November/December)

In 2011:

- Teams ranked 1 to 7 play in the ITM Premiership; teams ranked 8 to 14 play in the ITM Championship

- All teams play 10 regular season games (five home, five away) then Finals.

- All ITM Premiership teams play against each other once, plus four crossover matches against ITM Championship teams

- All ITM Championship teams play against each other once, plus four cross-over matches with ITM Premiership teams

- All games (including crossover matches) carry full competition points Automatic promotion / relegation between the 7th placed team in ITM Premiership and winner of the ITM Championship

- Condensed competition with 3 mid-week games for each team and no semi-finals (8 week duration)

- There will be 3 or 4 midweek games every week

- ITM Premiership and ITM Championship Finals are scheduled for 3 September

In 2012:

- Same Premiership/Championship and crossover format

- No mid-week games but will include semifinals and Finals (12 week duration)

Crossover matches Premiership v Championship:
All teams play four crossover matches:

- One cross-division match is pre-determined on seeding at the end of the 2010 season (ie, 14th v 1st, 13th v 2nd , 12th v 3rd,….)

- Two matches are determined by Championship teams selecting two crossover matches – one home and one away.

- One match is determined by Premiership teams selecting a Championship team game (home game for Premiership side).