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Rugby union tournament
2014 Heartland Championship
Date
23 August 2014 (2014-08-23)–26 October 2014 (2014-10-26)
The 2014 Heartland Championship was the ninth edition of the Heartland Championship, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur rugby unions in New Zealand. The tournament involved a round-robin stage in which the twelve teams played eight games each and then the top four advanced to the Meads Cup semifinals, while fifth to eighth advanced to the Lochore Cup semifinals. In both of these knockout stages the top seeds (first and fifth) played at home against the lowest seeds (fourth and eighth), the second highest seeds (second and sixth) played at home against the third highest seeds (third and seventh) and the final had the higher seed play at home against the lower seed.
Meads Cup, Heartland Championship and ITM Cup Championship qualification
Lochore Cup qualification
In the case of a two-team tie on points the ranking of teams is decided by:
(1) the winner of the round robin match between the two provinces; then
(2) highest point difference; then
(3) most tries scored; then
(4) a coin toss.
In the case of a three-team or more tie on points the ranking of teams is decided by:
(1) the province with the most wins against other tied provinces in the Round Robin; then
(2) if two teams remain tied they shall be ranked according to the criteria listed above, but if more than two teams remain tied, they shall be ranked according to criteria (2) to (4) only.
Regular season
The schedule of fixtures was released on 3 April 2014.
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Buller