The ITM Cup is New Zealand’s annual professional domestic Rugby union competition, traditionally held from late July through to the end of October. It was founded in 2006 with 14 teams, after the National Provincial Championship (NPC) was split into two separate competitions. The other 12 provincial teams from the NPC now compete in the amateur Heartland Championship.
From 2006 to 2009 season the competition was sponsored by Air New Zealand and called the Air New Zealand Cup. The 2006 Air New Zealand Cup was played over 13 weeks from the end of July till the Grand Final on the 21st October. The season was split into two rounds with Round One having all teams split into two pools and playing each other as well as a ‘bye’ week. Round Two involved the top three teams from each pool going into the top six who then faced every team that they had not faced in Round One. The remaining teams were split into either Pool A or Pool B, the winners of each group claiming a quarterfinal place alongside the top six. There then followed semi-finals and a final.
The 2007 and 2008 season saw further changes in the format with the New Zealand Rugby Union choosing to discard the pool system used in 2006. They settled instead on a 10 week round-robin where each team missed out on playing three of the other teams. The finals format remained the same.
In 2009 the format became a straight round-robin tournament where every team faced the others once over the 13 week season. The competition was intended to be the last of the Air New Zealand Cup with the NZRU deciding to change the format yet again. The top division, named the Premier Division as of 2010, was reduced to ten teams with two lesser divisions; the First Division with 6 teams, 4 teams from the Air New Zealand Cup and two teams from the Heartland Championship.
In 2010 Independent Timber Merchants took over sponsorship and it became the ITM Cup. The 2011 tournament consisted of 14 teams covering a substantial part of New Zealand. They played 72 matches in 13 rounds over eight weeks. They were; Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Counties Manukau, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu, North Harbour, Northland, Otago, Southland, Taranaki, Tasman, Waikato and Wellington. Canterbury have won the last four ITM Cups with the previous winners being Waikato (2006) and Auckland (2007).
The previous season’s results decide whether teams compete in the ITM Cup Premiership or the ITM Cup Championship. The Cup Championship teams play for promotion in a unique format which means every team plays all other teams within their Premiership or Championship as well as four crossover matches from the other group.
The ITM Cup format changed for 2011 with 14 teams competing in the ITM Cup competition. Teams ranked 1 to 7 playing in the ITM Premiership and teams ranked 8 to 14 playing in the ITM Championship. The Cup was condensed into an eight-week period with frequent midweek games and no semi-finals in order to have it completed in time for the Rugby World Cup.
The structure for the 2012 ITM Cup is to be confirmed early in 2012 but it is expected to resume its standard format with semi-finals and Finals for the ITM Cup (both Premiership and Championship).
ITM Cup Betting
ITM Cup bets are much the same as any other rugby union bets. Odds are available on head-to-head and Line betting and winning margins.
As well as the more traditional betting options, there are wide range of special markets including highest try scorer and highest points scorer. There are also a host of betting opportunities on the semi-finals and final.
ITM Cup odds
ITM Cup Rugby is becoming increasingly popular among rugby union fans. Although Canterbury have dominated the competition in recent years, the league is still very competitive and this makes for some interesting rugby union betting opportunities.
