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The 2012 ITM Cup season was the seventh season since the competition reconstruction in 2006 and the second under the new Premiership and Championship format. For the ITM Cup competition it involved the top 14 provincial unions of New Zealand. The tournament was won by Canterbury, who defeated Auckland 31–18 in the competition final. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as the ITM Cup and it was currently the third season under the new sponsor. Including the defunct National Provincial Championship, this is the 36th season of New Zealand's premier domestic competition. The regular season matches took place from 23 August until 14 October – followed by the semi-finals that culminated in the final on 27 October. The 2012 season saw Hawke's Bay enter the Premiership division for the first time, having replaced the under-performing Southland. Hawke's Bay achieved three victories in their inaugural division, but finished last following the regular season. ==Competition format== Covering 10 weeks, the schedule features a total of 76 matches. The 14 teams are grouped and divided into two divisions of seven teams, labeled the Premiership Division and the Championship Division. They are based on their on-field finishing positions following the previous year, teams finishing 1-7 will form the Premiership, teams finishing 8-14 will form the Championship. Including a promotion/relegation process between the winner of the Championship receiving automatic promotion to the Premiership replacing the seventh placed team in the Premiership which will be relegated to the Championship for the following year.〔("2010 ITM Cup Competition Structures" ), ''Manawatu Rugby Union''. Retrieved on 7 August 2010.〕 The regular season consists of two types of matches: * Internal Division Matches – Each team plays the other six teams in the same division once, home or away. * Cross Division Matches – Each team plays four teams from the other division, thus missing out on three teams (each from the opposite division). Each team plays home or away games against teams from the other division, making a total of ten competition games for each team. The top four teams of each division, will move on to the finals. The top two division winners, based on table points, received a home semi-final. In the first round of the finals, the semi-finals, the second division winner hosts the third division winner, and the first division winner hosts the fourth division winner. The final is hosted by the top remaining seed.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=ITM Cup Finals schedule )〕 There is also the Ranfurly Shield. It is automatically contested when the holder of the shield plays at home in any round (excluding semis and final). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2012 ITM Cup」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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