2017 Heartland Championship
The 2017 Heartland Championship, was the twelfth edition of the Heartland Championship, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur rugby unions in New Zealand. The tournament included 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 played at home against the lowest seeds, the second highest seeds played at home against the third highest seeds and the final had the higher seed play at home against the lower seed.
Wanganui won the Meads Cup for the third time in a row and the sixth time overall.
It was the first win in the Lochore Cup for Mid Canterbury. They had previously won the Meads Cup in 2013 and 2014. As a result, Mid Canterbury joined North Otago, Wairarapa Bush and Wanganui as the provinces to have won both the Meads Cup and Lochore Cup.
During the Heartland Championship, former All Blacks Piri Weepu, Alby Mathewson and Regan King played for Wairarapa Bush, King Country and Mid Canterbury respectively.
Teams
The 2017 Heartland Championship was contested by the following teams:| Team | Super Rugby partner | Hometown |
| Buller | Crusaders | Westport |
| East Coast | Hurricanes | Ruatoria |
| Horowhenua-Kapiti | Hurricanes | Levin |
| King Country | Chiefs | Taupō |
| Mid Canterbury | Crusaders | Ashburton |
| North Otago | Highlanders | Oamaru |
| Poverty Bay | Hurricanes | Gisborne |
| South Canterbury | Crusaders | Timaru |
| Thames Valley | Chiefs | Paeroa |
| Wairarapa Bush | Hurricanes | Masterton |
| Wanganui | Hurricanes | Wanganui |
| West Coast | Crusaders | Greymouth |
Standings
Following the round-eight-week regular season South Canterbury was the top qualifier with 36 points from winning seven games, after losing their first game to Buller.| Team | |||||||||||
| 1 | South Canterbury | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 273 | 190 | +83 | 7 | 1 | 36 |
| 2 | Horowhenua-Kapiti | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 227 | 107 | +120 | 3 | 1 | 32 |
| 3 | Buller | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 250 | 203 | +47 | 3 | 1 | 28 |
| 4 | Wanganui | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 279 | 125 | +154 | 3 | 3 | 26 |
| 5 | Mid Canterbury | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 275 | 224 | +51 | 2 | 1 | 26 |
| 6 | West Coast | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 209 | 201 | +8 | 5 | 1 | 26 |
| 7 | North Otago | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 235 | 178 | +57 | 5 | 4 | 25 |
| 8 | Poverty Bay | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 185 | 229 | −44 | 4 | 0 | 20 |
| 9 | Thames Valley | 8 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 209 | 174 | +35 | 4 | 4 | 20 |
| 10 | King Country | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 206 | 323 | −117 | 5 | 3 | 12 |
| 11 | Wairarapa Bush | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 174 | 313 | −139 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
| 12 | East Coast | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 98 | 353 | −255 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Meads Cup qualification | |
| Lochore Cup qualification |