2025 Heartland Championship
The 2025 Heartland Championship, is the 19th edition of the Heartland Championship, a rugby union competition involving the twelve amateur provincial unions in New Zealand.
The tournament began with a round-robin stage in which the twelve teams played eight games each, from which the top four advance to the Meads Cup, while fifth to eighth best teams advance to the Lochore Cup. The four teams in each respective Cup play "knock out" semi-finals to determine the finalists. The top seeds in each play at home against the lowest seeds while the second highest seeds play at home against the third highest seeds. The final of each cup features the higher seed playing at home against the lower seed.
Teams
The 2025 Heartland Championship comprises the following teams:Regular season
The following are the results from the regular season.Round 8
In September West Coast were sanctioned with a financial penalty of $5,000 and 15 competition points for a breach of Heartland Championship player eligibility rules.Regular season standings
In the 2025 season Mid Canterbury were clearly dominant going unbeaten through the regular season and gaining the maximum 40 points. On the field they scored 368 points versus 186 against. The 2025 Heartland regular season was a very even competition with five teams winning 5 of their 8 matches. Three teams won 4 of their 8 games but one of those teams, West Coast, was unable to make the semi-finals due to the loss of 15 competition points.Last year's Meads Cup champion Thames Valley was third after the regular season, as they had been in 2024. The 2024 Lochore Cup winner did not make the semi-finals this season.
| Team | ||||||||||
| 1 | Mid Canterbury | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 368 | 186 | +182 | 0 | 40 |
| 2 | South Canterbury | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 297 | 239 | +58 | 4 | 29 |
| 3 | Thames Valley | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 335 | 172 | +163 | 4 | 29 |
| 4 | Wairarapa Bush | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 290 | 226 | +64 | 3 | 28 |
| 5 | Whanganui | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 258 | 220 | +38 | 1 | 26 |
| 6 | North Otago | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 279 | 290 | -11 | 1 | 26 |
| 7 | Poverty Bay | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 249 | 247 | +2 | 5 | 25 |
| 8 | Horowhenua Kapiti | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 242 | 221 | +21 | 1 | 21 |
| 9 | King Country | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 259 | 234 | +25 | 5 | 15 |
| 10 | West Coast | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 268 | 203 | +65 | 3 | 8 |
| 11 | Buller | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 129 | 378 | -249 | 2 | 7 |
| 12 | Ngati Porou East Coast | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 112 | 470 | -358 | 1 | 1 |
| Meads Cup qualification | |
| Lochore Cup qualification |
Finals
In the Meads Cup the top placegetter plays at their home ground against the fourth team while the second placed team plays at home against the third. In the Lochore Cup the fifth placegetter plays at their home ground against the eighth team while the sixth placed team plays at home against the seventh. The winning semi-finalists then meet in the respective finals for each Cup, played at the home-ground of the team ranked highest in the regular season.Meads Cup
In the Meads Cup the top team from the regular season, Mid Canterbury, played the 4th placed Wairarapa Bush in their semi-final at Ashburton. Mid Canterbury won a close match 21-19 to qualify for the final.In the other semi-final South Canterbury played Thames Valley at Timaru. Thames Valley prevailed by 61-31 with their No 8 Aporosa Vuniyayawa scoring four tries.
In the Meads Cup final Mid Canterbury beat Thames Valley 21-18 at Ashburton.
Bracket
Lochore Cup
Whanganui finished the regular season 5th and therefore top qualifier for the Lochore Cup. In their semi-final they played at home against Horowhenua Kapiti. However, in a game that went to extra time, Horowhenua Kapiti upset them 40-18.In the other semi-final North Otago played at Oamaru against Poverty Bay, winning a close match by 48-46.
In the Lochore Cup final North Otago beat Horowhenua Kapiti 64-47 in a high-scoring match at Oamaru.
Bill Osborne Taonga
Since 2022 Heartland teams have played for challenge trophy, named after 16-test All Black Bill Osborne and based on similar rules to the Ranfurly Shield played for by National Provincial Championship teams. King Country started the 2025 season as the holder of the Bill Osborne Taonga having secured it by beating Whanganui 34–17 in October 2024.Challenges
- 23 August - King Country 47 Poverty Bay 26
- 6 September - King Country 36 Horowhenua Kapiti 46
- 13 September - Horowhenua Kapiti 27 West Coast 26
- 27 September - Horowhenua Kapiti 22 vs Wairarapa Bush 21
Ian Kirkpatrick Medal
At the end of each season, a Heartland Championship Player of the Year will be chosen and they will be awarded this medal, named after former All Blacks captain Ian Kirkpatrick.The 2025 Ian Kirkpatrick winner was Keanu Taumata the Poverty Bay flanker and co-captain.
The previous season's winner was Alekesio Vakarorogo.