2006 Air New Zealand Cup
The 2006 Air New Zealand Cup was the inaugural season of the Air New Zealand Cup, contested by teams from New Zealand. The season ran from July to October 2006. At the end of the regular season, the top team from Repechage A and B joined with teams from the Top Six who entered the quarter-finals, with the winners going through to the semi-finals. The winner of each semi-final qualified for the final, which was contested between Waikato and Wellington, with Waikato winning 37–31 to win the first Air New Zealand Cup title.
| 2006 Air New Zealand Cup season | |
|---|---|
| Countries | New Zealand |
| Date | 28 July – 21 October 2006 |
| Champions | Waikato |
| Runners-up | Wellington |
| Matches played | 70 |
| Tries scored | 374 (average 5.3 per match) |
| Top point scorer | Jimmy Gopperth (Wellington) 121 points |
| Top try scorer | Richard Kahui (Waikato) 8 tries |
| Official website | |
| allblacks | |
This season was the first of the expanded competition, which has succeeded the First Division of the National Provincial Championship. It also saw the introduction of four new teams, Hawke's Bay, Counties Manukau, Manawatu and the newly formed Tasman (a merger of Nelson Bays and Marlborough). On 3 June 2006, the Commerce Commission accepted the NZRU proposal of a salary cap for the Air New Zealand Cup. This was mainly so that the talent pool of players could be spread between the 14 rugby unions.