New NZ tournament
New Zealand is in the process of introducing a new Under-19 tournament and has named it after the great All Black captain and former chairman of the New Zealand RFU, the Jock Hobbs Memorial National U19 Tournament, intended to provide opportunities for young school-leavers to continue in the game.
The tournament will last a week of three match days with teams playing as provincial sides.
The inaugural tournaments starts on Sunday, 28 September and ends on Saturday 4 September with playing days on Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday. There will be 16 teams taking part, divided into two sections by seeding. The top seeds are Wellington, Waikato, Auckland A and Canterbury.
The two sections are the Premier Division which will compete for the Graham Mourie Cup and the Championship Division which will compete for the Michael Jones Cup.
Premiership Division: Wellington, Waikato, Auckland A, Canterbury, Taranaki, Bay of Plenty, North Harbour, Otago
Championship Division: Tasman, Manawatu, Auckland B, Counties Manukau, Southland, Northland, Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand Heartland XV.
Fixtures
Day 1
11.05: Auckland B vs Hawke's Bay
11.05: Counties Manukau vs Southland
14.05: Northland vs Manawatu
14.05: Bay of Plenty vs Canterbury
16.05: Heartland XV vs Tasman
17.05: Waikato vs Otago
17.05: North Harbour vs Wellington
18.05: Auckland A vs Taranaki
