South Canterbury claimed the Meads Cup, and the Bunnings Heartland Championship, for the first time when beating Thames Valley 35-16 in Timaru on Sunday.
South Canterbury ran in three tries, two of them to wing Sireli Buliruarua, to one by Thames Valley. South Canterbury had previously twice won the Lochore Cup in 2013 and 2019, since the introduction of the trophies in the 2006 season.
Whanganui beat North Otago 22-16 to win the Lochore Cup for the second time. It previously won the Lochore Cup in the 2014. Whanganui also won the Meads Cup in 2008, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017 and runners up in 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2019.
Note: Whanganui have now appeared in 13 Finals , Lochore or Meads Cup in 16 years- 15 seasons –
In the newly-introduced Bill Osborne Taonga,Poverty Bay beat Mid Canterbury 33-26 in Gisborne in the playoff for fifth and sixth places.
Scores were:
Meads Cup South Canterbury 35 Thames Valley 16
South Canterbury 35 (Sireli Buliruarua 2, Cam Russell tries; Sam Briggs con, 6 pen) Thames Valley 16 (Ben Stephens try; Todd Doolan con, 3 pen) HT: 18-13
Lochore Cup Whanganui 22 North Otago 16
Whanganui 22 (Alekesio Vakarorogo, Semi Vodosese tries; Ethan Robinson 4 pen) North Otago 16 (Levi Emery try; Abel Magalolo con, 3 pen) HT: 12-3
Bill Osborne Taonga
Poverty Bay 33 Mid Canterbury 26
Poverty Bay 33 (James Higgins, Stefan Destounis, Jarryd Broughton 2 tries; Kelvin Smith 2 con, 3 pen) Mid Canterbury 26 (Callum Barrell, Raitube Vasurakuta tries; Tom Reekie con, 4 pen) HT: 13-10