New style to find league champion

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32902, 28 April 1972, Page 20

New style to find league champion

Considerable changes have been made to the format of the Rothmans inter-provincial Rugby league tournament this season, the new system being used for the first time when Bay of Plenty meets Waikato at Rotorua tomorrow.

In place of the unsatisfactory quadrangular tournaments — which favoured the team opposing the weaker side in the opening round — the national council has introduced an aggregate home-and-away basis for the qualifying series. Canterbury has been drawn against West Coast in the southern zone. The province which wins at Christchurch on May 6 and Greymouth on May 28 (or scores the most points over-all in the event of a reversed result in the second leg of the tie) advances to the semi-final with Otago at Dunedin on June 24. The return Bay of Plenty v. Waikato match has been scheduled for Huntly on May 21. Northland and Midlands are paired at Tokoroa on

May 7 and Whangarei on i- June 4, while Manawatu is e at home to Taranaki on May ir 20 and travels to New Ply- - mouth on June 3. !; AUTOMATIC FINALIST i- Auckland has been seeded through to the final roundQ robin series against the e northern (probably Waikato), e central (with Wellington beh ing favoured to defeat TaraQ naki in the semi-final) and lt southern (Canterbury or lt West Coast) representatives. e The first of these league-style |. fixtures will be held on July 8 h and the last on September 2. I. In previous years the r. national champion — invarin ably Auckland — had been y decided on a knock-out syss tem once the various zone n play-offs had been completed.