Makos 2012 cross-over Cup opponents named

The Tasman Makos crossover games in next year's ITM Cup rugby competition were confirmed yesterday.

The Makos will play Canterbury, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki and Waikato from the premiership on top of their championship matches.

New Zealand's 14 ITM Cup provincial teams met by web-conference yesterday to make their picks for three of the four crossover matches to be played between ITM Cup premiership and championship teams.

NZRU general manager professional rugby Neil Sorensen said this year's compacted ITM Cup was a winner with both fans and teams.

After positive feedback from provincial unions, the NZRU has scheduled two midweek matches in the 10-round draw over eight weeks next year.

The first round of the ITM Cup will begin on August 23, with the finals on October 27.

Teams ranked first to seventh at the end of the 2011 season will play in the ITM Cup Premiership next year, while teams ranked eighth to 14th will play in the ITM Cup Championship.

All provinces will play every other team within their premiership/championship plus their four crossover matches which carry full competition points.

One of the four crossover matches is automatically set based on seeding at the end of this year's ITM Cup. The web-conference completed the selections for the other three crossover matches.

After finishing bottom of the 2011 premiership, the Southland Stags move across to the championship for the 2012 season, swapping with this year's ITM Cup Championship winners Hawke's Bay, who move over to the premiership.

The full ITM Cup draw is expected to be confirmed in the next two month
- The Nelson Mail