The Heartland XV rugby team is one of several New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 national representative rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 teams, although it is at a lower level than the All Blacks

All Blacks

The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....

 (the full national side), the second-level Junior All Blacks

Junior All Blacks

The Junior All Blacks are a New Zealand rugby union team. The Junior All Blacks are not an age grade side, but the second national team behind the New Zealand national rugby union team....

 and the New Zealand Māori

New Zealand Maori rugby union team

New Zealand Māori is a rugby union team that traditionally plays teams touring New Zealand. A prerequisite for playing in this team is that the player is to have Māori whakapapa or genealogy. In the past this rule was not strictly applied. In the past non-Māori players who looked Māori were often...

 (an all-Māori side that frequently plays full international sides from other countries). The side is drawn exclusively from players for provincial unions that compete in the Heartland Championship

Heartland Championship

The Heartland Championship New Zealand Division One competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the AA Rewards Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two successor competitions to the country's former domestic competition,...

, a nominally amateur domestic competition below the fully professional Air New Zealand Cup

Air New Zealand Cup

The ITM Cup is New Zealand's annual professional domestic Rugby union competition, taking place from late July through October . It was founded in 2006 with 14 teams, after the National Provincial Championship was split into two separate competitions. The other 12 provincial teams from the NPC...

.

Originally known as the Divisional XV, it was designed to expose players from Divisions Two and Three in the Air New Zealand National Provincial Championship (NPC) to rugby at a higher level. Upon the 2006 reorganisation of the NPC into the Air New Zealand Cup and Heartland Championship, the side was revamped into a Heartland-only side and received its current name.

Forwards

• Daniel Aldworth (Wanganui)
• Aarin Dunster (King Country)
• Joseph Harwood (Wairarapa-Bush)
• William Halgarth (Poverty Bay)
• Sam Henderson (Wairarapa-Bush)
• Dylan Higgison (Wairarapa-Bush)
• Sylvanus Iro (Wairarapa-Bush)
• Sheldon O'Hagan (Wanganui)
• Hayden Rasmussen (Thames Valley)
• Peter Rowe (Wanganui)
• Thomas Solomon (Poverty Bay)
• Michael Tamehana (Wanganui)
• Michael Thompson (Wanganui)
• Ryan Tohaia (Thames Valley)
• Gene Waller (Thames Valley)

Backs

• Patrick Harding-Rimene (Wairarapa Bush)
• Karne Kaufana (North Otago)
• Scott Leighton (Poverty Bay)
• Shane Leach (Poverty Bay)
• Leon Mason (Wanganui)
• Scott Mayhew (North Otago)
• Hamish McKenzie (Wairarapa Bush)
• Daniel Morath (Poverty Bay)
• Nathan Riwai-Couch (Wairarapa Bush)
• Kahu Tamatea (Poverty Bay)
• Fa'aitu Tuamoheloa (North Otago)
• Logan Vaughan (Wanganui)