The provinces are where the ITM Cup comes alive.
Forget those city slickers because, with the exception of Canterbury, their fans have largely tuned out and New Zealand's smaller cities have enjoyed success in the national provincial championship this year.
One season of topsy-turvy results doesn't indicate a permanent shift in power, but the 2014 instalment has been a breath of fresh air from Canterbury celebrating another title.
In the Championship, Manawatu will host Hawke's Bay tonight with promotion to the Premiership on the line, while Tasman travel to New Plymouth to meet Taranaki in the competition's showpiece contest tomorrow.
Taranaki housed around 6000 people per home game during the regular season but they were on track to sell out the 21,000-seat Yarrow Stadium this weekend.
"It's a real bonus," Taranaki chief executive Mike Collins said of hosting the final. "Our ticketing guy, Jimmy Fastier, has been at work until about one or two in the morning on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
"We haven't raised our prices, we've dropped our prices. This is a bit of history for around here and we want everyone to be able to get along and enjoy it; no matter what their financial situation."
A ticket to the final in the uncovered stand -- providing you could still get one -- would set you back $12.50.
In a throwback move, kids were also allowed on the ground after Taranaki's games this season and Collins said they'd seen youngsters out on the paddock kicking a ball around for up to 90 minutes after the final whistle had blown.
"We want to provide our community with an experience they can't get on their couch at home."
That's the challenge facing many unions across the country, but it's not just a matter of cost. Even though there were $10 tickets on offer to Auckland's games at Eden Park this season they could still only muster crowds of 4000.
"Collectively we are really struggling in the metropolitan areas and I think it's an issue of [over] exposure of the game in those areas," Auckland chief executive Andy Dalton said.
"You've got Super Rugby, test matches and ITM Cup, we are just not getting the support that the provincial unions are receiving."
While there have been calls to move Auckland's home games to a smaller venue, it's not an easy fix given sponsorship requirements, members obligations and finding a suitable location.
"From a financial point of view, it's going to need a lot more support from New Zealand Rugby to continue," Dalton said of the competition. "Costs of players and holding the fixtures is a very expensive part of the business for Auckland Rugby."
New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew said it had poured money in to the ITM Cup, which held an important spot in the game's pyramid, while unions across the country had learned to become more financially self-sufficient in recent years.
"We do see it as an investment," Tew said.
The future of the competition will likely hinge on the sale of television rights rather than paltry gate takings and Tew said this season's viewership figures were positive.
"We've seen the preliminary numbers around the early and middle rounds and they're holding up okay."
Tew also said the format, while not perfect, was likely to stay for the foreseeable future.
Manawatu chief executive John Knowles, who managed the Turbos in 2006 and 2007 before he returned to the union to take up his current role in 2009, had seen the ITM Cup go through numerous revamps.
"We'd all love to have 14 teams playing each other all the way through but the reality of it is the window is just not there," Knowles said.
"So this is probably the best compromise we could ever get and it's given the smaller unions an opportunity, as you've seen this year, to come through."
With the tight window there was the odd scheduling complaint as some players and coaches found the tight turnarounds tough to manage, while others enjoyed it as it meant less time on the training paddock.
The major point to remember about the ITM Cup is that it's the jewel in New Zealand Rugby's development crown.
Each year a handful of players use it as a launching pad to success, while it is a perfect platform for a rehabilitating All Black to use to get back up to speed following an injury.
"It's doing everything they want in terms of bringing out some new players from around the country, spreading the talent," Dalton said. "Both Auckland and Wellington have over 60 players playing outside their areas that have come through their academy systems."
The ITM Cup Finals
Championship
Manawatu v Hawke's Bay, Palmerston North, 7.35pm tonight
Premiership
Taranaki v Tasman, New Plymouth, 7.35pm tomorrow
- Daniel Richardson of APNZ
