The 2010 Heartland Championship was the fifth edition of the New Zealand provincial rugby union competition, since the 2006 reconstruction. The teams represented the 12 amateur rugby unions.
In Round 1, the teams were split into two pools of 6 teams in a round-robin format (30 games, from 30 August to 25 September).
In Round 2, the first three teams in each pool of Round 1 competed for the Meads Cup, the others competed for the Lochore Cup. Each team met the teams from the other pool of Round 1 in a round-robin format (18 games, from 2 October to 16 October). The first four teams in Round 2 went on to the semifinals, the winners of which went on to the grand final on 31 October.
The winning teams were North Otago in the Meads Cup, and Wairarapa-Bush in the Lochore Cup.
The 2010 Lochore Cup semi-finals began with controversy when West Coast Rugby Football Union were effectively expelled from the competition:
Wairarapa Bush and Buller progressed to the final by beating King Country and Horowhenua-Kapiti respectively.
The Lochore Cup was won by Wairarapa Bush beating Buller 15-9 in the final.
The Meads Cup semi-finals were won by North Otago and Whanganui, defeating Mid-Canterbury and Poverty Bay respectively.
In the final of the Meads Cup, North Otago won the game 39âÂÂ18 over Whanganui in the match on 30 October at Whitestone Contracting Stadium.