National Provincial Championship (1976–2005)

National Provincial Championship (1976–2005)

Competition logo
Sport	Rugby union
Founded	1976
Ceased	2005
Country	New Zealand
Last champion(s)	Auckland

The National Provincial Championship, or NPC, was the major domestic rugby competition in New Zealand. The NPC saw many alterations to its format and brand. In 2006, it was replaced by two competitions, the Air New Zealand Cup (now known as the Bunnings NPC) and the Heartland Championship.

The NPC was first contested in 1976, and although the basic format of Division One was much the same from then until the 2006 reorganisation, there were a number of changes to the lower divisions.

Initially, Division One was made up of 11 teams, 7 from the North Island and 4 from the South. The remaining unions contested a split Division Two, with teams from each island playing amongst themselves. The bottom placed Division One team from the South Island played the winner of the Southern Division Two to determine whether they switched divisions, whilst the bottom placed Division One team from the North Island was automatically relegated, switching places with the winner of the Northern Division Two.

In 1980, there was a change in format. There was no automatic relegation for any team from Division One. Instead, the Division Two North Island and South Island winning teams played each other to determine who played in a promotion/relegation match against the bottom team in Division One.

This format continued until 1985, when the split Division Two was replaced by a united Division Two and a Division Three. The top and bottom placed teams in each division were automatically promoted and relegated each year.

In 1992, three teams from Division One were relegated so there were 9 teams in each division. Also, 1992 saw the introduction of semi-finals and a final to determine the champion in each division—previously, a league system had been used.

Auckland were the most successful team in the NPC championship, having won 15 of the 30 series.

The only change before 2006 was in 1998, when the number of teams in each division was changed to 10 in Division One, 9 in Division Two, and 8 in Division Three. Having an even number of teams in Division One removed the necessity for byes. Starting that year, automatic promotion/relegation between the top two divisions was ended. In its place, the winner of Division Two played a promotion-relegation match against the bottom club in Division One to determine whether the clubs would switch places. Through 2002, this match was hosted by the bottom team in Division One, but the site was changed in 2003 to the home field of the Division Two champion.

History[]

In 1976, the original founded New Zealand Rugby Football Union organised a new provincial competition, unifying the various football unions across New Zealand. This was due to the demand after administered interprovincial matches were only arranged and scheduled for in an independent manner since the 19th century.^[1] The National Provincial Championship was established with the inaugural tournament kicked off in May 1976. The football unions were divided into two divisions, a Division One and a Division Two, the latter split into North Island and South Island sub-divisions. The title was awarded to the top-placed team on each division's competition ladder at the end of the season.^[2] After ten games in all, Bay of Plenty were crowned the winners, on 18 September 1976. Taranaki remained unbeaten and gained promotion to Division One after finishing first in Division Two.^[3]

Teams[]

Northland

North Harbour

Auckland

Counties Manukau

Thames Valley

Bay of Plenty

Waikato

King Country

East Coast

Poverty Bay

Taranaki

Hawke's Bay

Horowhenua-Kapiti

Wanganui

Wairarapa Bush

Manawatu

Wellington

Tasman

Buller

West Coast

Canterbury

Mid Canterbury

South Canterbury

Otago

North Otago

Southland

Locations of National Provincial Championship teams

List of champions[]

Results[]

In all, 9 teams have played in at least one final from 1992. Of these are, Auckland, Canterbury, Counties Manukau, North Harbour, Otago, Taranaki, Tasman, Waikato, and Wellington. Of those teams, seven have won the first division or known as the premiership. With seventeen titles, Auckland are the most successful provincial team and also have finished runners-up on seven other occasions. Bay of Plenty were the first team to win the first division with Canterbury being the second most successful with fourteen titles. Counties Manukau (1979), Manawatu (1980), Otago (1991 and 1998), Taranaki (2014), Tasman (2019 and 2020), Waikato (1992 and 2006), and Wellington (1978, 1981, 1986, and 2000) are the only teams to have won titles. North Harbour in 1994 is the only other team to appear in a final or finish runners-up. Wellington has made the most second place finishes with twelve.

Premiership champions by union[]

Other division champions by union[]

Notes

List of New Zealand Premiers (1976–2005)[]

1. – Auckland – 15 titles
2. – Canterbury – 5 titles
3. – Wellington – 4 titles
4. – Otago – 2 titles
5. – Bay of Plenty, Counties Manukau, Manawatu and Waikato – 1 title

See also[]

• National Provincial Championship (2006–present)
• Heartland Championship
• Ranfurly Shield

References[]