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The Bunnings NPC is the highlight of the New Zealand rugby calendar. Formerly known as the National Provincial Championship, this domestic competition was updated in 2022 and features the top 14 provincial rugby union teams in the country. Every year, the tournament’s top sides battle to win the championship, lift the trophy and be recognised as New Zealand’s premier provincial side.
Looking forward to the upcoming Bunnings NPC? Whether you’re searching for the next fixture, the latest results or the current stats, we’ve got all of this and more right here at RugbyPass. Explore below to discover team information, news and FAQs.
The Bunnings NPC was launched back in 2006, when the Air New Zealand Cup replaced the National Provincial Championship. This original tournament had been in place since 1976 and it was New Zealand’s highest level of rugby union competition for two decades – it was superseded by the launch of Super Rugby in 1996.
The NPC was contested by 28 teams between 1976 and 2005. At this point, the tournament turned professional and it restructured into two separate competitions: The Air New Zealand Cup for the top 14 teams and the Heartland Championship for the remaining sides.
Since its debut, the tournament has been named after several sponsors. Although it continued as the Air New Zealand Cup until 2009, it was later known as the ITM Cup (2010-15) and the Mitre 10 Cup (2016-2021). It has existed as the Bunnings NPC since 2021.
The format of the Bunnings NPC tournament was updated in 2022. This means that all 14 sides now play to win one title.
In the current structure, teams are seeded based on their performance during the previous season and placed into two conferences: ‘Odds’ containing the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th ranked teams; ‘Evens’ containing the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th and 14th ranked sides.
Additionally, the Bunnings NPC utilises a round-robin format. Each team plays five home and five away games during the season: one against each side in their conference and a total of four against teams from the other conference. The top eight teams then progress to the play-offs, which include four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and a final.
