National Provincial Championship
National Provincial Championship logo
SportRugby union
Inaugural season1976
Ceased2005
CountryNew Zealand (NZR)
Most titlesAuckland (15 titles)
Websiteprovincial.rugby
Related competitionsFarah Palmer Cup
Heartland Championship
Ranfurly Shield

The National Provincial Championship, often simply called the NPC, was an annual promotion and relegation rugby union competition in men's domestic New Zealand rugby. First played during the 1976 season, it was the highest level of competition in New Zealand until Super Rugby launched in 1996. It was organised by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and ceased following the 2005 season.

The league was restructured into two distinct competitions. The National Provincial Championship would include professional and semi-professional players, and consist of the top fourteen financial and best performing regional teams. For sponsorship reasons it was rebranded as the Air New Zealand Cup. The remaining teams would form a breakaway amateur competition known as the Heartland Championship.[1]

Twenty-eight teams had competed since the inception of the competition in 1976. Auckland were the most successful union with fifteen titles and Bay of Plenty were the inaugural champions. Six other teams had won the title: Canterbury (5), Wellington (4), Otago (2), Counties Manukau (1), Manawatu (1), and Waikato (1).

History

Origins and foundation

The first form of competition came in 1904 with the introduction of the Ranfurly Shield as a challenge trophy. The fixtures were planned each year in Wellington at the New Zealand Rugby Football Union annual meeting. An elected representative from each provincial union would submit a list of proposed dates and opponents that ideally wouldn't conflict with their local club competitions. In various parts of the country, regular matches were organised by neighbouring regions for challenge trophies.[2] One of the most prestigious competitions presented in 1946 by Timaru's former mayor, A.E.S. Hanan, was the Hanan Shield. It was contested between Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury, and North Otago.[3] Another notable trophy was the Seddon Shield, which was first challenged in 1906. It was named after the former premier of New Zealand, Richard Seddon and featured representative teams from Buller, Nelson Bays, Marlborough, and the West Coast. In the North Island, starting in the King Country and heading northwards, eleven teams played for the Coronation Shield.[4]

In light of the fact that were so many competitions throughout New Zealand, a national tournament was needed and demanded. In 1972, Barry Smith proposed an inter-provincial competition to the Auckland Rugby Union. Once approved by the union, it was called for discussion at the New Zealand Rugby Football Union annual conference in early 1974. The proposal contained an overview of the scheme and covered matters of finance, travel, sponsorship potential, general implications in respect of club and sub-union competitions, traditional representative matches, international laws and Sunday play. Following a meeting in October 1975, modifications were made and eventually accepted by all provinces. Radio New Zealand was awarded sponsorship rights worth NZD 100,000. They also contributed to the marketing of the new proposed competition that was later followed by Lion Breweries, National Mutual, and Air New Zealand. Teams competed in one of two divisions. The representative performance of each team over the previous five years determined which division they would play in. The premier division was decided by a ranking mechanism and determined Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Counties, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu, Marlborough, North Auckland, Otago, Southland, and Wellington to take part. The remaining provinces, Buller, East Coast, Horowhenua, King Country, Mid Canterbury, Nelson Bays, North Otago, Poverty Bay, South Canterbury, Taranaki, Thames Valley, Waikato, Wairarapa Bush, Wanganui and the West Coast were split into North Island and South Island sub-divisions with the possibility of promotion to the top division.[5]

Teams

Team Union Established Location Joined Departed Seasons Colours
Auckland Auckland Rugby Union 1883 Auckland 1976 2005 29
Bay of Plenty Bay of Plenty Rugby Union 1911 Tauranga 1976 2005 29
Buller Buller Rugby Union 1894 Westport 1976 2005 29
Canterbury Canterbury Rugby Football Union 1879 Christchurch 1976 2005 29
Central Vikings Central Vikings Rugby Union 1996 Napier 1997 1998 2
Counties Manukau Counties Manukau Rugby Football Union 1955 Pukekohe 1976 2005 29
East Coast Ngāti Porou East Coast Rugby Union 1922 Ruatoria 1976 2005 29
Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay Rugby Union 1884 Napier 1976 2005 29
Horowhenua Kapiti Horowhenua Kapiti Rugby Football Union 1893 Levin 1976 2005 29
King Country King Country Rugby Union 1922 Te Kuiti 1976 2005 29
Manawatu Manawatu Rugby Union 1886 Palmerston North 1976 2005 29
Marlborough Marlborough Rugby Union 1888 Blenheim 1976 2005 29
Mid Canterbury Mid Canterbury Rugby Union 1904 Ashburton 1976 2005 29
Nelson Bays Nelson Bays Rugby Union 1968 Nelson 1976 2005 29
North Harbour North Harbour Rugby Union 1985 Auckland 1985 2005 21
Northland Northland Rugby Union 1920 Whangārei 1976 2005 29
North Otago North Otago Rugby Football Union 1927 Oamaru 1976 2005 29
Otago Otago Rugby Football Union 1881 Dunedin 1976 2005 29
Poverty Bay Poverty Bay Rugby Football Union 1890 Gisborne 1976 2005 29
South Canterbury South Canterbury Rugby Football Union 1888 Timaru 1976 2005 29
Southland Rugby Southland 1887 Invercargill 1976 2005 29
Taranaki Taranaki Rugby Football Union 1885 New Plymouth 1976 2005 29
Thames Valley Thames Valley Rugby Union 1922 Paeroa 1976 2005 29
Waikato Waikato Rugby Union 1921 Hamilton 1976 2005 29
Wairarapa Bush Wairarapa Bush Rugby Football Union 1971 Masterton 1976 2005 29
Wellington Wellington Rugby Football Union 1879 Wellington 1976 2005 29
West Coast West Coast Rugby Union 1890 Greymouth 1976 2005 29
Whanganui Whanganui Rugby Football Union 1888 Whanganui 1976 2005 29

Champions

Edition Year Champion Result Runner-up Venue Location Coach
1 1976 Bay of Plenty No result Manawatu No play-offs Eric Anderson
2 1977 Canterbury No result Counties No play-offs Tiny Hill
3 1978 Wellington No result Counties No play-offs Ian Upston
4 1979 Counties No result Auckland No play-offs Hiwi Tauroa
5 1980 Manawatu No result Auckland No play-offs Graham Hamer
6 1981 Wellington No result Manawatu No play-offs Ian Upston
7 1982 Auckland No result Canterbury No play-offs John Hart
8 1983 Canterbury No result Wellington No play-offs Alex Wyllie
9 1984 Auckland No result Canterbury No play-offs John Hart
10 1985 Auckland No result Canterbury No play-offs John Hart
11 1986 Wellington No result Auckland No play-offs Earle Kirton
12 1987 Auckland No result Wellington No play-offs Maurice Trapp
13 1988 Auckland No result Wellington No play-offs Maurice Trapp
14 1989 Auckland No result Canterbury No play-offs Maurice Trapp
15 1990 Auckland No result Waikato No play-offs Maurice Trapp
16 1991 Otago No result Auckland No play-offs Laurie Mains
17 1992 Waikato 40–5 Otago Rugby Park Hamilton Kevin Greene
18 1993 Auckland 27–18 Otago Eden Park Auckland Graham Henry
19 1994 Auckland 22–16 North Harbour Onewa Domain Auckland Graham Henry
20 1995 Auckland 23–19 Otago Eden Park Auckland Graham Henry
21 1996 Auckland 46–15 Counties Manukau Eden Park Auckland Graham Henry
22 1997 Canterbury 44–13 Counties Manukau Lancaster Park Christchurch Robbie Deans
23 1998 Otago 49–20 Waikato Carisbrook Dunedin Tony Gilbert
24 1999 Auckland 24–18 Wellington Eden Park Auckland Wayne Pivac
25 2000 Wellington 34–29 Canterbury Jade Stadium Christchurch Dave Rennie
26 2001 Canterbury 30–19 Otago Jade Stadium Christchurch Steve Hansen
27 2002 Auckland 40–28 Waikato Waikato Stadium Hamilton Wayne Pivac
28 2003 Auckland 41–29 Wellington Westpac Stadium Wellington Wayne Pivac
29 2004 Canterbury 40–27 Wellington Westpac Stadium Wellington Brian McLean
30 2005 Auckland 39–11 Otago Eden Park Auckland Pat Lam

Finals appearances by union

In the sortable table below, teams are ordered first by number of appearances, then by number of wins, and finally by season of first appearance.

Team Total First Latest Won Lost Win %
Auckland 15 1982 2005 15 0 100.00
Wellington 7 1978 2003 4 3 57.14
Otago 7 1991 2005 2 5 28.57
Canterbury 6 1977 2004 5 1 83.33
Counties Manukau 3 1979 1997 1 2 33.33
Waikato 3 1992 2002 1 2 33.33
Bay of Plenty 1 1976 1976 1 0 100.00
Manawatu 1 1980 1980 1 0 100.00
North Harbour 1 1994 1994 0 1 0.00

Second-tier champions

The 2002 season saw the introduction of the Meads Cup and Lochore Cup, which were contested by unions from the second and third divisions respectively. North Otago and Hawke's Bay were the first honourable winners. New Zealand Rugby made the decision to incorporate the trophies in the new Heartland Championship tournament when the National Provincial Championship was discontinued in 2005.[6] The silverware commemorate the names of Sir Brian Lochore and Colin Meads, two legendary international rugby players from New Zealand.[7]

Awards

Player awards

Season Division 1 Division 2 Division 3
Player Position Team Player Position Team Player Position Team
1994 Waisake Sotutu Wing Auckland Simon Culhane First five-eighth Southland John Smitheram Number 8 Mid Canterbury
1995 Olo Brown Prop Auckland Bull Allen Prop Taranaki Gavin McLiver Number 8 Thames Valley
1996 Justin Marshall Half-back Canterbury Norm Hewitt Hooker Southland Rob Penney Number 8 Marlborough
1997 Todd Blackadder Flanker Canterbury Justin Collins Flanker Northland Chris Finch First five-eighth North Otago
1998 Tony Brown First five-eighth Otago Jarrod Cunningham Fullback Central Vikings Greg Moriarty Hooker Mid Canterbury
1999 Filo Tiatia Number 8 Wellington Warren Johnston First five-eighth Nelson Bays Victor Taingahue Half-back East Coast
2000 Andrew Slater Lock Taranaki Cory Holdaway Flanker Nelson Bays Mano Flutey First five-eighth East Coast
2001 Richie McCaw Flanker Canterbury Reece Robinson Lock Hawke's Bay Hotili 'Asi Prop North Otago
2002 Keith Lowen Centre Waikato Sitiveni Sivivatu Wing Counties Manukau Simon Porter First five-eighth North Otago
2003 Iliesa Tanivula Wing Auckland Davis Norman Centre Hawke's Bay Jonathan Walker Number 8 Whanganui
2004 Richie McCaw Flanker Canterbury Mark Bright Flanker Nelson Bays Craig Tansley Flanker Horowhenua Kapiti
2005 Chris Smylie Half-back Otago Clint Newland Prop Hawke's Bay Simanu Simanu Centre Wairarapa Bush

See also

References

  1. ↑ "NZRU releases eligibility criteria for new competitions". All Blacks. 4 November 2004. Archived from the original on 13 February 2005. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  2. ↑ Garland, Steve (29 May 2013). Fields of Glory: 21 NPC Years, 1976-1996. HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand. p. 2. ISBN 9781869502331.
  3. ↑ "Regional rugby". NZ History. 3 October 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  4. ↑ "Club and provincial rugby". Te Ara. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "Provincial and regional rugby since 1976". Te Ara. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  6. ↑ "Division One pools and draw released for 2006". Air New Zealand Cup. 4 November 2005. Archived from the original on 16 October 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  7. ↑ "Heartland Championship competition announced". Air New Zealand Cup. 29 June 2006. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
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