The National Provincial Championship, often simply called the NPC, was an annual

promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

competition in men's domestic

New Zealand rugby New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...

. First played during the 1976 season, it was the highest level of

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, ind ...

in New Zealand until

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

launched in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone o ...

. It was organised by

New Zealand Rugby New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...

(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 Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacif ...

Cup. The remaining teams would form a breakaway amateur competition known as the

Heartland Championship The Heartland Championship competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two successor competitions to the countr ...

. Twenty-eight teams had competed since the inception of the competition in 1976.

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

were the most successful union with fifteen titles and

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaw ...

were the inaugural champions. Six other teams had won the title:

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

(5),

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by ...

(4),

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

(2), Counties Manukau (1), Manawatu (1), and

Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...

(1).

History

Origins and foundation

The first form of competition came in 1904 with the introduction of the

Ranfurly Shield The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1904, the Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challen ...

as a challenge trophy. The fixtures were planned each year in

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. One of the most prestigious competitions presented in 1946 by Timaru's former mayor, A.E.S. Hanan, was the

Hanan Shield The Hanan Shield is one of the most prestigious trophies in New Zealand's domestic rugby union competition. First played for in 1946 after being presented by the Mayor of Timaru, A.E.S. Hanan. The Hanan Shield is based on a challenge system played ...

. It was contested between Mid Canterbury,

South Canterbury South Canterbury is the area of the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand bounded by the Rangitata River in the north and the Waitaki River (the border with the Otago Region) to the south. The Pacific Ocean and ridge of the Southe ...

, and

North Otago North Otago in New Zealand covers the area of Otago between Shag Point and the Waitaki River, and extends inland to the west as far as the village of Omarama (which has experienced rapid growth as a developing centre for astronomy and for gli ...

. 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 Richard John Seddon (22 June 1845 – 10 June 1906) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 15th premier (prime minister) of New Zealand from 1893 until his death. In office for thirteen years, he is to date New Zealand's longest-se ...

and featured representative teams from Buller, Nelson Bays, Marlborough, and the West Coast. In the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...

, starting in the King Country and heading northwards, eleven teams played for the Coronation Shield. 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 The Auckland Rugby Union is a New Zealand provincial rugby union. The union was established in 1883 and was originally responsible for the administration of the sport in most of the former Auckland Province, although its boundaries have since ...

. 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 Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and cu ...

was awarded sponsorship rights worth

NZD The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New Zea ...

100,000. They also contributed to the marketing of the new proposed competition that was later followed by Lion Breweries, National Mutual, and

. 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

Counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay ( mi, Te Matau-a-Māui) is a local government region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region's name derives from Hawke Bay, which was named by Captain James Cook in honour of Admiral Edward Hawke. The region i ...

, Manawatu, Marlborough,

North Auckland The Northland Peninsula, called the North Auckland Peninsula in earlier times, is in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is joined to the rest of the island by the Auckland isthmus, a narrow piece of land between the Waitematā H ...

, Southland, and

to take part. The remaining provinces, Buller, East Coast,

Horowhenua Horowhenua District is a territorial authority district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand, administered by Horowhenua District Council. Located north of Wellington and Kapiti, it stretches from slightly north of the town of ...

, King Country, Mid Canterbury, Nelson Bays, North Otago,

Poverty Bay Poverty Bay (Māori: ''Tūranganui-a-Kiwa'') is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawke Bay. It stretches for from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the nor ...

, South Canterbury,

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

Thames Valley The Thames Valley is an informally-defined sub-region of South East England, centred on the River Thames west of London, with Oxford as a major centre. Its boundaries vary with context. The area is a major tourist destination and economic hub, ...

, Wairarapa Bush,

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whang ...

and the West Coast were split into North Island and

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

sub-divisions with the possibility of promotion to the top division.

Teams

Champions

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.

Second-tier champions

The 2002 season saw the introduction of the

Meads Cup The Meads Cup is a rugby union trophy named after King Country and All Blacks player Colin Meads. It is contested during the Heartland Championship. It was first awarded in 2006, when the Heartland Championship format was introduced. Competition ...

and

Lochore Cup The Lochore Cup is a New Zealand rugby union trophy named after famed Wairarapa Bush and All Blacks player and coach Brian Lochore. It is contested during the Heartland Championship. It was first awarded in 2006, when the Heartland Championship ...

, which were contested by unions from the second and third divisions respectively.

and

were the first honourable winners.

made the decision to incorporate the trophies in the new

tournament when the National Provincial Championship was discontinued in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

. The silverware commemorate the names of Sir Brian Lochore and

Colin Meads Sir Colin Earl Meads (3 June 1936 – 20 August 2017) was a New Zealand rugby union player. He played 55 test matches (133 games), most frequently in the lock forward position, for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks, from 1957 until 19 ...

, two legendary international rugby players from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

Awards

Player awards

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Provincial Championship (1976-2005) Rugby union leagues in New Zealand Rugby union competitions for provincial teams