national provincial championship

The National Provincial Championship (NPC) is New Zealand's principal domestic rugby union competition. It is held annually, with 27 provincial unions competing in three divisions.

The competition

The National Provincial Championship is held annually. Rugby teams from 27 provincial unions compete in three divisions, 10 in Division One, 9 in Division Two, and 8 in Division Three. There is a promotion/relegation system—the bottom placed Division One team plays the Division Two champion to determine if they swap places; whilst the bottom placed Division Two team is automatically relegated and the Division Three champion promoted. The Division One/Division Two test match was held at the home ground of the bottom team in Division One through 2002. Starting with the 2003 season, the site of the test match was changed to the home ground of the Division Two champion. The championship typically starts in August. Each team plays every other team in their division once in a round robin fashion. The top four ranking teams in each division then contest two semi-finals with the winners of those matches going on to contest a final. The winner of each final is then declared winner of the championship.

History

The NPC was first contested in 1976, and although the basic format of Division One has been much the same since then, there have been 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. The 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. The only change since then was in 1998, when the number of teams in each division was changed to its present arrangement of 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. The upcoming expansion of the Super 12 and Tri Nations Series, slated to take place in 2006, will have a major effect on the NPC, at least in Division One. This expansion will make the Super 12 into the Super 14, adding two extra fixtures to that competition, and will also add two more Tri Nations test matches for each national side. Because of these changes, it is intended that players in the All Blacks selection pool will no longer participate in the NPC from 2006 on. This may well make the competition in Division One more even.

NPC teams, 2005

The NPC divisions for the upcoming 2005 season consist of:

Division One

Auckland
Bay of Plenty
Canterbury
North Harbour
Northland
Otago
Southland
Taranaki
Waikato
Wellington

The current champion is Canterbury. Bottom placed Northland defeated Division Two champions Nelson Bays and thus remain in Division One.

Division Two

Counties-Manukau Steelers
East Coast
Hawke's Bay
Manawatu
Marlborough
Nelson Bays
North Otago
Poverty Bay
Wanganui

The current champion is Nelson Bays, who were defeated in the Division One playoff against bottom placed Northland, and thus remain in Division Two for 2005. Poverty Bay were the 2004 Division Three champions and were thus promoted to Division Two.

Division Three

Buller
Horowhenua-Kapiti
King Country
Mid Canterbury
South Canterbury
Thames Valley
Wairarapa-Bush
West Coast

The current champion is Poverty Bay. Thames Valley were the bottom placed Division Two team in 2004, and thus were relegated to Division Three.

Past NPC winners

tyle="background:#efefef"\|Year	style="background:#efefef"\|First Division Winner	style="background:#efefef" colspan=2\|Second Division Winner	style="background:#efefef"\|Third Division Winner
tyle="background:#efefef"\|	style="background:#efefef"\|	style="background:#efefef"\|North Island	style="background:#efefef"\|South Island	style="background:#efefef"\|
976	Bay of Plenty	Taranaki	South Canterbury
977	Canterbury	North Auckland	South Canterbury
978	Wellington	Bay of Plenty	Marlborough
979	Counties	Hawke's Bay	Marlborough
980	Manawatu	Waikato	Mid Canterbury
981	Wellington	Wairarapa-Bush	South Canterbury
982	Auckland	Taranaki	Southland
983	Canterbury	Taranaki	Mid Canterbury
984	Auckland	Taranaki	Southland
985	Auckland	colspan=2\|Taranaki	North Harbour
986	Wellington	colspan=2\|Waikato	South Canterbury
987	Auckland	colspan=2\|North Harbour	Poverty Bay
988	Auckland	colspan=2\|Hawke's Bay	Thames Valley
989	Auckland	colspan=2\|Southland	Wanganui
990	Auckland	colspan=2\|Hawke's Bay	Thames Valley
991	Otago	colspan=2\|King Country	South Canterbury
992	Waikato	colspan=2\|Taranaki	Nelson Bays
993	Auckland	colspan=2\|Counties	Horowhenua
994	Auckland	colspan=2\|Southland	Mid Canterbury
995	Auckland	colspan=2\|Taranaki	Thames Valley
996	Auckland	colspan=2\|Southland	Wanganui
997	Canterbury	colspan=2\|Northland	Marlborough
998	Otago	colspan=2\|Central Vikings	Mid Canterbury
999	Auckland	colspan=2\|Nelson Bays	East Coast
000	Wellington	colspan=2\|Bay of Plenty	East Coast
001	Canterbury	colspan=2\|Hawke's Bay	South Canterbury
002	Auckland	colspan=2\|Hawke's Bay	North Otago
003	Auckland	colspan=2\|Hawke's Bay	Wanganui
004	Canterbury	colspan=2\|Nelson Bays	Poverty Bay