National Provincial Championship

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National Provincial Championship
Npc.jpg

sport Rugby union
abbreviation NPC
Association New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU)
League foundation 1976
Teams 26th
Country countries New ZealandNew Zealand New Zealand
Title holder Canterbury Rugby Football Union (CRFU)
Record champions Auckland Rugby Football Union (ARFU)
↓ 26 club championships of the individual provincial associations

The National Provincial Championship is the national provincial championship in New Zealand's rugby union . It is currently divided into two divisions. There is the professional ITM Cup (formerly Air New Zealand Cup) in which the champions are played, and the amateur league Heartland Championship . There is currently no relegation between the two divisions . All 26 provincial associations of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) take part.

Reigning New Zealand champion is Canterbury , which won the 2010 ITM Cup. Auckland is the record champion with a total of 16 championship titles.

history

The NPC was first held in 1976 . Although the format of Division One had hardly changed until the reorganization in 2006, there were repeated changes in the lower divisions.

Division One initially consisted of eleven teams, seven from the North Island and four from the South Island . The remaining provinces organized a divided Division Two with two groups (north / south). The worst-placed team in Division One from the South Island played against the winner of Southern Division Two for promotion or relegation. The worst team on the North Island automatically swapped division with the winner of Northern Division Two.

The format was retained until 1985. That year, the double-track Division Two was replaced by a single-track Division Two and Division Three. The first or bottom places in each division were automatically promoted or relegated each year. In 1992 three teams from Division One were relegated to Division Two, so that there were now nine teams in both divisions. In addition, play-offs with semi-finals and finals were introduced in 1992 to determine the winner of each division - until then a pure league system was used.

After the pure amateur sport of rugby union became professional after 1995, the associations of New Zealand (NZRFU), Australia ( Australian Rugby Union ) and South Africa ( South African Rugby Football Union ) joined forces to form SANZAR . A new international provincial competition called Super 12 and the annual Tri-Nations tournament for the three national teams have been introduced. Since a large part of the NPC season takes place during the Tri Nations, the New Zealand national players only play to a limited extent there. Since then, super rugby has overtaken the NPC of its importance as the top players in super rugby play regularly throughout the season.

The only change to the format from 1992, before 2006, was in 1998 when the number of teams in each division was changed. Ten were now in Division One, nine in Division Two and eight in Division Three. The increased number of teams in Division One meant the end of the game break, which each team had received once per season until then. In this year the automatic relegation was abolished. In its place came a relegation game between the winner of Division Two against the bottom of Division One. From 2002 the last of Division One enjoyed home rights, but this was changed again in 2003. The game took place from now on with the winner of Division Two.

The 2006 reorganization replaced the three-division mode with a two-division mode. The Air New Zealand Cup (now ITM Cup) is the top division above the Heartland Championship. This mode differs from the split two-division mode of 1976-1984, when Division Two was divided into North Island and South Island. In the new second division, provinces of both islands are represented. The Heartland Championship teams play for two different cups. There's the more prestigious Meads Cup , named after Colin Meads , and the Lochore Cup , named after Brian Lochore . Furthermore, the number of teams was reduced to 26, as the associations of the provinces of Marlborough and Nelson Bay merged to form the Tasman Association. The NZRU has determined that there will be no promoters or relegators between the Air New Zealand Cup and the Heartland Championship for the first few years.

Ranfurly Shield

Cup games for the Ranfurly Shield are also played in the NPC . This is the oldest and most prestigious trophy in New Zealand rugby. The shield holder must defend the shield in every home game of the regular ITM Cup season. If the away team wins the game, they will receive the Ranfurly Shield. If the home team wins or draws, they have successfully defended the trophy. He will not be played for in the play-offs.

Before a season, the shield holder must also take on some challenges from the other division.

Teams

The following provincial teams are currently playing in the ITM Cup:

Map of the regional associations and their teams

The following provincial teams play in the Heartland Championship:

NPC winner

year master 2nd division winner
North island South island
1976 Bay of Plenty Taranaki South Canterbury
1977 Canterbury North Auckland South Canterbury  
1978 Wellington Bay of Plenty Marlborough  
1979 Counties Hawke's Bay Marlborough  
1980 Manawatu Waikato Mid Canterbury  
1981 Wellington Wairarapa Bush South Canterbury  
1982 Auckland Taranaki Southland  
1983 Canterbury Taranaki Mid Canterbury  
1984 Auckland Taranaki Southland  
year master 2nd division winner 3rd Division winner
1985 Auckland Taranaki North Harbor
1986 Wellington Waikato South Canterbury
1987 Auckland North Harbor Poverty Bay
1988 Auckland Hawke's Bay Thames Valley
1989 Auckland Southland Wanganui
1990 Auckland Hawke's Bay Thames Valley
1991 Otago King Country South Canterbury
1992 Waikato Taranaki Nelson Bays
1993 Auckland Counties Horowhenua
1994 Auckland Southland Mid Canterbury
1995 Auckland Taranaki Thames Valley
1996 Auckland Southland Wanganui
1997 Canterbury Northland Marlborough
1998 Otago Central Vikings Mid Canterbury
1999 Auckland Nelson Bays East coast
2000 Wellington Bay of Plenty East coast
2001 Canterbury Hawke's Bay South Canterbury
2002 Auckland Hawke's Bay North Otago
2003 Auckland Hawke's Bay Wanganui
2004 Canterbury Nelson Bays Poverty Bay
2005 Auckland Hawke's Bay Wairarapa Bush
year Champion of the ANZ Cup Winner of the Meads Cup Lochore Cup winner
2006 Waikato Wairarapa Bush Poverty Bay
2007 Auckland North Otago Poverty Bay
2008 Canterbury Wanganui Poverty Bay
2009 Canterbury Wanganui North Otago
2010 Canterbury North Otago Wairarapa Bush
  • From 1976 to 1984 there was no third division. The Second Division was divided into North and South Island. From 1985 to 2005 there were three divisions, all of which were held nationwide. Since 2006 there are only two divisions called ITM Cup (formerly Air New Zealand Cup) and Heartland Championship. Both are held nationwide. The teams in the Heartland Championship contest two different championships.

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