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2021 saw a new name, the Bunnings NPC, for the competition started in 1976 as the National Provincial Championship. It has had other names due to sponsorship over the years including the Air NZ Cup and the ITM Cup. The NPC moniker is used for the first time since 2005. In 2021, the same format used in the previous years was continued with and an August start used following the later dates in 2020. This had been a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bunnings NPC has 2 divisions, the Premiership and the Championship, both with 7 teams in each one. They all play each other once in each division. They also play 4 teams from the other division to make a total of 10 games in the season. |
At the conclusion of this, the top 4 teams move on into semi-finals, with the winners playing the final.
The top team in the Bunnings NPC Championship gets automatic promotion to the Bunnings NPC Premiership, replacing the bottom team which is relegated. Due to the COVID-19 disruptions to the competition, no promotion/relegation was made in 2021.
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | For | Against | BP | Points |
| Hawke's Bay | 8 | 7 | 1 | 280 | 197 | 6 | 38 | |
| Waikato | 9 | 5 | 4 | 261 | 264 | 8 | 30 | |
| Canterbury | 9 | 5 | 4 | 228 | 242 | 6 | 28 | |
| Tasman | 8 | 5 | 3 | 240 | 187 | 4 | 28 | |
| Wellington | 8 | 3 | 5 | 270 | 226 | 9 | 25 | |
| Bay Of Plenty | 8 | 3 | 5 | 222 | 252 | 8 | 24 | |
| Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | For | Against | BP | Points |
| Taranaki | 8 | 8 | 302 | 181 | 3 | 39 | ||
| Manawatu | 8 | 4 | 4 | 239 | 229 | 4 | 24 | |
| Otago | 7 | 3 | 4 | 144 | 170 | 2 | 20 | |
| Southland | 7 | 1 | 6 | 134 | 222 | 3 | 13 | |
| Northland | 8 | 1 | 7 | 167 | 292 | 4 | 12 | |
Due to the COVID-19 situation in the Auckland region the 3 teams there were unable to participate in the Bunnings NPC after round 2. Teams drawn to play against them were awarded 2 points for each unplayed match.
The 3 Auckland based teams have been removed from the above tables for clarity.
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August 6 August 7
August 8
August 13 August 14
August 15 |
Manawatu Taranaki Otago Wellington Bay of Plenty North Harbour Auckland
Counties Manukau Tasman Hawke's Bay Canterbury Waikato Southland Northland |
v v v v v v v v v v v v v v |
Counties Manukau Hawke's Bay Southland Northland Tasman Waikato Canterbury
North Harbour Auckland Otago Manawatu Wellington Bay of Plenty Taranaki |
Palmerston North New Plymouth Dunedin Wellington Tauranga Albany Auckland
Pukekohe Nelson Napier Christchurch Hamilton Invercargill Whangarei |
39 33 26 54 14 15 35
6 16 34 25 43 11 14 |
21 19 19 7 27 28 24
14 11 10 22 37 31 48 |
After 2 rounds of play New Zealand went into a lockdown due to COVID-19 and all rugby was postponed. After 4 weeks it was due to restart, without the 3 teams in the Auckland region which remined in lockdown.
A new draw was released to continue with the competition. With the Auckland teams unable to take part after a further 4 weeks the new draw was confirmed without them. It included a non-competition match each week to ensure that teams that would have played an Auckland region team did not have 2 weeks without playing.
Teams that were drawn to play one of the Auckland region teams would receive 2 points for each unplayed match.
There would be no promotion or relegation.
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September 17 September 18
September 19
September 24 September 25
September 26
October 1 October 2
October 3
October 8 October 9
October 10
October 15 October 16
October 17
October 22 October 23
October 24
October 29 October 30
October 31 November 3
November 5 November 6
November 7
Semi-Finals November 12 November 13
November 13
Finals November 19
November 20 |
Waikato Taranaki Northland Hawke's Bay Tasman Southland Manawatu Wellington Bay of Plenty
Northland Bay of Plenty Manawatu Tasman
Wellington Hawke's Bay Otago Southland
Northland Waikato Canterbury Manawatu Tasman
Otago Taranaki Wellington Hawke's Bay Bay Of Plenty
Canterbury Southland Bay Of Plenty Manawatu Otago
Bay Of Plenty
Waikato Tasman Canterbury Hawke's Bay Taranaki
Championship Manawatu Taranaki Premiership Hawke's Bay Waikato
Championship Taranaki
Premiership Waikato |
v v v v
v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v v
v
v v v v v
v v
v v
v
v |
Canterbury Wellington Tasman Bay of Plenty Waikato Canterbury Northland Hawke's Bay Taranaki
Waikato Wellington Otago Southland
Canterbury Tasman Taranaki Manawatu
Otago Taranaki Hawke's Bay Wellington Bay Of Plenty
Canterbury Manawatu Southland Waikato Northland
Tasman Northland Waikato Hawke's Bay Wellington
Northland Otago Wellington Bay Of Plenty Northland Southland
Otago Southland
Tasman Canterbury
Otago
Tasman |
Hamilton Inglewood Whangarei Napier Nelson Invercargill Palmerston North Wellington Tauranga
Whangarei Rotorua Palmerston North Blenheim
Wellington Napier Dunedin Invercargill Whangarei Taraunga Christchurch Palmerston North Nelson*
Dunedin Inglewood Wellington* Napier Tauranga
Christchurch Invercargill Tauranga Palmerston North Dunedin*
Rotorua Hamilton Blenheim Christchurch Napier* Inglewood
Palmerston North Inglewood
Napier Rotorua
Inglewood
Hamilton |
19 32 29 36
22 16 31 28 28
38 33 27 51
35 34 23 27
13 26 26 16 26
22 47 24 41 P
24 37 33 31 33
22
27 34 40 25 24
16 25
27 17
32
23 |
20 26 48 33
39 19 19 31 55
28 32 14 14
30 22 30 38
24 33 45 36 9
20 35 22 14 P
20 33 37 40 28
14
25 22 28 16 10
44 13
33 14
19
20 |
* Non-competition matches