The 2023 Bunnings NPC season was the 18th season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition, the National Provincial Championship, since it turned professional in 2006. It involved the top fourteen provincial rugby unions of New Zealand, which – under a new format introduced in 2022 – all played for the same title. For sponsorship reasons, the competition is known as the Bunnings NPC. The regular season began on 4 August 2023, when Tasman hosted Otago. The final took place on 21 October 2023.
Format
In 2022, a new competition format was introduced.[1] In this new format, the 14 provincial unions participating in the Bunnings NPC are grouped in one single division and play for one NPC title.[2] While in 2022 the teams were seeded in two equal conferences, an "Odds Conference" and an "Evens Conference", a further format change in 2023 has resulted in the merger of the two conferences and teams are now ranked on one competition table instead of two separate conference tables.[3]
All provincial teams play ten games during the regular season (round robin): five games are played at the provincial union's home ground and five games are away games. The seven teams that finished the previous season in 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th place will play each other as well as four cross-over matches against the teams that finished 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th and 14th. Likewise, the teams that finished 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th and 14th will also play each other as well as four cross-over games against the provinces that were ranked 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th or 13th at the end of the previous season.[2] The ten round robin games in 2023 are played over a period of nine weeks (starting on Friday 4 August 2023) and include one mid-week game to be played on a Wednesday night.[4]
The regular season is followed by quarter-finals to be played by the eight highest ranked teams on the competition table. The finals rankings are determined by the number of competition points earned during the regular season. Competition points can be gained in the following way: four points are awarded to the winning team, two points to each team for a draw, and no points for a loss. Teams can also receive a bonus point if they score four or more tries in a match, or lose by seven points or less.[5]
If two or more provincial teams finish with an equal number of competition points, the following tiebreaker rules apply. If two unions are tied, the union which has defeated the other in a head-to-head is placed higher. In case of a draw between them, the side with the biggest points difference is ranked higher. If three or more unions are tied and they have all played each other, the team with most competition points in that year against the other tied unions is ranked higher; if they have not all played each other, the team with the biggest points difference in the round robin is ranked higher. In all cases, if these unions are still tied, the ranking is decided by the highest number of tries scored, the most points scored, or a coin toss.[2]
The quarter-finals are played as follows, with the highest ranked team hosting:
QF 1: 1 v 8;
QF 2: 2 v 7;
QF 3: 3 v 6; and
QF 4: 4 v 5.
In the semi-finals, the highest-ranked quarter-final winner hosts the lowest-ranked quarter-final winner and the second highest-ranked quarter-final winner hosts the third highest-ranked quarter-final winner.
The NPC Final will be played between the two semi-final winners, again at the home venue of the team with the higher finals ranking.[2][3]
No changes have been made to the rules governing Ranfurly Shield Challenges. Every home game during the regular season played by the union that holds the Ranfurly Shield is a mandartory challenge match. No challenge matches will be played after the regular season has ended (i.e., during the finals). A holder who competes in the Bunnings NPC must also accept at least two challenges from unions competing in the Heartland Championship, including the winner of the Meads Cup at the end of the previous season. These non-mandatory challenge matches must be played before the start of the NPC season.[2]
Standings
The final standings for the 2023 Bunnings NPC season:
The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round of the regular season, their cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.
During the regular season of the 2023 Bunnings NPC, each team plays 10 games over a period of nine weeks, including one mid-week game. The competition began on 4 August 2023, when Tasman hosted Otago in Nelson.[4]
