Provincial Rugby
Provincial rivalry takes centre stage this August
17 March 2025Domestic rugby will hit the ground running in August with the 2025 Bunnings Warehouse NPC draw announced today and featuring some scintillating first round fixtures.
Reigning champions Wellington host traditional heavyweights Canterbury, battle lines will be drawn in the deep south with Southland hosting Otago for Stag Day while the Ranfurly Shield will be up for grabs when Taranaki host Northland.
Stag Day will aim to get more than 10,000 passionate fans through the gate on 2 August, cementing it as the single biggest sporting event in Southland.
Fans showed their love to the NPC in 2024 with a 11% increase in social media followers (on official channels) and the 2024 final attracting an audience of 290k on Sky Sport and Sky Open, plus 99k viewers on Sky Sport Now and 62k viewers on Sky Go*.
New Zealand Rugby General Manager of Community Rugby Steve Lancaster said on the back of an exciting and engaging 2024 competition, fans can expect more of the same when the competition kicks off on 31 July.
“Last year’s Bunnings NPC was enthralling. The quality of play we saw on the field really amplified the traditional rivalries on which this competition was built.
"The dramatic Final in Wellington going to extra time, in the rain, was a perfect example of the passion and excitement this competition continues to deliver,” said Lancaster.
The competition will run across ten weekends of round robin, all 14-teams represented in a single points table, with the top eight teams progressing to the play-offs. The quarterfinals see the top ranked team hosting (1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5), the following weekend semi-finals will see team’s play-off for a spot in the finals (1 v 4, 2 v 3).
The final will be hosted by the highest-ranking qualifier on Saturday 25 October.
All matches will be live and exclusive on Sky Sport, with one match per week also available free-to-air on Sky Open.
The Farah Palmer Cup presented by Bunnings Warehouse draw will be announced tomorrow, followed by the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship draw released on Wednesday.
