New Zealand Rugby (NZR) completed the first round draw of the U85 National Club Cup 2024 season set to commence from Saturday, July 27.  

The draw, completed under the supervision of Mike Hester, NZR Head of Participation Development, resulted in the first round of matches to be drawn across the Northern, Central and Southern regions, involving 45 teams from across 14 Provincial Unions (PUs).

“It is great to see the continued interest in the competition but more importantly the value of weight-restricted rugby as a viable and valued offering,” Hester said. 

“The growth of the competitions with more PUs involved in 2024 is really encouraging and the added value of a potential National Team touring overseas next year is also creating lots of interest.” 

Nine games will take place in the Northern region on July 27 with a number of teams receiving byes through to the next round. 

The timings and locations of Central and Southern games will be confirmed by teams competing and announced separately.

Due to the complexity of some teams’ availability alongside PU Representative programmes, the 2024 competition will be conducted on a re-draw process each round as opposed to a bracketed draw in previous years.

“Round 1 has produced a number of interesting cross-boundary matches that will generate lots of local interest. It will be great to see who prevails as they work towards qualifying for the big show on September 28 as the curtain raisers to the All Blacks v Australia test match,” Hester said.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE RD 1 DRAW