The NPC is still New Zealand’s best sporting competition – Editorial

Le Roux Malan dives over to score for Hawke's Bay in their NPC quarter-final against Taranaki. Photo / Photosport

THE FACTS

• The National Provincial Championship continues to deliver thrilling rugby despite challenges like declining crowds and NRL talent poaching.
• Recent quarterfinals featured dramatic matches, including Otago’s win with a last-second penalty and Hawke’s Bay’s strong defence.
• The underperformance of urban teams and emergence of regional talent, such as Otago’s Dylan Pledger and Lucas Casey, highlights the NPC’s enduring appeal.

Somehow, impossibly, against the tide, our National Provincial Championship is delivering.

Crowd numbers aren’t what they were, the All Blacks aren’t regularly suiting up and the player pool feels like it is being diluted by the day by NRL talent-poaching and sporting-minded kids choosing other vocations.

And yet.

The magic of a rugby competition that is uniquely ours is still there for anyone who chooses to devote a few hours of their weekend to it.

Take the four quarter-finals and their combined 340 minutes of pure rugby drama.

First up, an 85-point thriller, decided by a 51m penalty by Otago’s Cameron Millar, in the very last act of the game.

Then a first-half arm-wrestle was broken open by some stunning Bay of Plenty tries as they disposed of Tasman 27-7.

Next up was fortress McLean Park, where Hawke’s Bay’s defensive wall kept out Taranaki with a 26-12 win, although Bulls fans might argue the blade of grass that denied them a crucial try was coloured white and not green.

The final game of the round between Counties Manukau and Canterbury appeared on paper a mismatch, but the wind-washed game had it all, including 20 minutes of extra time, which was too much for a heroic but tiring Counties.

Perhaps the biggest joy of 2025 – unless you live in them of course – has been the underperformance of the urban centres of Wellington and Auckland and the subsequent overperformance of regional teams.

It’s got Hawke’s Bay dreaming of the region’s first National Provincial Championship (NPC) title and Otago of its first since 1998.

Such narratives can only come from a competition with history.

We all know the NPC is not what it was, but it’s still a mighty competition and one the nation can get behind if it is marketed well.

We must make sure it is nurtured.

The revelation of new talent is one of the biggest bonuses of the NPC and Otago’s young guns, halfback Dylan Pledger and flanker Lucas Casey, have shone the brightest in recent weeks and must have surely been considered for an end-of-year tour spot.

Super Rugby Pacific also had plenty of memorable moments this year, but administrators and the shifting sands of the international rugby landscape have found constant ways to alter its magic ever since its introduction.

If it were ever to go, at least New Zealand Rugby knows it has a beloved competition it can fall back upon and expand – one that true fans will always love.