NPC final was a blast from the past – Editorial

A bumper crowd and sunny skies set the scene for the NPC final on Saturday. Photo / Photosport

It was like the good old days, wasn’t it?

A sunny Saturday afternoon, with the country’s two best provincial teams and a bumper crowd in the stands.

What a great advertisement for rugby the NPC final was, even if the old enemy Canterbury prevailed 36-28 over Otago.

The afternoon was a reminder of what we once had and unfortunately gave up on in the pursuit for richer fields.

But the NPC, from its iterations involving promotion-regulation, to the current format alongside the Heartland Championship, still pulls at the heartstrings.

While Super Rugby has the bigger broadcasting dollars, it has never found a way to capture the passion fans have for their province. Perhaps it’s because it always has been harder to emotionally support a generic franchise, particularly after the Super teams dropped their geographic names.

People in Hawke’s Bay will have a stronger connection to the Magpies than the Hurricanes, the same could be said for a Taranaki fan over any sense of pride in the Chiefs.

But despite being less of a money spinner, Saturday’s crowd in Christchurch to watch two old rivals play once again, and the NPC’s television audience, shows that we still love our local competition.

Sky TV’s figures for this year’s competition showed an increase of 9% on 2024 viewing totals, and Sky’s digital audience was also up 7%.

Then, every year, a town will also catch Shield fever. The history and uniqueness of the Log o’ Wood in New Zealand’s sporting culture continues to excite rugby communities, particularly outside Auckland and Wellington.

As Herald sportswriter Phil Gifford highlighted in his column yesterday, Super Rugby arrived with such a rush and a shiny US$555 million TV deal that the impact on provincial rugby was an afterthought.

Now, in just a few short months, we will start the 30th season of Super Rugby and the professional game on these shores.

The irony is that today the Super competition has become irrelevant to many fans, is regularly devoid of All Blacks, is totally absent of South African teams, and is increasingly financially precarious.

Many New Zealand rugby fans and some inside the halls of rugby HQ signed the death certificate for provincial rugby many years ago.

Yet, the love for provincial rugby, from Whangārei to Invercargill, continues to have a loyal following.

Perhaps because it’s ours.