The NPC is the most untapped asset New Zealand Rugby has – Editorial

Northland halfback Sam Nock gets a pass away during Saturday's impressive 43-24 away win over neighbours Auckland, their first over their arch-rivals at Eden Park since 2008. Photo / Photosport

Editorial

THE FACTS

• Rugby faces increasing competition, with its societal value declining despite rising monetary value.
• The NPC’s 50th year and move to free-to-air TV offers a chance to revive fan engagement.

Rugby in New Zealand is in a fight for relevance.

But there is huge untapped potential to be found in what made it so dominant for more than a century.

The national game has been coming under increasing competition from other codes and forms of entertainment over the past two decades.

It’s still the biggest show in town, but it’s not the only show.

Collectively, we don’t care about rugby as much as we used to.

It’s an irony that, as the monetary value of the game has skyrocketed in the professional era, the societal value has begun to fall away.

It comes down to how fans connect with the game.

Super Rugby Pacific is the highest level of domestic rugby in New Zealand and does draw a larger audience.

But after almost 30 years, the teams, and therefore the competition, sometimes lack a real connection to fans.

The fans will turn up for the quality of play, but it lacks passion. It’s all a bit anodyne.

Compare that to the National Provincial Championship (NPC), the Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) and the Heartland Championship.

The 2025 edition has already produced some incredible rugby, from Waikato’s last-minute win over Auckland in the opening game to the upsets and rising stars such as Josh Jacomb pitted against veteran heroes such as Aaron Cruden.

These are stories the unions have been writing for more than a century.

In an increasingly data-driven and algorithmic world, the value of authenticity and the organic will increase.

But that cannot be manufactured. It takes that long to build.

And that’s why the NPC endures and the higher levels flounder, despite much more attention and investment.

The NPC has endured the introduction of professionalism, the heyday of Super Rugby and the rise of other codes in this country, all while receiving little TLC.

That’s because it has history. It has true parochialism. It’s where your clubmate plays alongside All Blacks. It’s the games you went to as a kid. It’s the province you grew up in.

It’s organic.

No need to search for a marketable product when there’s one sitting there gathering dust.

In that sense, it’s the most untapped part of New Zealand rugby.

Rugby in New Zealand has been built on the unions and the NPC – and it is a truly domestic competition, the envy of the world.

It doesn’t need changing, it just needs attention.

Next year will be the 50th year of the NPC and with a move to free-to-air TV, there has never been a better opportunity to revive the NPC as a gateway to the game, not just for players, but for fans.

We love to talk about grassroots rugby in New Zealand. They run deep.

But we have to be careful to keep them watered.

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