The National First XV Championship (or the Top 4) is the Premier Rugby Union competition for Secondary Schools/Colleges in New Zealand. Since 2016, the Top 4 tournament has been based at the Massey University Sport and Rugby Institute in Palmerston North. The New Zealand Schools' and New Zealand Barbarians Schools' teams are generally announced at the conclusion of the tournament, whereby a development camp will take place the following week at the institute.
The winning school of the Top 4 tournament is awarded the National Championship title and recognised as the top NZ 1st XV school in the nation. Additionally, they are nominated as the representative team for New Zealand at the SANIX World Rugby Tournament. If the scores are tied at fulltime, the title is shared and the SANIX nomination is decided as-per the semi-final tiebreaker process.
Qualification The National First XV Championship is determined through the Top 4, comprising the winners of the four regions: Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes and South Island. The Top 4 was established in 1982 as an invitational tournament, with invitations extended to high school 1st XV teams based on their form in the previous season. This format was used throughout the 1980s. The qualification process has changed multiple times since then, before settling into its current format.
Each region operates its own qualification system:
Blues: The Northland and North Harbour champions meet, with the winner facing the Auckland 1A Competition champion in the Blues Cup final. The winner of this match represents the Blues region in the National Top 4 Tournament.
Chiefs: Each province within the Chiefs region determines their own winner, followed by a knockout bracket. The bracket includes the highest-ranked Chiefs region team from the Super 8 competition (Hamilton Boys' High School, Rotorua Boys' High School, Tauranga Boys' College or New Plymouth Boys' High School) and the highest-ranked Chiefs region team from the Central North Island 1st XV competition. These teams play for a place in the Chiefs semi-final, joined by the winner of a Chiefs playoff match (between the next two highest-ranked Chiefs region teams from the Super 8), a New Plymouth representative and a Waikato/Counties Manukau representative. The winners of the semi-finals meet in the Chiefs Cup Final, and the champion represents the Chiefs region in the National Top 4 Tournament.
Hurricanes: The winner and runner-up of the Wellington Premiership and the two highest-ranked Hurricanes region teams from the Super 8 competition (Gisborne Boys' High School, Napier Boys' High School, Hastings Boys' High School or Palmerston North Boys' High School), compete in seeded semi-finals. A challenger place is available to any school in the region, including those outside the main competitions, with that match played before the semi-finals. The winners of the semi-finals meet in the Hurricanes Cup final, and the champion represents the Hurricanes region in the National Top 4 tournament.
South Island: The Crusaders Cup winner is the top side from the region-wide Miles Toyota Championship. Since the discontinuation of the Highlanders-region competition after 2015, a provincial knockout format has been used. The Otago Premier School winner may face a Waitaki representative, with the winner meeting a Southland representative in the Highlanders Cup final. The Highlanders Cup winner then plays the Crusaders Cup winner and the champion represents the South Island in the National Top 4 tournament.
Top 4 Tournament
The four regional-franchise winners advance to the Top 4 tournament, where two semi-finals are played at a single host venue each year. The winners advance to the National 1st XV Final. The semi-final matchups rotate annually; for example, the Blues winner may face the Hurricanes winner one year, the Chiefs winner the next, and the South Island winner the following year. This format does not necessarily ensure the four strongest High School 1st XVs qualify, as team strength is no evenly distributed across regions. However, it provides balanced regional representation while maintaining a high quality standard through the qualifying system.
The Moascar Cup may also be contested during the tournament, as the holder must defend it if present at the Top 4.
Some titles have been shared. Some feel that an extra-time period should be introduced to determine an outright winner, but extra-time is not allowed under World Rugby's Under-19 variations. In the event of a drawn semi-final, the team that advances is determined by a hierarchy of factors, starting with the number of tries scored.
List of results Top 4 results table
Below is a list of historical Top 4 results, with each school's New Zealand Super Rugby region shown in brackets. Where scores are tied at full-time (70min), the title is shared, as extra time is not played in 1st XV matches. Third and fourth playoff matches were not held from 2002 to 2004 and 2012–2014, which is indicated by a dash in place of the score. The losing semi-finalists from those years are recorded as third-equal, as is the case with a drawn result.
The tournament was cancelled for the first time in 2020 due to delays to the Rugby season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing schools to prioritise their local competitions. It was cancelled again in 2021 because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Final Winning team Score Losing team 3rd/4th Playoff Winning Team Score Losing teamRef2026St Andrew's College (Crusaders, South Island)34–24Tauranga Boys' College (Chiefs)2026Westlake Boys High School (Blues)52–42St Pat's Silverstream