The 2004 season was the 29th year of the National Provincial Championship (NPC), a provincial rugby union competition in New Zealand. Canterbury were the winners of Division 1, Nelson Bays were the winners of Division 2, and Poverty Bay were the winners of Division 3.

Division 1

Standings Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts 1 Wellington 9 7 1 1 313 154 +159 38 17 4 1 35 2 Canterbury 9 6 1 2 346 207 +139 40 25 4 2 32 3 Bay of Plenty 9 7 0 2 241 221 +20 25 25 3 1 32 4 Waikato 9 6 0 3 294 215 +79 37 22 5 1 30 5 Taranaki 9 6 0 3 332 257 +75 43 31 4 1 29 6 North Harbour 9 4 1 4 246 200 +46 28 23 5 4 27 7 Auckland 9 4 0 5 265 287 −22 34 34 5 3 24 8 Otago 9 2 1 6 183 261 −78 17 31 1 1 12 9 Southland 9 1 0 8 174 338 −164 21 40 1 0 5 10 Northland 9 0 0 9 182 436 −254 21 56 0 1 1

Results Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

Semi-finals

Grand Final

Division 2 Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts 1 Nelson Bays 8 7 1 0 270 145 +125 37 15 6 0 36 2 Hawke's Bay 8 7 0 1 383 127 +256 56 12 6 1 35 3 Counties Manukau 8 6 1 1 301 215 +86 39 28 5 0 31 4 North Otago 8 5 0 3 335 245 +90 45 33 5 1 26 5 Marlborough 8 3 0 5 206 233 −27 22 32 2 1 15 6 Manawatu 8 3 0 5 187 219 −32 24 32 2 0 14 7 Wanganui 8 3 0 5 193 227 −34 27 29 4 1 12* 8 East Coast 8 1 0 7 183 209 −26 24 26 1 3 7* 9 Thames Valley 8 0 0 8 72 510 −438 9 72 0 0 0

= Wanganui lost five points and East Coast lost one bonus point for player eligibility breaches, i.e. the points gained in the match where the breach took place.

Semi-finals Nelson Bays 32-15 North Otago Hawke's Bay 41-20 Counties Manukau

Grand final Nelson Bays 19-14 Hawke's Bay

Division 3 Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts 1 Poverty Bay 7 5 0 2 227 119 +108 30 14 5 2 27 2 Wairarapa Bush 7 5 1 1 176 120 +56 24 14 4 0 26 3 Mid Canterbury 7 5 0 2 185 126 +59 22 18 2 1 23 4 Horowhenua-Kapiti 7 4 1 2 209 171 +38 31 23 4 0 22 5 King Country 7 3 1 3 161 144 +17 20 18 1 1 16 6 South Canterbury 7 2 1 4 119 150 −31 15 19 1 1 12 7 West Coast 7 2 0 5 130 267 −137 18 37 2 0 10 8 Buller 7 0 0 7 92 202 −110 10 27 0 3 3

Semi-finals Poverty Bay 22-13 Horowhenua-Kapiti Wairarapa Bush 16-9 Mid Canterbury

Grand final Poverty Bay 37-14 Wairarapa Bush

Ranfurly Shield

As the holders of the Ranfurly Shield from the end of 2003, Auckland began their defence of the shield against Poverty Bay in Auckland. Auckland won this match and made one more successful defence before losing to Bay of Plenty. Following their first ever Ranfurly Shield win, Bay of Plenty also won their first ever defence of the shield against Waikato before losing it to Canterbury, who made two successful defences to take the shield into the 2005 season.

Auckland (15th Ranfurly Shield reign) 28 July 2004 – Auckland v Poverty Bay (won 116–3) 1 August 2004 – Auckland v Counties Manukau (won 100–15) 15 August 2004 – Auckland v Bay of Plenty (lost 28–33)

Bay of Plenty (1st Ranfurly Shield reign) 22 August 2004 – Bay of Plenty v Waikato (won 26–20) 5 September 2004 – Bay of Plenty v Canterbury (lost 26–33)

Canterbury (11th Ranfurly Shield reign) 18 September 2004 – Canterbury v Southland (won 52–13) 9 October 2004 – Canterbury v Northland (won 68–19)

References

The 2005 New Zealand Rugby Almanack, Edited by Clive Akers and Geoff Miller