The 2021 Bunnings NPC season was the 16th season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 6, when Manawatu hosted Counties Manukau. It involved the top 14 rugby unions in New Zealand. For sponsorship reasons, the competition was known as the Bunnings NPC and it was the first season under the lead sponsor and to carry the NPC moniker since 2005. The winner of the Championship, Taranaki wasn't promoted to the Premiership due to a format restructure earlier in the season. Despite finishing seventh in the Premiership, Auckland was not relegated to the Championship, having only played two matches due to a resurgence of COVID-19 in the Auckland Region.
Format The Bunnings NPC standings were sorted by a competition points system. Four points were awarded to the winning team, a draw equaled two points, whilst a loss amounted to zero points. Unions could also win their side a respectable bonus point. To receive a bonus point, they must have scored four tries or more or lose by seven or fewer points or less. Each team was placed on their total points received. If necessary of a tiebreaker, when two or more teams finish on equal points, the union who defeated the other in a head-to-head got placed higher. In case of a draw between them, the side with the biggest points differential margin got rights to be ranked above. If they were tied on points difference, it was then decided by a highest scored try count or a coin toss. This seeding format was implemented since the beginning of the 2006 competition.
The competition included a promotion-relegation process with the winner of the Championship receiving automatic promotion to the Premiership, replacing the seventh-placed team in the Premiership which was relegated to the Championship for the following year. The regular season consisted of two types of matches. The internal division matches were when each team played the other six unions in their division once, home or away. The cross-division matches were when each team played four teams from the other division, thus missing out on three teams, each from the opposite division. Each union played home or away games against teams from the other division, making a total of ten competition games for each union. The finals format allowed the top four teams from each division move on to the semi-finals. The top two division winners, based on table points, received a home semi-final. In the first round of the finals, the semi-finals, the second division winner hosted the third division winner, and the first division winner hosted the fourth division winner. The final was hosted by the top remaining seed.
Standings Source: Bunnings NPC standings 2021
Premiership Division # Team 1 RS – Hawke's Bay 8 7 0 1 280 197 +83 6 0 4 38 2 Waikato 9 5 0 4 261 264 –3 6 2 2 30 3 Canterbury 9 5 0 4 228 242 –14 4 2 2 28 4 Tasman 8 5 0 3 240 187 +53 3 1 4 28 5 Wellington 8 3 0 5 270 226 +44 5 4 4 25 6 Bay of Plenty 8 3 0 5 222 252 –30 6 2 4 24 7 Auckland 2 1 0 1 46 40 +6 1 1 2 8
Championship Division # Team 1 Taranaki 8 8 0 0 302 181 +121 3 0 4 39 2 Manawatu 8 4 0 4 239 229 +10 3 1 4 24 3 Otago 7 3 0 4 144 170 –26 0 2 6 20 4 Southland 7 1 0 6 134 222 –88 1 2 6 13 5 Northland 8 1 0 7 167 292 –125 3 1 4 12 6 North Harbour 2 1 0 1 29 34 –5 0 0 2 6 7 Counties Manukau 2 0 0 2 27 53 –26 0 0 2 2
Standings progression Premiership Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 Auckland 5 (3rd) 6 (4th) 6 (7th) 6 (7th) 6 (7th) 6 (7th) 8 (7th) 8 (7th) 8 (7th) 8 (7th) Bay of Plenty 0 (6th) 5 (6th) 7 (6th) 8 (6th) 13 (5th) 13 (6th) 15 (6th) 15 (6th) 17 (6th) 24 (6th) Canterbury 0 (5th) 5 (7th) 9 (4th) 13 (4th) 13 (4th) 15 (5th) 18 (5th) 19 (5th) 23 (5th) 28 (3rd) Hawke's Bay 0 (7th) 5 (5th) 9 (3rd) 14 (2nd) 14 (3rd) 19 (1st) 26 (1st) 31 (1st) 36 (1st) 38 (1st) Tasman 4 (4th) 8 (2nd) 13 (1st) 13 (3rd) 18 (1st) 18 (2nd) 20 (4th) 20 (4th) 23 (3rd) 28 (4th) Waikato 5 (2nd) 10 (1st) 11 (2nd) 16 (1st) 17 (2nd) 17 (3rd) 21 (2nd) 21 (3rd) 26 (2nd) 30 (2nd) Wellington 5 (1st) 7 (3rd) 8 (5th) 9 (5th) 11 (6th) 16 (4th) 21 (3rd) 23 (2nd) 23 (4th) 25 (5th)Championship Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 Counties Manukau 0 (6th) 0 (6th) 0 (7th) 0 (7th) 0 (7th) 0 (7th) 2 (7th) 2 (7th) 2 (7th) 2 (7th) Manawatu 4 (1st) 5 (2nd) 5 (2nd) 9 (2nd) 13 (2nd) 18 (2nd) 20 (2nd) 21 (2nd) 22 (2nd) 24 (2nd) North Harbour 0 (5th) 4 (3rd) 4 (3rd) 4 (3rd) 4 (4th) 4 (5th) 6 (5th) 6 (5th) 6 (6th) 6 (6th) Northland 0 (7th) 0 (7th) 1 (6th) 1 (6th) 6 (3rd) 6 (3rd) 8 (4th) 8 (4th) 10 (4th) 12 (5th) Otago 4 (3rd) 4 (4th) 4 (4th) 4 (4th) 4 (5th) 5 (4th) 11 (3rd) 15 (3rd) 15 (3rd) 20 (3rd) Southland 1 (4th) 1 (5th) 1 (5th) 2 (5th) 2 (6th) 2 (6th) 4 (6th) 4 (6th) 9 (5th) 13 (4th) Taranaki 4 (2nd) 9 (1st) 13 (1st) 18 (1st) 18 (1st) 22 (1st) 28 (1st) 33 (1st) 33 (1st) 39 (1st) The table above shows a team's progression throughout the season.For each week, their cumulative points total is shown with the overall division log position in brackets. Key: Win Draw Loss Bye
Regular season The 2021 Bunnings NPC was originally scheduled to play across ten weeks. The competition started on Friday, August 6, with Manawatu taking on Counties Manukau at Central Energy Trust Arena. On August 18, New Zealand Rugby announced that all rugby in New Zealand would be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In September it was confirmed the competition schedule would continue from Week 7 of the original draw. Auckland, Counties Manukau, Manawatu, North Harbour, Otago, and Southland would have byes due to covid restrictions. Therefore all rugby matches scheduled between the 20th and 29 August and 3rd to the 5th of September 2021 was postponed.
On 7 October 2021, it was later revealed the Auckland based teams, Auckland, Counties Manukau, and North Harbour would be withdrawn from the competition after being declined its third travel exemption application. A new draw was released for the remaining four weeks of the season. In addition non-competition matches were implemented so that teams that would have otherwise played Auckland region teams don't go two weeks without a match. These matches will not receive competition points.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Play-offs
Semi-finals Championship
Premiership
Finals Championship
Premiership
FB 15Ryan TongiaRW 14Liam Coombes-FablingOC 13Bailyn SullivanIC 12Gideon WramplingLW 11Mosese Dawai FH 10D'Angelo Leuila SH 9 Cortez-Lee Ratima N8 8 Jack Lam OF 7 Mitch JacobsonBF 6 Samipeni FinauRL 5 Hamilton Burr LL 4 James TuckerTP 3 George Dyer HK 2 Rhys Marshall LP 1 Ayden Johnstone (c) Replacements:HK 16Steven Misa PR 17Ollie Norris PR 18Sefo Kautai LK 19Rupeni Tamani FL 20Liam Messam SH 21Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi FH 22Fletcher Smith FB 23Beaudein Waaka FB 15Andrew KnewstubbRW 14Timoci Tavatavanawai OC 13Leicester Fainga'anukuIC 12Alex NankivellLW 11Regan Ware FH 10Mitchell HuntSH 9 Louie Chapman N8 8 Te Ahiwaru Cirikidaveta OF 7 Anton SegnerBF 6 Jacob NorrisRL 5 Quinten Strange (c)LL 4 Antonio Shalfoon TP 3 Sam Matenga HK 2 Andrew Makalio LP 1 Isi Tu'ungafasi Replacements:HK 16Quentin MacDonald PR 17Luca Inch PR 18Isaac Salmon LK 19Max Hicks FL 20Hugh Renton SH 21Noah Hotham WG 22Macca Springer CE 23Levi Aumua
Statistics Leading point scorers No. Player Team Points Average Details 1 Stephen Perofeta Taranaki 172 17.20 2 , 30 , 34 , 0 2 Mitchell Hunt Tasman 123 12.30 1 , 23 , 24 , 0 3 Brett Cameron Manawatu 107 15.29 2 , 17 , 21 , 0 4 Fergus Burke Canterbury 97 9.70 3 , 17 , 16 , 0 5 Josh Ioane Otago 82 10.25 1 , 16 , 15 , 0 6 Marty Banks Southland 77 9.63 1 , 12 , 16 , 0 7 Lincoln McClutchie Hawke's Bay 77 8.56 2 , 23 , 7 , 0 8 Ruben Love Wellington 58 7.25 1 , 19 , 5 , 0 9 Fletcher Smith Waikato 56 5.60 0 , 22 , 4 , 0 10 D'Angelo Leuila Waikato 55 5.00 1 , 13 , 8 , 0 Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).
Leading try scorers No. Player Team Tries Average 1 Leicester Fainga'anuku Tasman 8 0.80 2 Freedom Vahaakolo Otago 7 0.78 3 Liam Coombes-Fabling Waikato 7 0.64 4 Kini Naholo Taranaki 6 0.67 5 Peter Umaga-Jensen Wellington 5 0.63 6 Mosese Dawai Waikato 5 0.50 7 Vereniki Tikoisolomone Taranaki 5 0.50 8 Taine Plumtree Wellington 4 0.67 9 Tyrone Thompson Wellington 4 0.67 10 Jone Macilai-Tori Northland 4 0.57 Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).
Points by week Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Average Auckland 35 24 11 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 46 40 23.00 20.00 Bay of Plenty 14 27 31 11 33 36 28 55 33 32 0 0 0 0 0 0 33 37 50 54 222 252 27.75 31.50 Canterbury 24 35 25 22 20 19 19 16 0 0 30 35 26 45 20 22 24 20 40 28 228 242 25.33 26.89 Counties Manukau 21 39 6 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 53 13.50 26.50 Hawke's Bay 19 33 34 10 36 33 31 28 0 0 34 22 45 26 41 14 40 31 0 0 280 197 35.00 24.63 Manawatu 39 21 22 25 0 0 31 19 27 14 38 27 16 36 35 47 31 40 0 0 239 229 29.88 28.63 North Harbour 15 28 14 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 34 14.50 17.00 Northland 7 54 14 48 29 48 19 31 38 28 0 0 13 24 0 0 33 37 14 22 167 292 20.88 36.50 Otago 26 19 10 34 0 0 0 0 14 27 23 30 24 13 22 20 0 0 25 27 144 170 20.57 24.29 Southland 19 26 11 31 0 0 16 19 14 51 27 38 0 0 0 0 37 33 10 24 134 222 19.14 31.71 Taranaki 33 19 48 14 32 26 55 28 0 0 30 23 33 26 47 35 0 0 24 10 302 181 37.75 22.63 Tasman 27 14 16 11 48 29 22 39 51 14 22 34 0 0 0 0 20 24 34 22 240 187 30.00 23.38 Waikato 28 15 43 37 19 20 39 22 28 38 0 0 26 33 14 41 37 33 27 25 261 264 29.00 29.33 Wellington 54 7 37 43 26 32 28 31 32 33 35 30 36 16 0 0 0 0 22 34 270 226 33.75 28.25 Source: Bunnings NPC Fixtures and Results 2021
Tries by week Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Average Auckland 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 4 2.50 2.00 Bay of Plenty 2 3 4 1 5 3 4 7 5 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 4 7 7 32 31 4.00 3.88 Canterbury 3 4 4 3 3 3 1 1 0 0 4 4 4 7 2 1 3 1 5 3 29 27 3.22 3.00 Counties Manukau 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 1.00 2.00 Hawke's Bay 3 3 5 1 3 5 4 3 0 0 5 1 7 4 6 2 6 4 0 0 39 23 4.88 2.88 Manawatu 3 2 3 4 0 0 3 3 3 2 4 3 1 5 5 6 4 6 0 0 26 31 3.25 3.88 North Harbour 2 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 1.50 2.00 Northland 1 8 2 6 5 8 3 3 5 4 0 0 2 3 0 0 4 4 2 4 24 40 3.00 5.00 Otago 2 1 1 5 0 0 0 0 2 3 2 3 3 2 1 2 0 0 3 3 14 19 2.00 2.71 Southland 1 2 1 4 0 0 1 1 2 7 3 4 0 0 0 0 4 4 1 3 13 25 1.86 3.57 Taranaki 3 3 6 2 3 3 7 4 0 0 3 2 2 4 6 5 0 0 3 1 33 24 4.13 3.00 Tasman 3 2 1 1 8 5 3 5 7 2 1 5 0 0 0 0 1 3 5 3 29 26 3.63 3.25 Waikato 4 2 6 5 3 3 5 3 4 5 0 0 4 2 2 6 4 5 3 3 35 34 3.89 3.78 Wellington 8 1 5 6 3 3 3 4 6 5 4 4 5 1 0 0 0 0 3 5 37 29 4.63 3.63 For Against
Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).
Sanctions