The 2023 Bunnings NPC season was the 18th season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition, the National Provincial Championship, since it turned professional in 2006. It involved the top fourteen provincial rugby unions of New Zealand, which – under a new format introduced in 2022 – all played for the same title. For sponsorship reasons, the competition is known as the Bunnings NPC. The regular season began on 4 August 2023, when Tasman hosted Otago. The final took place on 21 October 2023.
Format In 2022, a new competition format was introduced. In this new format, the 14 provincial unions participating in the Bunnings NPC are grouped in one single division and play for one NPC title. While in 2022 the teams were seeded in two equal conferences, an "Odds Conference" and an "Evens Conference", a further format change in 2023 has resulted in the merger of the two conferences and teams are now ranked on one competition table instead of two separate conference tables.
All provincial teams play ten games during the regular season (round robin): five games are played at the provincial union's home ground and five games are away games. The seven teams that finished the previous season in 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th and 13th place will play each other as well as four cross-over matches against the teams that finished 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th and 14th. Likewise, the teams that finished 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 10th, 12th and 14th will also play each other as well as four cross-over games against the provinces that were ranked 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th or 13th at the end of the previous season. The ten round robin games in 2023 are played over a period of nine weeks (starting on Friday 4 August 2023) and include one mid-week game to be played on a Wednesday night.
The regular season is followed by quarter-finals to be played by the eight highest ranked teams on the competition table. The finals rankings are determined by the number of competition points earned during the regular season. Competition points can be gained in the following way: four points are awarded to the winning team, two points to each team for a draw, and no points for a loss. Teams can also receive a bonus point if they score four or more tries in a match, or lose by seven points or less.
If two or more provincial teams finish with an equal number of competition points, the following tiebreaker rules apply. If two unions are tied, the union which has defeated the other in a head-to-head is placed higher. In case of a draw between them, the side with the biggest points difference is ranked higher. If three or more unions are tied and they have all played each other, the team with most competition points in that year against the other tied unions is ranked higher; if they have not all played each other, the team with the biggest points difference in the round robin is ranked higher. In all cases, if these unions are still tied, the ranking is decided by the highest number of tries scored, the most points scored, or a coin toss.
The quarter-finals are played as follows, with the highest ranked team hosting:
QF 1: 1 v 8; QF 2: 2 v 7; QF 3: 3 v 6; and QF 4: 4 v 5.
In the semi-finals, the highest-ranked quarter-final winner hosts the lowest-ranked quarter-final winner and the second highest-ranked quarter-final winner hosts the third highest-ranked quarter-final winner.
The NPC Final will be played between the two semi-final winners, again at the home venue of the team with the higher finals ranking.
No changes have been made to the rules governing Ranfurly Shield Challenges. Every home game during the regular season played by the union that holds the Ranfurly Shield is a mandartory challenge match. No challenge matches will be played after the regular season has ended (i.e., during the finals). A holder who competes in the Bunnings NPC must also accept at least two challenges from unions competing in the Heartland Championship, including the winner of the Meads Cup at the end of the previous season. These non-mandatory challenge matches must be played before the start of the NPC season.
Standings The final standings for the 2023 Bunnings NPC season:
Standings progression The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round of the regular season, their cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.
Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 QF SF Final Auckland 5(4th) 5(7th) 10(6th) 17(5th) 22(4th) 27(2nd) 27(5th) 28(7th) 32(6th) Lost DNQ DNQ Bay of Plenty 1(8th) 5(8th) 5(10th) 10(9th) 15(7th) 20(6th) 20(8th) 30(5th) 35(4th) Lost DNQ DNQ Canterbury 5(2nd) 10(3rd) 15(4th) 17(4th) 22(3rd) 26(3rd) 31(2nd) 35(2nd) 37(3rd) Won Lost DNQ Counties Manukau 1(10th) 2(11th) 7(8th) 7(11th) 8(13th) 18(8th) 18(10th) 23(9th) 24(9th) DNQ DNQ DNQ Hawke's Bay 4(7th) 13(2nd) 18(2nd) 18(3rd) 18(6th) 20(7th) 25(6th) 30(6th) 34(5th) Won Won Lost Manawatu 0(13th) 0(13th) 1(14th) 11(8th) 11(11th) 12(13th) 12(13th) 12(13th) 12(13th) DNQ DNQ DNQ North Harbour 1(9th) 2(9th) 2(11th) 3(13th) 12(10th) 17(9th) 22(7th) 22(10th) 22(10th) DNQ DNQ DNQ Northland 0(14th) 2(12th) 7(9th) 8(10th) 13(8th) 13(12th) 14(11th) 15(11th) 17(12th) DNQ DNQ DNQ Otago 0(12th) 0(14th) 2(13th) 7(12th) 9(12th) 13(11th) 13(12th) 13(12th) 18(11th) DNQ DNQ DNQ Southland 0(11th) 2(10th) 2(12th) 2(14th) 2(14th) 3(14th) 3(14th) 4(14th) 9(14th) DNQ DNQ DNQ Taranaki 10(1st) 15(1st) 20(1st) 22(2nd) 24(2nd) 24(5th) 29(4th) 33(3rd) 38(2nd) Won Won Won Tasman 4(6th) 9(4th) 10(5th) 15(6th) 20(5th) 25(4th) 30(3rd) 31(4th) 31(7th) Lost DNQ DNQ Waikato 5(3rd) 8(6th) 8(7th) 13(7th) 13(9th) 14(10th) 19(9th) 24(8th) 29(8th) Lost DNQ DNQ Wellington 4(5th) 8(5th) 17(3th) 22(1st) 27(1st) 32(1st) 37(1st) 42(1st) 43(1st) Won Lost DNQ Key: Win Draw loss No game DNQ = did not qualify
Regular season During the regular season of the 2023 Bunnings NPC, each team plays 10 games over a period of nine weeks, including one mid-week game. The competition began on 4 August 2023, when Tasman hosted Otago in Nelson.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Play-offs The play-off fixtures are as follows:
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
FB 15Stephen PerofetaRW 14Jacob Ratumaitavuki-KneepkensOC 13Meihana GrindlayIC 12Daniel RonaLW 11Kini Naholo FH 10Josh Jacomb SH 9 Adam Lennox N8 8 Kaylum Boshier (c) OF 7 Tom FlorenceBF 6 Pita Gus SowakulaRL 5 Josh Lord LL 4 Tom Franklin TP 3 Reuben O'Neill HK 2 Bradley Slater LP 1 Jared Proffit Replacements:HK 16Ricky Riccitelli PR 17Donald Brighouse PR 18Michael Bent LK 19Heiden Bedwell-Curtis FL 20Michael Loft SH 21Logan Crowley FH 22Jayson Potroz WG 23Vereniki Tikoisolomone FB 15Lolagi Visinia RW 14Ollie SapsfordOC 13Nick Grigg IC 12Chase TiatiaLW 11Jonah LoweFH 10Lincoln McClutchieSH 9 Brad Weber N8 8 Devan FlandersOF 7 Josh Kaifa BF 6 Marino Mikaele-Tu'uRL 5 Tom Parsons (c)LL 4 Geoff Cridge TP 3 Joel Hintz HK 2 Tyrone Thompson LP 1 Pouri Rakete-Stones Replacements:HK 16Jacob Devery PR 17Tim Farrell PR 18Joe Apikotoa LK 19Frank Lochore FL 20Sam Smith SH 21Folau Fakatava CE 22Stacey Ili FB 23Caleb Makene
Statistics Leading point scorers No. Player Team Points Average Details 1 Lincoln McClutchie Hawke's Bay 125 9.62 3 , 37 , 12 , 0 2 Fergus Burke Canterbury 109 10.09 3 , 29 , 12 , 0 3 Aidan Morgan Wellington 102 8.50 1 , 23 , 17 , 0 Zarn Sullivan Auckland 102 10.20 4 , 26 , 10 , 0 5 Rivez Reihana Northland 86 8.60 1 , 18 , 15 , 0 6 Josh Jacomb Taranaki 71 8.88 3 , 16 , 8 , 0 7 Taine Robinson Tasman 65 7.22 3 , 13 , 8 , 0 8 Wharenui Hawera Bay of Plenty 56 5.09 0 , 19 , 6 , 0 9 Oscar Koller North Harbour 55 6.88 1 , 7 , 12 , 0 10 Stephen Perofeta Taranaki 53 5.89 3 , 10 , 6 , 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 Manaaki Selby-Rickit Bay of Plenty 9 0.82 2 Heremaia Murray Northland 8 0.80 3 Losi Filipo Wellington 7 0.70 Blair Murray Canterbury 7 1.00 Chase Tiatia Hawke's Bay 7 0.58 6 Joshua Gray Counties Manukau 6 0.86 Michael Manson Southland 6 1.00 Etene Nanai-Seturo Counties Manukau 6 0.75 Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens Taranaki 6 0.46 Salesi Rayasi Auckland 6 0.67 Timoci Tavatavanawai Tasman 6 0.55 Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).
Points by game Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Average Auckland 32 30 12 24 43 21 41 22 31 33 41 13 36 29 12 27 16 18 27 26 291 243 29.10 24.30 Bay of Plenty 30 32 19 15 19 32 29 26 38 14 38 35 14 26 32 26 25 23 41 12 285 241 28.50 24.10 Canterbury 43 11 28 24 68 26 31 36 29 28 29 36 29 31 29 14 30 28 35 37 351 271 35.10 27.10 Counties Manukau 29 37 24 25 32 19 15 37 25 56 39 29 31 29 17 27 46 19 22 38 280 316 28.00 31.60 Hawke's Bay 23 21 25 24 35 32 33 32 22 41 21 44 35 38 57 7 33 7 20 18 304 264 30.40 26.40 Manawatu 6 22 17 26 26 68 31 30 33 31 19 58 29 48 7 57 19 46 12 37 199 423 19.90 42.30 North Harbour 21 23 24 28 21 43 15 20 39 17 27 24 48 29 50 31 6 26 21 54 272 295 27.20 29.50 Northland 11 43 13 28 15 15 32 5 30 31 44 21 15 30 31 50 26 32 26 27 243 282 24.30 28.20 Otago 15 27 5 28 32 33 31 21 14 38 24 27 30 15 17 36 7 47 38 22 213 294 21.30 29.40 Southland 21 29 15 15 17 39 21 31 13 41 29 39 14 29 7 33 23 25 37 12 197 293 19.70 29.30 Taranaki 37 29 28 13 26 17 29 17 26 29 28 29 18 29 36 17 18 16 54 21 300 217 30.00 21.70 Tasman 27 15 24 12 5 32 0 7 20 15 58 19 29 18 27 17 28 30 12 41 230 206 23.00 20.60 Waikato 29 21 15 19 32 35 17 29 37 15 17 39 24 41 27 12 47 7 37 35 282 253 28.20 25.30 Wellington 22 6 28 5 39 17 7 0 36 31 56 25 41 24 26 14 26 6 18 20 299 148 29.90 14.80 Source: Bunnings NPC Fixtures and Results 2023
Tries by game Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Average Auckland 4 3 2 4 6 3 6 3 5 5 7 1 5 4 2 4 1 2 3 4 41 33 4.10 3.30 Bay of Plenty 3 4 3 2 3 4 4 4 5 2 5 5 2 4 4 2 4 3 6 2 39 32 3.90 3.20 Canterbury 5 1 4 2 10 4 5 6 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 2 3 3 5 6 48 37 4.80 3.70 Counties Manukau 4 6 3 3 4 3 2 5 4 7 6 5 4 4 2 5 8 3 4 6 41 47 4.10 4.70 Hawke's Bay 2 2 3 3 5 5 5 5 3 6 3 5 5 5 8 1 5 1 3 2 42 35 4.20 3.50 Manawatu 0 1 2 4 4 10 5 3 5 5 3 9 5 7 1 8 3 8 2 5 30 60 3.00 6.00 North Harbour 2 2 2 4 3 6 3 4 6 3 3 4 7 5 7 4 0 4 3 8 36 44 3.60 4.40 Northland 1 5 1 4 2 0 4 1 3 5 5 3 2 3 4 7 2 4 4 3 28 35 2.80 3.50 Otago 2 3 1 3 5 5 5 3 2 5 4 3 3 2 1 5 1 7 6 4 30 40 3.00 4.00 Southland 2 4 0 2 3 6 3 5 1 7 5 6 2 4 1 5 3 4 5 2 25 45 2.50 4.50 Taranaki 6 4 4 1 4 2 5 3 4 4 4 4 2 4 5 1 2 1 8 3 44 27 4.40 2.70 Tasman 3 2 4 2 1 4 0 1 4 3 9 3 4 2 5 2 3 3 2 6 35 28 3.50 2.80 Waikato 4 2 2 3 5 5 3 5 5 2 3 6 4 6 4 2 7 1 6 5 43 37 4.30 3.70 Wellington 1 0 3 1 6 3 1 0 6 5 7 4 6 4 4 2 4 0 2 3 40 22 4.00 2.20 For Against
Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).
Discipline