The 2025 Bunnings NPC was the twentieth 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. For sponsorship reasons, the competition is known as the Bunnings NPC. The regular season began on 31 July 2025, when hosted . The final took place on 25 October 2025, and saw beat 36–28.
Format Under the current competition format, which is largely a continuation of that of 2023, the 14 provincial unions participating in the Bunnings NPC are grouped in one single division, ranked on one single competition table and play for one NPC title.
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 2025 are played over a period of ten weeks (starting on 31 July 2025); this period is one week longer than previous seasons because the competition schedule no longer includes a mid-week game.
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.
The rules governing the Ranfurly Shield state that every home game during the regular season played by the union that holds the Ranfurly Shield is a mandatory 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 a challenge lodged by 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
Standings progression Each team's cumulative points total is shown for every week of the regular season with the overall log position in brackets.
Team W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 QF SF Final 2 (8th) 3 (11th) 3 (12th) 4 (12th) 4 (12th) 9 (12th) 14 (11th) 15 (12th) 16 (12th) 16 (12th) DNQ DNQ DNQ 5 (2nd) 10 (1st) 10 (4th) 11 (7th) 15 (5th) 20 (4th) 21 (6th) 26 (4th) 31 (4th) 36 (3rd) Won Lost DNQ 5 (3rd) 9 (4th) 13 (3rd) 18 (1st) 23 (1st) 28 (1st) 33 (1st) 35 (1st) 37 (1st) 42 (1st) Won Won Won 0 (14th) 1 (14th) 3 (13th) 3 (13th) 3 (13th) 7 (13th) 12 (13th) 17 (10th) 22 (9th) 27 (8th) Lost DNQ DNQ 5 (1st) 9 (2nd) 14 (2nd) 14 (5th) 15 (6th) 20 (5th) 24 (3rd) 25 (5th) 30 (5th) 35 (4th) Won Lost DNQ 5 (4th) 5 (9th) 6 (10th) 11 (8th) 11 (11th) 16 (7th) 17 (9th) 17 (11th) 18 (11th) 18 (11th) DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 (10th) 1 (13th) 1 (14th) 1 (14th) 1 (14th) 2 (14th) 4 (14th) 5 (14th) 6 (14th) 10 (14th) DNQ DNQ DNQ 0 (12th) 4 (10th) 4 (11th) 9 (10th) 13 (10th) 13 (10th) 18 (8th) 22 (8th) 24 (8th) 25 (9th) DNQ DNQ DNQ 4 (7th) 5 (6th) 10 (6th) 15 (4th) 16 (4th) 21 (2nd) 26 (2nd) 31 (2nd) 36 (2nd) 41 (2nd) Won Won Lost 0 (9th) 1 (12th) 6 (9th) 10 (9th) 14 (7th) 14 (9th) 14 (12th) 14 (13th) 15 (13th) 16 (13th) DNQ DNQ DNQ 4 (6th) 9 (3rd) 14 (1st) 15 (2nd) 20 (2nd) 20 (3rd) 22 (4th) 27 (3rd) 32 (3rd) 32 (5th) Lost DNQ DNQ 0 (13th) 5 (7th) 10 (5th) 15 (3rd) 20 (3rd) 20 (6th) 22 (5th) 24 (7th) 29 (6th) 30 (6th) Lost DNQ DNQ 5 (5th) 6 (5th) 10 (7th) 14 (6th) 14 (8th) 15 (8th) 20 (7th) 25 (6th) 25 (7th) 29 (7th) Lost DNQ DNQ 0 (11th) 5 (8th) 7 (8th) 8 (11th) 13 (9th) 13 (11th) 14 (10th) 19 (9th) 19 (10th) 21 (10th) DNQ DNQ DNQ Key: Win Draw LossNo game DNQ = did not qualify
Regular season During the regular season of the 2025 Bunnings NPC, each team played 10 games over a period of ten weeks. The competition started on 31 July 2025, when narrowly lost 35–36 to in Auckland. The first Ranfurly Shield defence of the season took place on 2 August 2025, when beat 23–3 in New Plymouth.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Week 10
Play-offs
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
FB 15Chay FihakiRW 14Manasa MataeleOC 13Braydon EnnorIC 12Dallas McLeod LW 11Ngane PunivaiFH 10Andrew Knewstubb SH 9 Louie Chapman N8 8 Dominic GardinerOF 7 Tom Christie (c)BF 6 Zach GallagherRL 5 Jamie Hannah LL 4 Liam Jack TP 3 Seb Calder HK 2 Brodie McAlister LP 1 Finlay Brewis Replacements:HK 16Nick Hyde PR 17Daniel Lienert-Brown PR 18Gus Brown LK 19Tahlor Cahill FL 20Torian Barnes SH 21Tyson Belworthy CE 22Shun Miyake WG 23Jone Rova FB 15Sam Gilbert (c)RW 14Jae Broomfield OC 13Josh Timu IC 12Thomas Umaga-JensenLW 11Jona NarekiFH 10Cam MillarSH 9 Dylan Pledger N8 8 Christian Lio-WillieOF 7 Lucas Casey BF 6 Will StodartRL 5 Oliver Haig LL 4 Will TuckerTP 3 Rohan Wingham HK 2 Nic Souchon LP 1 Abraham Pole Replacements:HK 16Liam Coltman PR 17Benjamin Lopas PR 18Moana Takataka LK 19Joseva Tamani FL 20Harry Taylor SH 21Nathan Hastie FH 22Josh Whaanga WG 23Finn Hurley
Statistics Leading point scorers No. Player Team Points Average Details 1 Cam Millar 156 12.00 3 , 51 , 13 , 0 2 Josh Jacomb 133 12.09 6 , 32 , 13 , 0 3 Jackson Garden-Bachop 88 8.80 1 , 34 , 5 , 0 4 William Havili 75 6.82 1 , 32 , 2 , 0 5 Rivez Reihana 73 8.11 1 , 22 , 8 , 0 6 Chay Fihaki 68 6.18 5 , 17 , 3 , 0 7 Gibson Popoali'i 65 6.50 8 , 8 , 3 , 0 Kaleb Trask 65 10.83 3 , 13 , 8 , 0 9 Lincoln McClutchie 58 6.44 3 , 20 , 0 , 1 10 Harry Godfrey 53 8.83 1 , 18 , 4 , 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 Lucas Casey 9 0.75 Fehi Fineanganofo 9 0.90 Tomasi Maka 9 0.82 4 Taniela Filimone 8 0.80 Dylan Pledger 8 0.73 Gibson Popoali'i 8 0.80 Stanley Solomon 8 0.89 Macca Springer 8 0.89 Xavier Tito-Harris 8 1.00 10 10 players 6 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 35 36 15 19 8 50 24 43 17 36 29 21 52 29 28 49 28 45 17 51 253 379 25.30 37.90 37 7 39 22 7 21 25 30 19 7 43 17 21 24 55 19 41 5 33 26 320 178 32.00 17.80 33 15 19 15 21 7 26 7 53 14 54 14 31 25 36 38 19 19 34 14 326 168 32.60 16.80 14 54 22 39 26 27 19 33 22 43 22 19 64 10 49 28 48 24 49 41 335 318 33.50 31.80 54 14 27 21 36 22 7 26 22 27 45 19 24 21 24 38 45 28 38 10 322 226 32.20 22.60 38 25 17 49 22 29 38 28 14 53 36 26 29 52 19 55 24 48 10 38 247 403 24.70 40.30 25 38 24 46 22 36 19 43 7 19 19 22 28 29 21 22 26 41 15 14 206 310 20.60 31.00 3 23 22 17 14 28 43 24 27 22 10 29 43 26 22 21 19 19 19 25 222 234 22.20 23.40 24 15 21 27 46 41 33 19 27 31 29 10 28 26 38 36 41 26 51 17 338 248 33.80 24.80 15 24 17 22 29 22 30 25 25 10 14 54 10 64 19 75 38 55 14 15 211 366 21.10 36.60 23 3 46 24 50 8 22 23 43 22 17 43 26 28 38 24 39 20 14 34 318 229 31.80 22.90 7 37 49 17 28 14 43 19 31 27 21 29 25 31 24 29 55 38 41 49 324 290 32.40 29.00 36 35 24 35 27 26 23 22 10 25 26 36 29 28 29 24 5 41 25 19 234 291 23.40 29.10 15 33 35 24 41 46 28 38 36 17 19 45 26 43 75 19 20 39 26 33 321 337 32.10 33.70 Source: Bunnings NPC Fixtures and Results 2025
Tries by game Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Average 4 6 3 3 1 7 4 6 3 5 4 3 8 5 4 7 4 7 3 6 38 55 3.80 5.50 5 1 5 4 1 33 3 3 2 1 7 2 3 3 9 3 6 1 5 4 46 25 4.60 2.50 5 2 3 3 3 1 4 1 9 2 8 2 5 4 6 6 3 3 6 2 52 26 5.20 2.60 2 8 4 5 4 3 3 5 3 6 3 2 10 2 7 4 7 4 7 7 50 46 5.00 4.60 8 2 3 3 6 3 1 4 3 3 6 3 3 3 4 5 7 4 6 2 47 32 4.70 3.20 5 3 3 7 3 4 6 4 2 9 6 4 5 8 3 9 4 7 2 6 39 61 3.90 6.10 3 5 4 8 3 6 3 7 1 2 2 3 4 4 3 3 4 5 2 2 29 45 2.90 4.50 0 3 3 2 2 4 6 4 3 3 1 4 6 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 30 33 3.00 3.30 3 2 3 3 6 6 5 3 3 4 4 1 4 4 6 6 5 4 6 3 45 36 4.50 3.60 2 3 2 3 4 3 3 3 3 1 2 8 2 10 3 11 6 9 2 2 29 53 2.90 5.30 3 0 8 4 7 1 3 2 6 3 2 7 4 4 5 4 5 2 2 6 45 33 4.50 3.30 1 5 7 3 4 2 7 3 4 3 3 4 4 5 4 5 9 6 7 7 50 43 5.00 4.30 6 4 4 5 3 4 2 3 1 3 4 6 4 4 5 4 1 6 3 3 33 42 3.30 4.20 2 5 5 4 6 6 4 6 5 3 3 6 4 6 11 3 2 5 4 5 46 49 4.60 4.90 For Against
Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).
Discipline Player Team Red Yellow Sent off match(es) Jack Sexton 0 2 Week 7 (vs. ) Week 10 (vs. ) Austin Anderson 0 1 Week 1 (vs. ) Kade Banks 0 1 Week 8 (vs. ) Kaylum Boshier 0 1 Quarter-final (vs. ) Jae Broomfield 0 1 Semi-final (vs. ) Logan Crowley 0 1 Week 2 (vs. ) Kurt Eklund 0 1 Week 2 (vs. ) Folau Fakatava 0 1 Quarter-final (vs. ) Zach Gallagher 0 1 Week 6 (vs. ) Dominic Gardiner 0 1 Week 9 (vs. ) Sam Gilbert 0 1 Week 1 (vs. ) Sione Halalilo 0 1 Week 7 (vs. ) William Havili 0 1 Quarter-final (vs. ) Luke Jacobson 0 1 Quarter-final (vs. ) Oscar Koller 0 1 Week 2 (vs. ) Jack Lee 0 1 Week 8 (vs. ) Daniel Lienert-Brown 0 1 Week 9 (vs. ) Michael Loft 0 1 Week 7 (vs. ) Benjamin Lopas 0 1 Quarter-final (vs. ) Jonah Lowe 0 1 Week 1 (vs. ) Jesse Parete 0 1 Week 4 (vs. ) Tom Parsons 0 1 Week 8 (vs. ) Terrell Peita 0 1 Week 7 (vs. ) Faletoi Peni 0 1 Week 6 (vs. ) Ngane Punivai 0 1 Semi-final (vs. ) Xavier Roe 0 1 Week 7 (vs. ) Brady Rush 0 1 Week 4 (vs. ) Rob Rush 0 1 Week 6 (vs. ) Tom Savage 0 1 Week 5 (vs. ) Josh Setu 0 1 Week 6 (vs. ) Angus Taʻavao 0 1 Week 10 (vs. ) Josh Te Hira 0 1 Week 1 (vs. ) Vereniki Tikoisolomone 0 1 Week 9 (vs. ) Kaleb Trask 0 1 Week 2 (vs. ) Will Tucker 0 1 Week 8 (vs. ) Isaia Walker-Leawere 0 1 Quarter-final (vs. ) Malachi Wrampling-Alec 0 1 Week 10 (vs. )
Ranfurly Shield
Pre-season challenges On 3 March 2025, Taranaki Rugby announced that 2024 Lochore Cup winners would be the first Heartland Championship team to challenge for the Ranfurly Shield in 2025. The game would be played at the fully re-developed Stadium Taranaki (formerly Yarrow Stadium) on 11 June 2025. Three days later, Taranaki Rugby confirmed that the second pre-season Ranfurly Shield game would be played at Manaia Domain in Manaia on 19 July 2025 against 2024 Meads Cup winners .
Notes
References
External links