The 2026 Hilux NPC is the twenty-first season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition, the National Provincial Championship, since it turned professional in 2006. The 2026 NPC season also marks 50 years of provincial rugby in New Zealand since the competition's inception in 1976. The competition involves the top fourteen provincial rugby unions of New Zealand. The regular season began on 30 July 2026, when hosted . The final is scheduled for 24 October 2026.
The competition saw much increased attendance, with over 300,000 fans passing through the gates during the competition, more than a 50% increase on the previous season.https://www.rugbypass.com/news/hilux-npc-scores-big-wins-in-2026-match-attendance-and-social-media-engagement/
Format Under the current competition format, which is largely a continuation of that of 2023, the 14 provincial unions participating in the National Provincial Championship (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 2026 are played over a period of ten weeks (starting on 30 July 2026).
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 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 The current standings for the 2026 National Provincial Championship are:
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 (9th) 7 (6th) 8 (9th) 8 (9th) 9 (11th) 9 (12th) 14 (11th) 18 (11th) 20 (11th) 22 (11th) DNQ DNQ DNQ 1 (10th) 6 (9th) 8 (8th) 13 (8th) 17 (6th) 17 (9th) 17 (10th) 22 (9th) 23 (10th) 28 (9th) DNQ DNQ DNQ 5 (5th) 9 (3rd) 14 (2nd) 14 (7th) 15 (8th) 20 (6th) 25 (5th) 30 (5th) 35 (2nd) 40 (1st) 0 (12th) 0 (14th) 1 (14th) 1 (14th) 6 (13th) 11 (11th) 12 (13th) 12 (13th) 16 (12th) 20 (12th) DNQ DNQ DNQ 5 (3rd) 10 (1st) 15 (1st) 20 (1st) 25 (1st) 30 (1st) 32 (1st) 32 (3rd) 32 (4th) 33 (6th) 0 (13th) 5 (10th) 6 (11th) 6 (12th) 11 (10th) 16 (10th) 20 (7th) 20 (10th) 25 (9th) 25 (10th) DNQ DNQ DNQ 2 (8th) 7 (4th) 12 (3rd) 17 (3rd) 19 (4th) 24 (2nd) 29 (2nd) 31 (4th) 36 (1st) 36 (4th) 5 (2nd) 7 (5th) 12 (4th) 17 (2nd) 21 (2nd) 22 (3rd) 27 (3rd) 32 (1st) 33 (3rd) 38 (2nd) 5 (1st) 6 (7th) 11 (6th) 16 (5th) 21 (3rd) 22 (4th) 27 (4th) 32 (2nd) 32 (5th) 37 (3rd) 0 (14th) 2 (13th) 7 (10th) 7 (11th) 7 (12th) 8 (13th) 13 (12th) 13 (12th) 13 (13th) 13 (13th) DNQ DNQ DNQ 4 (7th) 6 (8th) 6 (12th) 8 (10th) 13 (9th) 18 (8th) 19 (9th) 24 (7th) 29 (7th) 34 (5th) 5 (6th) 5 (11th) 10 (7th) 15 (6th) 15 (7th) 20 (5th) 21 (6th) 22 (8th) 27 (8th) 32 (7th) 5 (4th) 10 (2nd) 12 (5th) 17 (4th) 19 (5th) 19 (7th) 19 (8th) 24 (6th) 29 (6th) 30 (8th) 1 (11th) 3 (12th) 3 (13th) 3 (13th) 4 (14th) 5 (14th) 5 (14th) 6 (14th) 6 (14th) 7 (14th) DNQ DNQ DNQ Key: Win Draw LossNo game DNQ = did not qualify
Regular season During the regular season of the 2026 National Provincial Championship, each team plays 10 games over a period of ten weeks. The competition started on 30 July 2026, when hosted . The first Ranfurly Shield defence of the season takes place on 9 August 2026, when hosts .
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
Statistics Leading point scorers No. Player Team Points Average Details 1 Rivez Reihana 95 9.50 3 , 34 , 4 , 0 2 Kyren Taumoefolau 90 9.00 18 , 0 , 0 , 0 3 Harry Godfrey 82 9.11 2 , 33 , 2 , 0 4 Cameron Howell 76 8.44 2 , 27 , 4 , 0 5 Taha Kemara 70 7.78 3 , 26 , 1 , 0 6 Cam Millar 67 6.70 0 , 29 , 3 , 0 7 William Havili 65 7.22 0 , 28 , 3 , 0 8 George Worboys 58 7.25 1 , 13 , 9 , 0 9 AJ Alatimu 56 5.60 1 , 24 , 1 , 0 Coby Miln 56 7.00 5 , 14 , 1 , 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 Kyren Taumoefolau 18 1.80 2 Lucas Casey 10 1.11 3 Sam Nemec-Vial 8 0.80 4 Tom Barham 6 0.60 Folau Fakatava 6 0.60 Maloni Kunawave 6 0.75 Dallas McLeod 6 0.75 Hunter Morrison 6 0.60 9 19 players 5 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 3138 3431 3144 1927 1922 1228 4333 2422 3440 4245 289 330 28.90 33.00 2638 3431 2833 2824 2219 1229 1243 3217 2645 3821 258 300 25.80 30.00 3831 1915 3328 1236 2640 3614 6619 2524 3421 2212 311 240 31.10 24.00 520 1959 3550 1245 4635 4724 3343 2150 2219 127 252 352 25.20 35.20 5233 5019 4431 5917 3621 3524 2431 1732 1450 712 338 270 33.80 27.00 1440 3635 2729 1759 4340 2912 2725 2736 4034 1222 272 332 27.20 33.20 2931 5919 477 2719 4043 5742 3124 2425 3221 2138 367 269 36.70 26.90 4014 3134 420 3612 2010 4257 3417 5228 1922 2814 344 208 34.40 20.80 4114 1519 2927 6122 4338 2435 5733 5021 2132 4542 386 283 38.60 28.30 1441 3536 3231 1746 2136 2447 4312 1955 2134 1428 240 366 24.00 36.60 205 3238 042 2428 4026 2812 2527 5519 5014 6826 342 237 34.20 23.70 3129 1950 5035 4617 1020 4228 3357 2224 4526 5033 348 319 34.80 31.90 3826 3832 3132 4512 3843 1436 1734 3627 3410 3350 324 302 32.40 30.20 3352 3134 747 2261 3546 2842 1966 2852 1034 2668 239 502 23.90 50.20 Source: National Provincial Championship fixtures & results
Tries by game Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Average 46 65 56 34 33 24 65 33 66 66 44 48 4.40 4.80 45 55 45 44 33 24 27 43 47 63 38 46 3.80 4.60 64 32 54 25 46 52 103 54 63 42 50 35 5.00 3.50 13 39 57 27 75 74 56 38 33 21 38 53 3.80 5.30 85 83 65 93 63 54 45 34 28 12 52 42 5.20 4.20 26 65 35 39 46 42 33 35 66 24 36 51 3.60 5.10 45 93 71 43 64 86 54 45 43 36 54 40 5.40 4.00 62 55 60 52 21 68 53 84 33 42 50 30 5.00 3.00 72 23 53 9 3 65 45 85 83 34 66 58 39 5.80 3.90 27 56 45 38 36 47 72 39 36 24 36 60 3.60 6.00 31 56 06 44 64 42 33 93 82 104 52 35 5.20 3.50 54 38 75 83 12 64 58 33 74 85 53 46 5.30 4.60 54 65 54 72 56 25 35 53 52 58 48 44 4.80 4.40 58 56 17 39 57 46 310 48 25 410 36 76 3.60 7.60 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) Tamiro Armstrong 1 3 Week 8 (vs. ) Week 2 (vs. ) Week 7 (vs. ) Week 8 (vs. ) Josh Beehre 1 0 Week 3 (vs. ) Nikora Broughton 0 2 Week 4 (vs. ) Week 8 (vs. ) Callum Harkin 0 2 Week 2 (vs. ) Week 6 (vs. ) Manumaua Letiu 0 2 Week 2 (vs. ) Week 8 (vs. ) James Tofa 0 2 Week 3 (vs. ) Week 7 (vs. ) AJ Alatimu 0 1 Week 2 (vs. ) Austin Anderson 0 1 Week 2 (vs. ) Randall Baker 0 1 Week 3 (vs. ) Henry Bell 0 1 Week 8 (vs. ) Jae Broomfield 0 1 Week 4 (vs. ) Lucas Casey 0 1 Week 6 (vs. ) Lucas Cashmore 0 1 Week 4 (vs. ) Ryan Coxon 0 1 Week 5 (vs. ) Hudson Creighton 0 1 Week 2 (vs. ) Kalin Felise 0 1 Week 7 (vs. ) Cooper Flanders 0 1 Week 9 (vs. ) Neria Fomai 0 1 Week 1 (vs. ) Dominic Gardiner 0 1 Week 5 (vs. ) Clem Halaholo 0 1 Week 8 (vs. ) Bryn Hall 0 1 Week 8 (vs. ) David Havili 0 1 Week 9 (vs. ) Tonga Helu 0 1 Week 8 (vs. ) TK Howden 0 1 Week 4 (vs. ) Du'Plessis Kirifi 0 1 Week 9 (vs. ) Toma Laumalili 0 1 Week 7 (vs. ) Frank Lochore 0 1 Week 5 (vs. ) Reece MacDonald 0 1 Week 9 (vs. ) Johnny McNicholl 0 1 Week 3 (vs. ) Adam Morrison 0 1 Week 4 (vs. ) Jona Nareki 0 1 Week 3 (vs. ) Leo Ngatai-Tafau 0 1 Week 5 (vs. ) Liam O'Connor 0 1 Week 9 (vs. ) Marika Parker 0 1 Week 1 (vs. ) Penieli Poasa 0 1 Week 3 (vs. ) Nathaniel Pole 0 1 Week 9 (vs. ) Lewis Ponini 0 1 Week 10 (vs. ) Lukas Ripley 0 1 Week 8 (vs. ) Brady Rush 0 1 Week 6 (vs. ) Dane Sawers 0 1 Week 10 (vs. ) Sam Smith 0 1 Week 7 (vs. ) Bailyn Sullivan 0 1 Week 7 (vs. ) Tony Tafa 0 1 Week 3 (vs. ) Bradley Tocker 0 1 Week 3 (vs. ) Jordan Trainor 0 1 Week 7 (vs. ) James Tucker 0 1 Week 4 (vs. ) Sam Tuitupou 0 1 Week 10 (vs. ) Jimmy Tupou 0 1 Week 8 (vs. ) Sione Tupou 0 1 Week 7 (vs. ) Ian West-Stevens 0 1 Week 4 (vs. ) Kenkichi Yanagawa 0 1 Week 8 (vs. )
Ranfurly Shield
Pre-season challenges On 9 March 2026, Otago Rugby announced that and 2025 Meads Cup winners were the Heartland Championship teams to challenge for the Ranfurly Shield in 2026.
Otago Rugby confirmed on 18 May 2026 that the game against North Otago would be played on Tuesday 16 June 2026 at , while the game against Mid Canterbury was scheduled for Friday 24 July 2026 at Molyneux Park in Alexandra.
References
External links