The 2024 Bunnings NPC season was the 19th season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition, the National Provincial Championship, since it turned professional in 2006. It involved the top 14 provincial rugby unions of New Zealand. For sponsorship reasons, the competition is known as the Bunnings NPC. The regular season began on 9 August 2024, when 2023 champions Taranaki hosted Counties Manukau. The final took place on 26 October 2024, and saw Wellington beat Bay of Plenty 23–20 after extra time. The Ranfurly Shield changed hands twice during the season: Hawke's Bay came into the season as holders and survived two challenges before relinquishing it to Tasman in week 5 in a 25–24 loss; Tasman then survived two more challenges before losing the shield to Taranaki in the final week of the regular season, losing 42–29.
Format Under the current competition format, which is 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 2024 are played over a period of nine weeks (starting on Friday 9 August 2024) 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.
The rules governing Ranfurly Shield Challenges 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 QF SF Final Auckland 0 (10th) 1 (13th) 2 (12th) 2 (13th) 7 (12th) 12 (10th) 17 (10th) 19 (11th) 21 (11th) DNQ DNQ DNQ Bay of Plenty 10 (1st) 15 (1st) 17 (2nd) 17 (4th) 22 (4th) 27 (3rd) 28 (4th) 33 (4th) 38 (4th) Won Won Lost Canterbury 5 (4th) 5 (7th) 10 (6th) 10 (9th) 15 (7th) 20 (7th) 25 (6th) 25 (7th) 30 (6th) Won Lost DNQ Counties Manukau 1 (9th) 2 (12th) 2 (13th) 7 (12th) 12 (9th) 17 (8th) 18 (8th) 23 (8th) 28 (8th) Lost DNQ DNQ Hawke's Bay 5 (5th) 10 (2nd) 20 (1st) 25 (1st) 27 (2nd) 27 (4th) 27 (5th) 32 (5th) 33 (5th) Lost DNQ DNQ Manawatu 0 (14th) 0 (14th) 1 (14th) 2 (14th) 2 (14th) 7 (14th) 7 (14th) 9 (14th) 10 (14th) DNQ DNQ DNQ North Harbour 1 (8th) 2 (11th) 7 (8th) 9 (10th) 11 (10th) 16 (9th) 18 (9th) 23 (9th) 24 (---) DNQ DNQ DNQ Northland 0 (12th) 5 (6th) 5 (11th) 7 (11th) 7 (13th) 8 (13th) 13 (12th) 13 (12th) 15 (13th) DNQ DNQ DNQ Otago 0 (11th) 4 (10th) 9 (7th) 10 (7th) 12 (8th) 12 (12th) 16 (11th) 21 (10th) 26 (9th) DNQ DNQ DNQ Southland 4 (7th) 4 (9th) 5 (10th) 10 (8th) 10 (11th) 12 (11th) 12 (13th) 12 (13th) 17 (12th) DNQ DNQ DNQ Taranaki 5 (3rd) 6 (5th) 11 (5th) 15 (6th) 20 (5th) 20 (6th) 30 (3rd) 35 (3rd) 40 (2nd) Lost DNQ DNQ Tasman 5 (2nd) 9 (4th) 14 (4th) 19 (3rd) 23 (3rd) 28 (2nd) 32 (2nd) 37 (1st) 38 (3rd) Lost DNQ DNQ Waikato 0 (13th) 5 (8th) 6 (9th) 16 (5th) 17 (6th) 22 (5th) 23 (7th) 28 (6th) 28 (7th) Won Lost DNQ Wellington 5 (6th) 10 (3rd) 15 (3rd) 20 (2nd) 30 (1st) 30 (1st) 35 (1st) 35 (2nd) 40 (1st) Won Won Won Key: Win Draw Loss No game DNQ = did not qualify
Regular season In the regular season of the 2024 Bunnings NPC, each team plays 10 games over a period of nine weeks, including one mid-week game. The competition started on 9 August 2024, when Taranaki beat Counties Manukau 31–15 in New Plymouth. The first Ranfurly Shield defence of the season took place on 17 August 2024, when Hawke's Bay beat Southland 31–17 in Napier.
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
Week 8
Week 9
Play-offs
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
FB 15Tjay Clarke RW 14Julian SaveaOC 13Peter Umaga-JensenIC 12Riley HigginsLW 11Losi FilipoFH 10Jackson Garden-Bachop SH 9 Kyle Preston N8 8 Brad ShieldsOF 7 Du'Plessis Kirifi (c)BF 6 Caleb DelanyRL 5 Akira Ieremia LL 4 Hugo Plummer TP 3 Siale Lauaki HK 2 Leni Apisai LP 1 Xavier Numia Replacements:HK 16Hika Elliot PR 17Yota Kamimori PR 18Bradley Crichton LK 19Filo Paulo FL 20Sione Halalilo SH 21Nui Muriwai FH 22Callum Harkin WG 23Stanley Solomon FB 15Cole Forbes RW 14Leroy CarterOC 13Emoni Narawa IC 12Willis HalaholoLW 11Reon Paul FH 10Kaleb TraskSH 9 Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi N8 8 Nikora BroughtonOF 7 Joe Johnston BF 6 Jacob Norris RL 5 Aisake Vakasiuola LL 4 Naitoa Ah KuoiTP 3 Benet Kumeroa HK 2 Kurt Eklund (c) LP 1 Aidan Ross Replacements:HK 16Taine Kolose PR 17Josh Bartlett PR 18Filipe Vakasiuola LK 19Kalin Felise FL 20Semisi Paea FH 21Lucas Cashmore CE 22Fehi Fineanganofo WG 23Cody Vai
Statistics Leading point scorers No. Player Team Points Average Details 1 Tane Edmed 137 13.70 4 , 39 , 13 , 0 2 Josh Jacomb 106 9.64 3 , 29 , 11 , 0 3 William Havili 104 11.56 0 , 25 , 17 , 1 4 Cam Millar 100 10.00 1 , 25 , 15 , 0 5 Jackson Garden-Bachop 77 7.00 1 , 21 , 10 , 0 6 Rivez Reihana 74 8.22 2 , 23 , 6 , 0 Kaleb Trask 74 8.22 0 , 28 , 6 , 0 8 AJ Alatimu 71 7.89 2 , 20 , 7 , 0 9 D'Angelo Leuila 61 7.63 6 , 11 , 3 , 0 10 Isaac Hutchinson 58 6.44 4 , 13 , 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 Kade Banks 10 1.11 2 Joe Johnston 8 0.67 Kyle Preston 8 0.62 Ricky Riccitelli 8 0.73 5 Tjay Clarke 7 0.58 Sofai Maka 7 1.00 Dallas McLeod 7 0.70 Kini Naholo 7 0.88 Ngane Punivai 7 0.64 10 9 players 6
Points by game Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Average Auckland 21 29 25 27 21 27 21 39 36 32 24 17 27 19 35 36 17 31 24 26 251 283 25.10 28.30 Bay of Plenty 36 21 44 31 24 20 26 31 15 34 68 14 33 20 25 30 53 13 26 24 350 238 35.00 23.80 Canterbury 34 21 7 22 27 21 21 27 21 46 34 16 41 29 36 28 19 65 36 19 276 294 27.60 29.40 Counties Manukau 15 31 31 44 20 26 3 48 36 33 25 14 45 17 28 36 51 12 45 26 299 287 29.90 28.70 Hawke's Bay 41 32 31 17 55 30 27 21 38 26 24 25 5 50 19 63 36 35 28 46 304 345 30.40 34.50 Manawatu 21 54 18 35 31 39 26 38 14 68 19 58 26 21 10 28 31 33 26 45 222 419 22.20 41.90 North Harbour 32 41 20 24 43 29 33 36 32 36 58 19 24 47 25 31 65 19 35 59 367 341 36.70 34.10 Northland 21 34 35 18 30 55 26 31 19 34 14 25 17 24 47 24 13 53 28 31 250 329 25.00 32.90 Otago 13 22 27 25 31 26 18 22 16 34 28 32 17 45 28 10 47 31 31 28 256 275 25.60 27.50 Southland 22 13 17 31 24 39 31 26 12 36 29 41 21 26 19 27 14 38 59 35 248 312 24.80 31.20 Taranaki 31 15 19 26 39 24 22 18 25 19 20 33 63 19 31 25 33 31 42 29 325 239 32.50 23.90 Tasman 54 21 22 7 48 3 34 15 25 24 28 15 27 25 31 47 31 17 29 42 329 216 32.90 21.60 Waikato 21 36 26 20 29 43 39 21 34 19 19 25 50 5 25 27 38 14 19 36 300 246 30.00 24.60 Wellington 29 21 26 19 39 31 46 21 36 12 32 28 15 28 30 25 12 51 46 28 311 264 31.10 26.40 Source: Bunnings NPC Fixtures and Results 2024
Tries by game Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Average Auckland 3 4 3 3 3 2 3 5 5 4 4 3 4 3 4 6 2 3 4 4 35 37 3.50 3.70 Bay of Plenty 5 3 6 4 4 2 4 4 2 4 10 2 5 3 3 4 8 2 4 4 51 32 5.10 3.20 Canterbury 6 3 1 1 2 3 2 4 3 6 4 1 6 4 6 4 3 9 6 3 39 38 3.90 3.80 Counties Manukau 2 5 4 6 2 4 0 7 5 5 4 2 7 2 4 6 6 2 7 4 41 43 4.10 4.30 Hawke's Bay 6 5 4 2 9 3 4 2 6 4 4 2 1 7 3 9 6 4 4 7 47 45 4.70 4.50 Manawatu 3 8 2 4 5 5 4 6 2 10 3 7 4 3 1 3 5 5 4 7 33 58 3.30 5.80 North Harbour 5 6 2 4 6 4 5 5 4 5 7 3 4 7 3 5 9 3 5 9 50 51 5.00 5.10 Northland 3 6 4 2 3 9 4 5 3 4 2 4 3 4 7 4 2 8 4 4 35 50 3.50 5.00 Otago 1 3 3 3 4 4 2 2 1 4 4 4 2 7 3 1 7 5 4 4 31 37 3.10 3.70 Southland 3 1 2 4 4 5 5 4 2 6 4 6 3 4 3 4 2 5 9 5 37 44 3.70 4.40 Taranaki 5 2 3 4 5 4 2 2 4 3 3 5 9 3 5 3 5 5 5 4 46 35 4.60 3.50 Tasman 8 3 1 1 7 0 4 2 2 4 4 2 3 3 5 7 3 2 4 5 41 29 4.10 2.90 Waikato 3 5 4 2 4 6 5 3 4 3 3 4 7 1 3 3 5 2 3 6 41 35 4.10 3.50 Wellington 4 3 4 3 5 5 6 3 6 2 4 4 2 4 4 3 2 6 7 4 44 37 4.40 3.70 For Against
Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).
Discipline