2024 Bunnings NPC

2024 Bunnings NPC season
Countries	New Zealand
Date	9 August – 26 October 2024
Matches played	7
Tries scored	57 (average 8.1 per match)
Top point scorer	Josh Jacomb (Taranaki) 16 points
Top try scorer	Brodie McAlister (Canterbury) 3 tries
Official website
www.provincial.rugby
← 2023 2025 →

The 2024 Bunnings NPC season is the nineteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition, the National Provincial Championship, since it turned professional in 2006. It involves the top 14 provincial rugby unions of New Zealand. For sponsorship reasons, the competition is known as the Bunnings NPC. The regular season begins on 9 August 2024, when 2023 champions Taranaki host Counties Manukau. The final is scheduled for 26 October 2024.

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.^[1][2]

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.^[1][2] 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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[1]

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.^[1][2]

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 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 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.^[1]

The current standings for the 2024 Bunnings NPC season are:

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TB	LB	Pts	Qualification
1	Tasman	1	1	0	0	54	21	+33	8	3	1	0	5	Bunnings NPC quarter-finals
2	Taranaki	1	1	0	0	31	15	+16	5	2	1	0	5
3	Bay of Plenty	1	1	0	0	36	21	+15	5	3	1	0	5
4	Canterbury	1	1	0	0	34	21	+13	6	3	1	0	5
5	Hawke's Bay (RS)	1	1	0	0	41	32	+9	6	5	1	0	5
6	Wellington	1	1	0	0	29	21	+8	4	3	1	0	5
7	Southland	1	1	0	0	22	13	+9	3	1	0	0	4
8	North Harbour	1	0	0	1	32	41	−9	5	6	1	0	1
9	Auckland	1	0	0	1	21	29	−8	3	4	0	0	0
10	Otago	1	0	0	1	13	22	−9	1	3	0	0	0
11	Northland	1	0	0	1	21	34	−13	3	6	0	0	0
12	Waikato	1	0	0	1	21	36	−15	3	5	0	0	0
13	Counties Manukau	1	0	0	1	15	31	−16	2	5	0	0	0
14	Manawatu	1	0	0	1	21	54	−33	3	8	0	0	0

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	0 (9th)
Bay of Plenty	5 (3rd)
Canterbury	5 (4th)
Counties Manukau	0 (13th)
Hawke's Bay	5 (5th)
Manawatu	0 (14th)
North Harbour	1 (8th)
Northland	0 (11th)
Otago	0 (10th)
Southland	4 (7th)
Taranaki	5 (2nd)
Tasman	5 (1st)
Waikato	0 (12th)
Wellington	5 (6th)
Key:	Win	Draw	Loss	No game	DNQ = did not qualify

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 starts on 9 August 2024, when Taranaki hosts Counties Manukau in New Plymouth.^[3] The first Ranfurly Shield defence of the season will take place on 17 August 2024 when Hawke's Bay plays Southland in Napier.^[5]

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
	1
	8
	4
	5
	2
	7
	3
	6

No.	Player	Team	Points	Average	Details
1	Josh Jacomb	Taranaki	16	16.00	2 T, 3 C, 0 P, 0 D
2	Brodie McAlister	Canterbury	15	15.00	3 T, 0 C, 0 P, 0 D
3	William Havili	Tasman	12	12.00	0 T, 6 C, 0 P, 0 D
4	Brett Cameron	Manawatu	11	11.00	1 T, 3 C, 0 P, 0 D
	Kaleb Trask	Bay of Plenty	11	11.00	0 T, 4 C, 1 P, 0 D
6	6 players		10

Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).

No.	Player	Team	Tries	Average
1	Brodie McAlister	Canterbury	3	3.00
2	Kade Banks	North Harbour	2	2.00
	Ben Funnell	Canterbury	2	2.00
	Max Hicks	Tasman	2	2.00
	Josh Jacomb	Taranaki	2	2.00
	Joe Johnston	Bay of Plenty	2	2.00
	Kini Naholo	Taranaki	2	2.00
	Timoci Tavatavanawai	Tasman	2	2.00

Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).

Team	1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total		Average
Auckland	21	29																			21	29	21.00	29.00
Bay of Plenty	36	21																			36	21	36.00	21.00
Canterbury	34	21																			34	21	34.00	21.00
Counties Manukau	15	31																			15	31	15.00	31.00
Hawke's Bay	41	32																			41	32	41.00	32.00
Manawatu	21	54																			21	54	21.00	54.00
North Harbour	32	41																			32	41	32.00	41.00
Northland	21	34																			21	34	21.00	34.00
Otago	13	22																			13	22	13.00	22.00
Southland	22	13																			22	13	22.00	13.00
Taranaki	31	15																			31	15	31.00	15.00
Tasman	54	21																			54	21	54.00	21.00
Waikato	21	36																			21	36	21.00	36.00
Wellington	29	21																			29	21	29.00	21.00

Source: Bunnings NPC Fixtures and Results 2024^[3]

Team	1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total		Average
Auckland	3	4																			3	4	3.00	4.00
Bay of Plenty	5	3																			5	3	5.00	3.00
Canterbury	6	3																			6	3	6.00	3.00
Counties Manukau	2	5																			2	5	2.00	5.00
Hawke's Bay	6	5																			6	5	6.00	5.00
Manawatu	3	8																			3	8	3.00	8.00
North Harbour	5	6																			5	6	5.00	6.00
Northland	3	6																			3	6	3.00	6.00
Otago	1	3																			1	3	1.00	3.00
Southland	3	1																			3	1	3.00	1.00
Taranaki	5	2																			5	2	5.00	2.00
Tasman	8	3																			8	3	8.00	3.00
Waikato	3	5																			3	5	3.00	5.00
Wellington	4	3																			4	3	4.00	3.00

For

Against

Source: The weekly reviews of the matches published on provincial.rugby (see "Report" in the individual match scoring stats).

Player	Team	Red	Yellow	Sent off match(es)
Michael Bent	Taranaki	0	1	Week 1 (vs. Counties Manukau)
Liam Daniela	Counties Manukau	0	1	Week 1 (vs. Taranaki)

On 29 February 2024, the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union confirmed that 2023 Meads Cup winners South Canterbury and King Country were the Heartland Championship teams to challenge Hawke's Bay for the Ranfurly Shield in 2024.^[6] However, on 22 May 2024, it was announced that South Canterbury had withdrawn from its challenge for financial reasons and that Whanganui – the 2023 Heartland Championship runners-up – would take its place.^[7]

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