Bunnings NPC Round 7: Team Lists

Canterbury coach Marty Bourke used the word "flippant" this week, given high tackles are heavily punished with cards and suspensions at the international and Super Rugby levels, yet there is an apparent leniency at times during NPC matches. Arguably the worst high tackle to go unpunished was just last week, when Auckland wing AJ Lam knocked the…

Not that the arrival of four tasty quarterfinals is behind the peak in interest. No, that would be Hawke's Bay wrecking the Ranfurly Shield during an all-night party last weekend. Cue the glut of opportunists who had seldom thought of the competition this year, but couldn't miss the chance to draw their bows. Hawke's Bay boss Jay Campbell sure has…

It's certainly going to go down to the wire, given the final playoff seedings won't be clear until about 4pm on Sunday. That will be at the conclusion of the Bay of Plenty vs Tasman fixture in Tauranga, a tasty clash between the fifth-placed Steamers and third-placed Mako. As it stands, only unbeaten Wellington are locked into a playoff seed,…

Just two rounds remain before the ladder is hacked, leaving eight teams to contest quarterfinals and the remaining six to dissect failed campaigns. It's set to be an intriguing conclusion to the regular season, too. After all, not one team currently in the top-eight is locked into a spot, and it's going to be a squeeze for the final few playoff…

What a difference it makes when these provincial fixtures aren't played in vast and empty stadiums, as was the case when Canterbury played Taranaki in Rangiora, just north of Christchurch, this month. Some 6500 fans turned up, creating an atmosphere players raved about, and one you certainly didn't get when Canterbury played Auckland at a…

It sure doesn't look like more than a few teams are capable of doing so. And two of those teams - Canterbury and Tasman - had golden chances to do so but couldn't finish the job. The reigning champions and Ranfurly Shield holders have notched a team-record 18 straight wins, six of them this season. That leaves the Tamati Ellison-coached side atop…

The Lions have defended the Ranfurly Shield twice in the space of five days, leaving one final challenge - a return to Christchurch for a rematch of last year's NPC final on Sunday afternoon. Should the weary reigning champions repeat their 26-18 win last October, when they won their first championship since 2000, it will be some statement by the…

Coinciding with their'storm week', the Lions next have the prized possession on the line a mere four days later, when, on Wednesday night at Sky Stadium, they host a wounded Tasman side hunting their first-ever lift of the Log o' Wood. Southland, despite two plucky home performances to start the season, were never going to be considered serious…

Work is already going on in the background in regard to what the competition might look like in the future, but it would be naive to expect smooth and quick change. At least not unless NZR can come up with an attractive alternative to woo the provincial unions (PUs), the all-important stakeholders. You only have to look at how long the Silver Lake…

Parity. It's the most important ingredient if a competition is to be competitive. The flow on is fans will be more invested. That couldn't be more important this season, given New Zealand Rugby's premier men's domestic competition will overlap with the FIFA women's World Cup, the Rugby World Cup and the Cricket World Cup. Obviously, the NPC can't…

The NPC reaches the playoffs stage this weekend. Hayden Meikle checks out the four quarterfinals and makes some predictions. Albany, Friday, 7.05pm The oil: There seems little to separate the Battle of the Bridge teams, both of which finished with 6-4 records in the regular season. Harbour rides a three-game winning streak containing a bucketload…

The Hawke's Bay Magpies will have an afternoon playoff as they kick their 2022 Bunnings NPC rugby dream back into life with what is being called a revenge match against Wellington in the capital on Saturday. The match will start at 2.05pm at Sky Stadium (aka the Cake Tin), with still-raw memories of the Lions' 19-12 win in a successful Ranfurly…

OPINION: Waikato's Ranfurly Shield shocker in the capital looks like having far-reaching ramifications. In what shaped as a classic contest for the Log o' Wood, the defending champions failed to fire a shot in their 34-6 crushing in the first defence of Wellington's tenure on Saturday. And in coming up empty-handed, the path towards the silverware…

Having guaranteed the Ranfurly Shield can't be stolen off them for the remainder of the year, thanks to a convincing 34-6 win over Waikato in Wellington on Saturday, the men with the famous "spider'' emblem over their hearts will now go on the hunt for the NPC crown. First things first. Wellington deserves a sackful of praise for putting away…

In their 100th Shield match, Wellington captured the Log o' Wood for the first time since 2009, producing a gritty 19-12 win over Hawke's Bay in Napier on Saturday. It was just the second time the Lions have held the Shield since 1982. Sunday was 40 years to the day since Wellington lost the Shield to Canterbury in a 16-12 defeat at Athletic Park,…

OPINION: Hawke's Bay and the Ranfurly Shield go hand in hand these days. Not only are they two defences away from stashing the treasured Log o' Wood for a third straight summer, they're on the cusp of owning the second-longest Ranfurly Shield tenure of this century. Beating Wellington in Napier on Saturday night will do that, propelling them one…

The All Blacks selectors, Head Coach Ian Foster, Assistant Head Coach John Plumtree and former All Black Grant Fox, have named their squad for the 2021 edition of the Rugby Championship. The 36-strong squad is as follows: (Age, Sky Super Rugby club, provincial union and Test caps in brackets.

Usually, when Ranfurly Shield challenges crop up, the history gets rolled out. Tough battles which will forever be etched in memory. Auckland clashing with Canterbury in many, many grand encounters. Waikato winning against the odds and Wellington always coming up short. Well, this weekend when Otago heads to Taranaki to take on the new holder of…

Will their changed fortunes continue, should the old bonus point system be scratched, and what's wrong with Taranaki? They're just some of this week's talking points. Will Waikato's Shield tenure last just four days? Halfback Brad Weber owes Hawke's Bay the Ranfurly Shield, something he's regularly been reminded of the past three years. Weber…

It all comes down to the final round of the regular season with playoff spots yet to be decided in both the Odds and Evens conference of the Bunnings NPC. It's a similar tale in both conferences where five doesn't go into four. In the Odds conference, Counties Manukau and Southland are out of contention leaving one of either Hawke's Bay or Otago to…

After nine rounds of regular season action, just eight teams remain in the Bunnings NPC to contest the quarterfinals this weekend. Find your key match information and team lists below. NOTE: Teams are added as they are named. All matches are live on Sky Sport NZ. North Harbour v Auckland Friday 7 October 7.05pm, North Harbour Stadium, Albany The…

Domestic rugby season preparations are in full swing with the 2022 season draws announced for the Bunnings Warehouse NPC, Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) presented by Bunnings Warehouse and the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship. The new Bunnings Warehouse NPC format, featuring all 14 teams playing for one title for the first time since 2010, kicks…

Wellington got a second dose of good news after their Ranfurly Shield triumph over Hawke's Bay in Napier on Saturday when Bunnings NPC conference leader Waikato suffered an upset 20-27 loss to Otago in Dunedin. That pulled Waikato back to only a three-point lead in the Odds Conference while Wellington are in second place, on 28 points, three points…

It's crunch time in the Bunnings NPC with just four teams remaining to challenge for the title of 2022 champions. The first semifinal pits traditional rivals Wellington and Auckland against each other at Sky Stadium on Friday night. The action moves to the South Island on Saturday with Canterbury hosting the Bay of Plenty Steamers at Orangetheory…

Wellington, already having the Ranfurly Shield secure for the summer, face one last hurdle before claiming a home playoff in Bunnings NPC action next week. They need to beat Counties Manukau, who had their playoffs hopes dented by Southland in Invercargill on Sunday, the southern team acting as spoilers in taking a 30-26 win, their first of the…