The National Provincial Championship (NPC),known for sponsorship reasons as the Bunnings NPC,is a professional rugby union competition for New Zealand provincial unions consisting of 14 teams,divided equally between the Premiership Division and the Championship Division. The NPC remains the second highest level of professional rugby union in New Zealand,after Super Rugby. The NPC's 11-week regular and finals season runs from two weeks after Super Rugby ends to the third week after Labour Day,with each team playing 10 games and having one week playing twice. Following the conclusion of the regular season,four teams from each division advance to their respective play-offs,a single-elimination tournament of semi-finals and final.
Jeffrey William Wilson is a New Zealand sportsman who has represented his country in both rugby union and cricket –a so-called "Double All Black",an increasingly rare achievement in the professional era. He is also a basketballer,and won national secondary school titles in track and field. With 44 tries in 60 tests,Wilson is ranked twelfth on the list of highest test try scorers in rugby. Wilson is married to Adine Wilson,former captain of the New Zealand netball team.
Richard Hugh McCaw is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team,the All Blacks,in 110 out of his 148 test matches,and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugby player of the year award a joint record three times and was the most capped test rugby player of all time from August 2015 to October 2020. McCaw was awarded World Rugby player of the decade (2011–2020) in 2021. Richie is also the winner for New Zealand sportsman of the decade award,the highest sporting honor a sports individual can achieve in New Zealand.
Sir Wilson James Whineray was a New Zealand business executive and rugby union player. He was the longest-serving captain of the national rugby union team,the All Blacks,until surpassed by Richie McCaw in 2014. Rugby writer Terry McLean considered him the All Blacks' greatest captain.
Sir Michael Niko Jones is a New Zealand former rugby union player and coach. He was named by Rugby World magazine as the third best All Black of the 20th century after Colin Meads and Sean Fitzpatrick. John Hart,who first selected him for Auckland,called him "almost the perfect rugby player".
Justin Warren Marshall is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played 81 games for the New Zealand All Blacks between 1995 and 2005.
Daniel William Carter is a retired New Zealand rugby union player.
Sonny William Williams is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer,and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player. He is only the second person to represent New Zealand in rugby union after first playing for the country in rugby league,and is one of only 21 players to have won the Rugby World Cup twice.
Bradley Carnegie Thorn is a rugby union coach and former rugby league and rugby union player. Born in New Zealand,he represented Australia in rugby league and New Zealand in rugby union in a 22-season career as a player. He is currently the head coach of the Queensland Reds.
Robert Charles Stuart was a New Zealand rugby union player and administrator. He was given a lifetime service award by the International Rugby Board immediately after the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
The Tasman Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere,a bay at the north end of the South Island in New Zealand. Headquartered in Nelson,TRU is New Zealand's newest provincial union,founded in 2006 with the amalgamation of the existing Marlborough and Nelson Bays sub unions.
Patrick Richard Lam is a rugby union coach and former player. He is currently Director of Rugby at Bristol Bears in England's Premiership Rugby.
Peter Robert Tyler Thorburn was a New Zealand rugby union player and coach. He played his entire career as a number eight for Auckland from 1965 to 1970. He became a coach after his playing career ended,coaching domestically at first for North Harbour and the New Zealand national rugby sevens team. He later coached in England with Bristol Rugby from 2001 to 2003,before becoming interim head coach of the United States national rugby union team and guiding the side to the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He was also a selector for the All Blacks.
Samuel Lawrence Whitelock is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a lock for the Crusaders in Super Rugby in New Zealand. Whitelock has captained the Crusaders and All Blacks in five international games,having earned selection for New Zealand through playing in the Mitre 10 Cup for Canterbury.
David Lory Blanchard was a New Zealand rugby union and professional rugby league football player who played representative rugby league (RL) for New Zealand in the 1954 World Cup and coached them at the 1970 World Cup.
Luke Charles Whitelock is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a loose forward for Canterbury in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the Highlanders in the international Super Rugby competition.
Daniel Lienert-Brown is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a loosehead prop for Canterbury in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the Highlanders in the international Super Rugby competition.
Kendra Margaret Cocksedge is a New Zealand rugby union player and cricketer. She plays for the New Zealand women's national rugby union side,the Black Ferns and for Canterbury provincially. She was a member of the 2010 and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup winning squads. In 2018 she won the Kelvin R Tremain Memorial Player of the Year Award at the annual New Zealand Rugby awards.
Alexander T O A. Hodgman is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a prop for Auckland in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the Blues in the international Super Rugby competition.
Yoshihiro Sakata (坂田好弘) is a rugby union official and former player who gained sixteen full international caps with the Japan national rugby union team 1967–1973. He played as wing for Kintetsu and Canterbury RFU and was nicknamed Demi Sakata. He was the first Japanese player to be inducted into the International Rugby Board Hall of Fame.
