The National Provincial Championship, often simply called the NPC, is an annual round-robin rugby union competition in men's domestic New Zealand rugby. First played during the 2006 season, it is the second highest level of competition in New Zealand alongside the Ranfurly Shield. It is organised by New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and since 2021, it has been known as the Bunnings NPC after its headline sponsor. A concurrent women's tournament is also held, the Farah Palmer Cup.
The North Harbour Rugby Union (NHRU), commonly known as North Harbour or simply Harbour, is the governing body of rugby union that encompasses a wide geographical area north of Auckland that includes North Shore City, Rodney District, the Hibiscus Coast and part of Waitakere City. There are 12 rugby clubs from Mahurangi RFC, based in Warkworth, Rodney District, in the north through to Massey the southernmost area of the union.
The Canterbury Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in a portion of the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Its colours are red and black in a hooped design. The CRFU govern the running of the Canterbury representative team which have won New Zealand's first-tier domestic competition National Provincial Championship 14 times including a "six-peat" from 2008 to 2013 – with five in the National Provincial Championship, two in the Air New Zealand Cup, five in the ITM Cup and one in the Mitre 10 Cup. Their most recent victory was the 2017 Mitre 10 Cup. Canterbury also acts as a primary feeder to the Crusaders, who play in the Super Rugby competition.
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.
The Otago Rugby Football Union is the official governing body of rugby union for the Otago region of New Zealand. The union is based in the city of Dunedin, and its home ground is Forsyth Barr Stadium. The top representative team competes in the ITM Cup, New Zealand's top provincial competition. The union was to have been liquidated in March 2012. However a deal involving the Dunedin City Council allowed it to keep operating. Otago have won the Ranfurly Shield on seven occasions. They were the National provincial championship winners in 1991 and 1998. They have a proud record playing international teams, having defeated South Africa and the British and Irish Lions.
The Waikato Rugby Union (WRU) is the official governing body of rugby union in the Waikato area in the North Island of New Zealand. Headquartered in Hamilton, WRU was founded in 1921.
The Cavaliers was an unofficial New Zealand rugby union team which toured South Africa in 1986. Because of the Apartheid policies of the South African government, the official New Zealand Rugby Union tour scheduled for 1985 was cancelled, and the Cavaliers tour was very controversial in New Zealand.
The 1972–73 New Zealand rugby union tour of the Britain, Ireland, France and North America was a collection of rugby union test match games undertaken by the All Blacks against England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France. The tour also took in several matches against British, Irish, French and North American club, county and invitational teams. This was the seventh tour of the Northern Hemisphere. It was also the first time the All Blacks lost to the invitational Barbarians team.
The 1953–54 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain, Ireland, France and North America was a rugby union tour undertaken by the New Zealand national team which toured Europe and North America. The team was captained by Bob Stuart.
The 2009 New Zealand National Rugby Sevens Tournament was held in Queenstown, New Zealand, between 10 and 11 January 2009. It was the 33rd edition of the New Zealand National Rugby Sevens Tournament and the sixth time that it was held in Queenstown.
The 2009 Air New Zealand Cup was a provincial rugby union competition in New Zealand, which was run as a round-robin tournament from 30 July to 25 October. There were 13 rounds where every team played each other once. The top four teams on the Air New Zealand Cup table advanced to the semi-finals, where they played for a chance in the Grand Final.
The 1963–64 New Zealand tour of Britain, Ireland and France was a rugby union tour undertaken by the New Zealand national rugby union team. The tour took in the five major Northern Hemisphere rugby nations of England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and France. The tour also took in matches against club opposition and invitational county teams, ending in Europe with an encounter with the Barbarians. The final two games of the tour were played in Canada.
The 2002 New Zealand rugby league season was the 95th season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the third season of the Bartercard Cup competition that was run by the New Zealand Rugby League. The Mt Albert Lions won the Cup by defeating the Hibiscus Coast Raiders 24–20 in the Grand Final.
The New Zealand rugby league season 2010 was the 103rd season of rugby league that was played in New Zealand. The main feature of the year was the new National Zonal competition run by the New Zealand Rugby League. The premier teams competed for the Albert Baskerville Trophy, which was won by Auckland when they defeated Counties Manukau 14 - 6 in the Grand Final.
The 1993 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain was a series of thirteen matches played by the New Zealand national rugby union team in England, Scotland and Wales from October to December 1993. Twelve of the matches took place in England or Scotland with only the final match against the Barbarians being played in Wales. New Zealand won twelve of their thirteen games, losing only the international match against England – they won the other international against Scotland
The 1983 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain was a series of eight matches played by the New Zealand national rugby union team in Scotland and England in October and November 1983. New Zealand won five of their eight games, drew one and lost the other two. They won neither of the two international matches, drawing with Scotland and losing to England. In the non-international fixtures they also suffered a defeat by the English Midlands Division invitational team.
The 1981 New Zealand rugby union tour of Romania and France was a series of ten matches played by the New Zealand national rugby union team in Romania and France in October and November 1981. The All Blacks won eight of the ten games, including the international match against Romania and both internationals against France. The only team to defeat the All Blacks was a French regional selection, and the All Blacks were also held to a draw by another regional team.
The 1977 New Zealand rugby union tour of Italy and France was a series of nine matches played by the New Zealand national rugby union team in Italy and France in October and November 1977. The All Blacks won eight of their nine games, losing only the first of the two internationals against France.
The 1986 New Zealand Rugby Union tour of France was a series of eight matches played by the New Zealand national rugby union team in France in October and November 1986. The All Blacks won seven of their eight games, losing only the second of the two internationals against France.
The 1990 New Zealand rugby union tour of France was a series of matches played between October and November 1990 in France by New Zealand national rugby union team
