NPC 2025
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@KiwiMurph said in NPC 2025:
@Dan54 it's not rocket science. Games (especially day games) in the centres that don't have a Super Rugby base pull decent crowds - especially early in the comp when all teams seasons are alive.
Yep I realize that Kiwi M , I not knocking any other comp. merely saying that I think the crowds aren't bad. I genuinely think the feeling for grassroots type stuff doesn't get enough credit. What are do you live in? In the Naki, I genuinely feel at least as many people are more into NPC rugby. You can feel it just talking to people.
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@Dan54 much of has got to with whom your flagship team
In Southland , Ta$man,Hawkes Bay ,Taranaki,Bop,Manawatu and Northland it’s fair to say the rugby team is the flagship team for the province hence the locals get in behind their provincial colours
Not to mention they don’t get a lot of big super rugby games consistently
The recent NZ Māori game in Whangarei showed what sort of turnout you get
Same cant be said for some of the bigger regions that get a steady diet of Super rugby
Auckland is a tough sell at the minute up against the Warriors. -
@Steven-Harris said in NPC 2025:
@Dan54 much of has got to with whom your flagship team
In Southland , Ta$man,Hawkes Bay ,Taranaki,Bop,Manawatu and Northland it’s fair to say the rugby team is the flagship team for the province hence the locals get in behind their provincial colours
Not to mention they don’t get a lot of big super rugby games consistently
The recent NZ Māori game in Whangarei showed what sort of turnout you get
Same cant be said for some of the bigger regions that get a steady diet of Super rugby
Auckland is a tough sell at the minute up against the Warriors.The Wahs, Auckland FC, 2 Super Rugby sides so yeah, good luck to the Auckland NPC side. The Blues are finding it tough enough in this market let alone anything below, something people south of the Bombay hills wouldn't understand.
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@Steven-Harris said in NPC 2025:
@Dan54 much of has got to with whom your flagship team
In Southland , Ta$man,Hawkes Bay ,Taranaki,Bop,Manawatu and Northland it’s fair to say the rugby team is the flagship team for the province hence the locals get in behind their provincial colours
Not to mention they don’t get a lot of big super rugby games consistently
The recent NZ Māori game in Whangarei showed what sort of turnout you get
Same cant be said for some of the bigger regions that get a steady diet of Super rugby
Auckland is a tough sell at the minute up against the Warriors.Yep and understand that, not knocking those areas etc, all I saying is NPC is alive and well.
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@SouthernMann said in NPC 2025:
Was interested looking at crowds on weekend, seemd to be pretty healthy, looked very good at Southland, we had a pretty good one at the Naki and looked goodat BOP etc. Just got methinking about the comments we have on crowds at NPC, I reckon probably you add all the crowds together for the weekend, it would equal or probably better the number that would attend Super rugby on a weekend in NZ. Probably better most test crowds too.
Not saying it means a hell of a lot, except that interest seems to be there. I do know at Gold club , there what (I consider the ) the non rugby fellas, all seem to discuss the NPC games (obviously the Nakis) more than super games , and probably as much as test matches.Let's judge the crowds in week six.
Yeah, I reckon if you added up all numbers from this round, it might equal the Blues opening match only. Smaller stadiums tend to make the crowds look larger. Auckland needs to follow Wellingtons lead in that regard.
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@WoodysRFC said in NPC 2025:
@SouthernMann said in NPC 2025:
Was interested looking at crowds on weekend, seemd to be pretty healthy, looked very good at Southland, we had a pretty good one at the Naki and looked goodat BOP etc. Just got methinking about the comments we have on crowds at NPC, I reckon probably you add all the crowds together for the weekend, it would equal or probably better the number that would attend Super rugby on a weekend in NZ. Probably better most test crowds too.
Not saying it means a hell of a lot, except that interest seems to be there. I do know at Gold club , there what (I consider the ) the non rugby fellas, all seem to discuss the NPC games (obviously the Nakis) more than super games , and probably as much as test matches.Let's judge the crowds in week six.
Yeah, I reckon if you added up all numbers from this round, it might equal the Blues opening match only. Smaller stadiums tend to make the crowds look larger. Auckland needs to follow Wellingtons lead in that regard.
Not sure there's a realistic alternative stadium. ??
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Not sure there's a realistic alternative stadium. ??
Auckland played Waikato in Papakura in 2023, and will host a game at Auckland Grammar again this year.
Yeah I like those, but they work for day time games though.
And that's the problem I mentioned earlier. A lack of adequate lighting in smaller grounds. The afternoon games should be shared around the PUs.
A couple of people have told me that Waikato might be looking to play home games at Marist Park. It has lights, but is an artificial surface.
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Yep Bov, like the idea of games getting shared around, until it's my team , The Naki! Although if they shared them around , it would be great not to have to drive for an hour to New Plymouth, but I wouldn't have my seat in grandstand etc, and I think the membership would be a thing of the past. Also I think the corporate boxes etc may not be a thing. So I see both sides.
I'm in my 70s now, and I can tell you it get's reasonably tiring at this age stnding on sidelines, although I do it at club stuff. And I noticed when Naki ahd a great day at Manaia with preseason shield challenge it a real problem for a lot to see when standing, my wife whi is only 5 ft wouldn't be able to go etc. -
Watching the NPC, it quickly becomes apparent that the playing styles of the Super Rugby teams and their linked NPC unions within their so-called “feeder areas” (not my term: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Rugby_franchise_areas) don’t always look particularly aligned. This perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise with the recent reports on the many tensions between the Super Rugby franchises and the provincial unions, with NZR seemingly hellbent on gradually pushing the NPC out of its development pyramid:
And yet, it is interesting how those tensions are becoming increasingly visible on the field as well, with some NPC teams going in clearly different strategic directions than their Super Rugby parent clubs.
Contrasting playing philosophies
The best example of this contrast between NPC and SR in 2025 is probably the game plan of Auckland, which revolves around playing with width and moving the ball on attack, looking to make use of their speedy backs out wide. This is pretty much diametrically opposed to how the Blues played in both 2024 and 2025 under the coaching of Vern Cotter: of all the SR teams, they ranked last in both playing the ball wider than 1st (14.6%; comp. avg.: 23.6%) and 2nd (5.0%; comp. avg.: 8.9%) receiver, as well as being the bottom team for total average pass attempts (135 per game; comp. avg.: 162.2 per game). In their game against Canterbury, Auckland have already surpassed the Blues’ highest passing game of 2025 (186 passes against the Crusaders in Round 6), throwing 206 passes in the 19-15 loss.Taylah Johnson’s remark after Vai’s second try, which came after some silky but risky transfers out wide by both Taele and Simpson – “This is the kind of Auckland rugby phase play that we like to see” – perhaps more telling than she intended, if viewed from the stylistic and institutional tensions between the Blues and their biggest provincial union.
Is this also the kind of Auckland rugby phase play that Vern Cotter likes to see? I’m not too sure
Selection issues
The misalignment between Super Rugby and NPC teams isn’t just limited to playing philosophies but to those around selection as well. The Highlanders, for example, have struggled in deciding the makeup of their loose forward trio, with players shifting around throughout the 2025 season.
There were only three loose forward combinations which made more than one appearance: the Withy (6) – Lasaqa (7) – Broughton (8) combo (2 apps.), the Howden (6) – Withy (7) – Stodart (8) combo (2 apps.) and the Howden (6) – Lasaqa (7) – Withy (8) combo (5 apps.). The latter combo seemed to be firmly favoured near the end of the season, which coincided with a series of good performances against the Hurricanes (Rd. 14) and Crusaders (Rd. 15) especially.
Whether the combination will eventually flourish in Super Rugby will mostly depend on whether Sean Withy can find his feet at the back of the scrum. A classical, rugged flanker, Withy didn’t always look comfortable with the typical demands of the 8-position, but showed increasing signs of attacking involvements in the final games.
If the Highlanders were to persist with this combination for the 2026 season, an NPC season at number 8 for Withy would accelerate his familiarity with the role. And yet, the misalignment between SR and NPC quickly rears its head here, once again: the Southland Stags have a much more classical number 8 on their books – Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa – which means that Withy’s momentum and development at the back of the scrum is, once again, halted until the new Highlanders season. And by the time this season comes around, he might already be surpassed by players who do rack up experience at number 8 in the NPC, like Nikora Broughton and Hugh Renton.
Many other players are in the same boat: Dalton Papali’i plays at blindside for Counties Manukau and Anton Segner at openside for Auckland, yet they reverse their jersey-numbers when they’re at the Blues; Xavi Taele has played exclusively at 12 for the Blues up to this point but lines up at 13 for Auckland; Kaylum Boshier is one of Taranaki’s finest players at number 8 yet was only used (as a starter) at openside for the Chiefs; Siale Lauaki, one of the most promising props in the country, is being redeveloped into a loosehead prop by the Hurricanes (he even played loosehead in club rugby for Norths), yet the Wellington Lions continue to use him exclusively as a tighthead. There are plenty more examples like these.
At a certain point, it looks like the unions and SR teams aren’t just not aligned but are at times actively working against each other, each side seemingly entrenched in their way of viewing things with little appetite for a shared strategic plan.
Some signs of (intentional and unintentional) alignment
Then again, there are also signs that not all unions are completely at odds with their associated SR teams. Last season, Otago had the 2nd most dominant tackles in the competition with 126, with only Wellington making more. This season, Otago are once again in the top echelon of dominant tacklers and are joined, furthermore, by the Southland Stags. It looks to be part of a broader Highlanders strategy for becoming a defensive powerhouse. Last year, the Landers already led Super Rugby Pacific in dominant tackles per game (12.9, Opta) and with the appointment of David Kidwell as defence coach, the region seems to be trying to cement being a dominant defensive side as a central rugby identity. And while I can’t say this with any certainty, it does look as if a shared framework between Highlanders, Otago and Southland represents an important part of this burgeoning identity.There are other examples of alignment, but of a more unintentional kind. While the Hurricanes and their provincial unions seem to have their differences in terms of player positioning and selection, as far as playing style is concerned there seems to be a considerable harmony across the different teams. But this harmony seems less rooted in any sort of preconceived strategy than in the historical rugby culture and identity of the region, which is based around attacking rugby, beating your defender and keeping the ball alive.
The Hurricanes in 2025 were a side who liked to use the width of the field to attack, with only the Drua going to the openside more than the Canes. They were competition leaders in offloads and in defenders beaten as well, averaging 9.5 offloads while beating nearly 30 defenders per game for a tackle evasion percentage of 22% (Opta).
Attacking stats per 80min for the 2025 HurricanesThe Hurricanes provinces – Hawke’s Bay, Manawatū, Wellington – have shown a remarkable consistency in style of play across the first two rounds of the NPC, with both Wellington and Hawke’s Bay offloading more than any other teams in the comp, while only Waikato have beaten more defenders than Wellington (60).
Attacking stats per 80min for the 3 Hurricanes’ provincesThe averages across the provincial unions within the Hurricanes’ franchise area indicate that, even if there are tensions between the SR team and the NPC teams, there does seem to be a shared culture which transcends the immediate tensions between the teams. It is a further symbol of the fact that, while there’s a degree of artificiality surrounding the Super Rugby teams, most of them do contain thorough cultural traces of their respective areas.
But it will only benefit all parties if these historical traces are further cultivated and grown through actual, everyday collaboration. It’s clear that there are still many shoots of potential further professional growth in New Zealand’s rugby landscape but perhaps not that much desire nor diplomatic nous to actually make it happen.
Summary
The Men’s Pathways and Competitions (MPAC) report made clear that there’s a need and future for the NPC within the NZ Rugby structure. Still, the first signs on the field indicate that any sort of collaborative and shared rugby strategy is still largely lacking for most teams, the provincial unions seemingly left with a lot of autonomy in terms of playing strategy and player selection.And while there’s certainly a case to be made for the developmental benefit of different rugby environments and cultures, the structure has the unintentional downside of making it more difficult for those players who need consistent playing time in one position for their rugby development. Getting to grips with the nuances of a certain attacking system or the requirements of a new position can become exponentially harder when that player has to switch between environments as well as positions in the middle of his season.
A more thorough collaboration between SR teams and their respective provincial unions – in terms of playing identity, selection policy and individual player needs – would, I think, greatly benefit, not just the teams in Super Rugby and the NPC, but all levels of the game in New Zealand. But this requires rugby administrators of genuine vision and ability, making the search for the new NZR CEO all the more urgent and important.
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A more thorough collaboration between SR teams and their respective provincial unions – in terms of playing identity, selection policy and individual player needs – would, I think, greatly benefit, not just the teams in Super Rugby and the NPC, but all levels of the game in New Zealand. But this requires rugby administrators of genuine vision and ability, making the search for the new NZR CEO all the more urgent and important.
Yep, something I have been banging on about for a while, particularly when for the past 6 or 7 years we have had weaknesses (at 10's controlling a game, kicking) that it seems no one is addressing, the ame issues are present from the top down through NPC and I can only comment on club footy up here, but it is up here too, with the odd exception.
But I do like your thinking in terms of the franchise style of play being different, this will mean our players are exposed to differing styles more often, meaning better adaptibility as they move up the levels.
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