2004 National Provincial Championship

The 2004 season was the 29th year of the National Provincial Championship (NPC), a provincial rugby union competition in New Zealand. Canterbury were the winners of Division 1, Nelson Bays were the winners of Division 2, and Poverty Bay were the winners of Division 3.

Division 1

Standings

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1 Wellington 9 7 1 1 313 154 +159 38 17 4 1 35
2 Canterbury 9 6 1 2 346 207 +139 40 25 4 2 32
3 Bay of Plenty 9 7 0 2 241 221 +20 25 25 3 1 32
4 Waikato 9 6 0 3 294 215 +79 37 22 5 1 30
5 Taranaki 9 6 0 3 332 257 +75 43 31 4 1 29
6 North Harbour 9 4 1 4 246 200 +46 28 23 5 4 27
7 Auckland 9 4 0 5 265 287 −22 34 34 5 3 24
8 Otago 9 2 1 6 183 261 −78 17 31 1 1 12
9 Southland 9 1 0 8 174 338 −164 21 40 1 0 5
10 Northland 9 0 0 9 182 436 −254 21 56 0 1 1

Results

Week 1

13 August 2004
Wellington34–27Canterbury
14 August 2004
Otago40–24Northland
14 August 2004
Taranaki33–29North Harbour
14 August 2004
Waikato52–23Southland
15 August 2004
Auckland (RS)28–33Bay of Plenty

Week 2

20 August 2004
Southland16–48Taranaki
21 August 2004
Canterbury43–43North Harbour
21 August 2004
Northland29–37Auckland
21 August 2004
Otago16–16Wellington
22 August 2004
Bay of Plenty (RS)26–20Waikato

Week 3

27 August 2004
Canterbury42–7Otago
28 August 2004
Waikato59–11Auckland
28 August 2004
Southland54–26Northland
28 August 2004
Taranaki58–14Bay of Plenty
29 August 2004
North Harbour16–18Wellington

Week 4

3 September 2004
Wellington37–17Waikato
4 September 2004
Auckland32–34North Harbour
4 September 2004
Otago27–10Southland
4 September 2004
Northland11–62Taranaki
5 September 2004
Bay of Plenty (RS)26–33Canterbury

Week 5

10 September 2004
North Harbour35–16Southland
11 September 2004
Bay of Plenty44–16Otago
11 September 2004
Waikato41–21Northland
11 September 2004
Wellington27–21Auckland
12 September 2004
Taranaki30–23Canterbury

Week 6

17 September 2004
Otago27–39Waikato
18 September 2004
Bay of Plenty17–13Wellington
18 September 2004
Auckland51–22Taranaki
18 September 2004
Canterbury (RS)52–13Southland
19 September 2004
Northland16–40North Harbour

Week 7

24 September 2004
Waikato15–30Canterbury
25 September 2004
Northland24–29Bay of Plenty
25 September 2004
Wellington73–28Taranaki
25 September 2004
North Harbour20–3Otago
26 September 2004
Southland22–30Auckland

Week 8

1 October 2004
Taranaki31–14Otago
2 October 2004
Wellington65–12Northland
2 October 2004
Bay of Plenty38–20Southland
2 October 2004
Auckland20–28Canterbury
3 October 2004
Waikato25–20North Harbour

Week 9

8 October 2004
Auckland35–33Otago
9 October 2004
Taranaki20–26Waikato
9 October 2004
Canterbury (RS)68–19Northland
9 October 2004
Southland0–30Wellington
10 October 2004
North Harbour9–14Bay of Plenty

Semi-finals

15 October 2004
Wellington28–16Waikato
16 October 2004
Canterbury44–12Bay of Plenty

Grand Final

23 October 2004
Wellington27–40Canterbury

Division 2

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1 Nelson Bays 8 7 1 0 270 145 +125 37 15 6 0 36
2 Hawke's Bay 8 7 0 1 383 127 +256 56 12 6 1 35
3 Counties Manukau 8 6 1 1 301 215 +86 39 28 5 0 31
4 North Otago 8 5 0 3 335 245 +90 45 33 5 1 26
5 Marlborough 8 3 0 5 206 233 −27 22 32 2 1 15
6 Manawatu 8 3 0 5 187 219 −32 24 32 2 0 14
7 Wanganui 8 3 0 5 193 227 −34 27 29 4 1 12*
8 East Coast 8 1 0 7 183 209 −26 24 26 1 3 7*
9 Thames Valley 8 0 0 8 72 510 −438 9 72 0 0 0
  • = Wanganui lost five points and East Coast lost one bonus point for player eligibility breaches, i.e. the points gained in the match where the breach took place.

Division 3

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD TF TA TB LB Pts
1 Poverty Bay 7 5 0 2 227 119 +108 30 14 5 2 27
2 Wairarapa Bush 7 5 1 1 176 120 +56 24 14 4 0 26
3 Mid Canterbury 7 5 0 2 185 126 +59 22 18 2 1 23
4 Horowhenua-Kapiti 7 4 1 2 209 171 +38 31 23 4 0 22
5 King Country 7 3 1 3 161 144 +17 20 18 1 1 16
6 South Canterbury 7 2 1 4 119 150 −31 15 19 1 1 12
7 West Coast 7 2 0 5 130 267 −137 18 37 2 0 10
8 Buller 7 0 0 7 92 202 −110 10 27 0 3 3

Ranfurly Shield

As the holders of the Ranfurly Shield from the end of 2003, Auckland began their defence of the shield against Poverty Bay in Auckland. Auckland won this match and made one more successful defence before losing to Bay of Plenty. Following their first ever Ranfurly Shield win, Bay of Plenty also won their first ever defence of the shield against Waikato before losing it to Canterbury, who made two successful defences to take the shield into the 2005 season.

Auckland (15th Ranfurly Shield reign)

  • 28 July 2004 – Auckland v Poverty Bay (won 116–3)
  • 1 August 2004 – Auckland v Counties Manukau (won 100–15)
  • 15 August 2004 – Auckland v Bay of Plenty (lost 28–33)

Bay of Plenty (1st Ranfurly Shield reign)

  • 22 August 2004 – Bay of Plenty v Waikato (won 26–20)
  • 5 September 2004 – Bay of Plenty v Canterbury (lost 26–33)

Canterbury (11th Ranfurly Shield reign)

  • 18 September 2004 – Canterbury v Southland (won 52–13)
  • 9 October 2004 – Canterbury v Northland (won 68–19)

References

  • "NPC Results 1976-2006". thesilverfern.co.nz. 12 May 2006. Archived from the original on 8 August 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  • The 2005 New Zealand Rugby Almanack, Edited by Clive Akers and Geoff Miller