The premier women’s provincial rugby competition is set to kick-off on Friday 9 August at Eden Park, with a Premiership clash between defending champions Auckland and Northland who were newly promoted to the division on the back of their 2023 Championship success.

Northland will also play for the first time in Kaitaia against Canterbury in round five, marking a significant moment for the team and the competition.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL DRAW

Waikato will get an opportunity to win the JJ Stewart Memorial Trophy when they meet with Canterbury in week two on Sunday August 18, Canterbury has held onto the trophy since 2017.

A local rivalry between Wellington and Manawatū will take place in week three, which also sees the men’s Bunnings Warehouse NPC match equivalent go head-to-head.

NZR Head of Women and Girls Community Rugby Emily Davidson said it’s impressive to see the competition go from strength to strength in players and fan base each year.

“We are seeing a growing interest in girls and women’s rugby, leading to an ongoing increase in player registrations across the country.

“The Farah Palmer Cup is essential to the continued momentum and growth of women’s rugby. It is an important part of the player pathway and showcases exceptional women doing what they love, all of which inspires their communities and future participation.

“With a full calendar for fans, we’re excited to see the support for women’s provincial rugby and look forward to bringing you big game day experiences,” Davidson said.

The Farah Palmer Cup presented by Bunnings Warehouse finals will see the Championship Final played on the weekend of September 21/22, while the Premiership Final will take place on the weekend of October 5/6.

All matches will be broadcast live on Sky Sport.

Farah Palmer Cup presented by Bunnings Warehouse teams:

Premiership 
Auckland
Bay of Plenty
Canterbury
Counties Manukau
Hawke’s Bay
Northland
Waikato

Championship
Manawatū
North Harbour
Otago
Taranaki
Tasman
Wellington

With thanks to New Zealand Rugby

Defending Premiership champions Canterbury will put the JJ Stewart Trophy on the line at Christchurch’s Rugby Park during the opening round of the 2023 Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) presented by Bunnings Warehouse.

The 2023 draw for New Zealand’s premier women’s provincial rugby competition has been released with the competition kicking off at the Regional Sports Park in Hastings where Hawke’s Bay will play Auckland on Saturday 15 July.

The Bunnings Warehouse FPC will take matches to three new venues in 2023. Waikato will play two Premiership home matches at St Paul’s Collegiate in Hamilton, while Northland will take their Week 5 Championship match against Taranaki to Kaikohe RFSC, and North Harbour will play their Week 6 match against Taranaki at Onewa Domain in Northcote.

To view the full draw for the 2023 Farah Palmer Cup presented by Bunnings Warehouse click here

“It’s great to be able to take FPC matches to some venues right in the heart of rugby communities,” New Zealand Rugby (NZR) General Manager Community Rugby Steve Lancaster said. “It’s still important for our players and fans to have big stadium experiences and those great grounds will continue to be utilised, but equally we’re looking forward to the atmosphere of some more personal venues with great rugby histories.”

Lancaster was looking forward to the FPC continuing its rapid rise in its quality and competitiveness in front of a growing fan base.

“We are seeing a surge in energy and momentum around women and girls’ rugby in the wake of the Rugby World Cup and increasing player numbers and we’re looking forward to new and old fans brining that enthusiasm and passion to our venues in 2023. The quality of athletes coming into the competition continues to be impressive and we have an increasing number of players with professional experience now able to pass on their expertise.”

The opening round JJ Stewart Trophy challenge match is the first of three scheduled at Rugby Park during the 2023 FPC Premiership draw with the others being against Bay of Plenty in Week 3 and Counties Manukau in Week 6.

There are 36 FPC round-robin matches across the Premiership and Championship divisions of the FPC during a seven-week regular season which features family friendly afternoon kick off times, with all but two 5:05pm Friday matches to be played on Saturday or Sunday, and every match televised on Sky Sport.

The seven-team Bunnings Warehouse FPC Premiership title will be contested by Hawke’s Bay, Auckland, Canterbury, Wellington, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Counties Manukau with a six-week round robin followed by semi-finals and a final.

The six-team Bunnings Warehouse FPC Championship title will be contested by Tasman, Otago, Taranaki, Manawatū, North Harbour and Northland with a five-week round robin followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final. The format will see the top two teams after the round robin advance to the semi-finals and the bottom four play off in the quarterfinals (3 v 6, 4 v 5) with the two winners advancing to the semi-finals.

With thanks to NZ Rugby

NZR General Manager Community Rugby Steve Lancaster said: “Rugby has understandably taken a back seat to the situation people in Nelson are facing due to the extreme weather in the Tasman region. Trafalgar Park is being used by Civil Defence as an emergency facility and our efforts to shift the match to another venue have been unsuccessful, so the call has been made, in consultation with the Tasman and Hawke’s Bay unions, to cancel the match.”

Road closures had made it impossible to get to other suitable venues in the region, while flights were not available to fly the Tasman squad to Hawke’s Bay, Lancaster said.

“We also considered rescheduling the match, but after confirming the result would not affect either team’s chances of making the playoffs, both unions agreed cancellation was the appropriate course of action.”

Tasman and Hawke’s Bay will both be awarded two competition points.

The remainder of Round 6 of the Farah Palmer Cup presented by Bunnings Warehouse will continue with the feature match being a double-header at Orangetheory Stadium in Christchurch where Canterbury and the Manawatū Cyclones, at 4.35pm, will be the opening act for the Black Ferns O’Reilly Cup Test against Australia at 7.05pm.

The Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship also kicks off on Saturday while the Bunnings Warehouse NPC moves into Round 3.

Buller and Mid Canterbury kick off the 2022 Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship at Victoria Square in Westport as the 12 competing Provincial Unions begin their quest to lift the Meads Cup or Lochore Cup.

Five of the six first round matches will be played at 2.30pm on Saturday with the South Canterbury v Thames Valley match at Temuka Domain, Live on Sky and Prime TV. The only Sunday fixture of Round 1, between Wairarapa Bush and North Otago will also be broadcast live, on Sky at 7.05pm.

Round 3 of Bunnings Warehouse NPC will feature 14 current All Blacks who have been released to play for their Provincial Unions with the Counties-Manukau trio of Dalton Papalii, Hoskins Sotutu and Nepo Laulala in action for the first match of the round at Navigation Homes Stadium in Pukekohe tonight (Friday, 19 August) against Waikato.

Bunnings Warehouse NPC Round 3: 

For Match Officials in Round 3 of Bunnings Warehouse NPC, click here and for up-to-date media information across the season head to: Bunnings NPC Media Information » Provincial Rugby

FPC presented by Bunnings Warehouse Round 6: 

See below for Match Official appointments for Round 6 of the FPC presented by Bunnings Warehouse and for up-to-date media information across the season head to: Media Information » Provincial Rugby

With thanks to New Zealand Rugby

Canadian lock Cindy Nelles was the hero for the home team, crashing over the line for her team’s only try in the last play of the game.

It is Canterbury’s fourth consecutive title, the team going through the past two seasons undefeated.

Barely anything could separate the teams in the first half as the visiting Waikato side were suffocating on defence and preventing Canterbury from taking advantage of their long spells of territory and possession.

The home team did take a 3-0 lead into half time, but a converted try by Waikato flanker Kennedy Simon got her team in front in the 64th minute.

Canterbury were relentless and capitalised on a late penalty to surge at the line and seal the Farah Palmer Cup title.

New Zealand Rugby’s Head of Women’s Rugby Cate Sexton congratulated Canterbury on their unbeaten season.

“Canterbury have set the benchmark in recent seasons and continued to do so in 2020 so it is fitting to see them lift the title.

“Blair Baxter and his coaching team have done a phenomenal job and it is great to have a number of their players acknowledged with selection in next week’s Possibles v Probables trial.

“Congratulations also to Waikato for their success this season, they emerged from a challenging North Pool and have played some fantastic rugby.

“Lastly, I want to pay credit to the efforts of all teams in what has been a challenging year, but the final product saw some of the best Farah Palmer Cup action in recent times,” said Sexton.

Canterbury 8 (C Nelles try, K Cocksedge pen)
Waikato 7 (K Simon try, C Alley con)

The new draw pushes the competition start-date out two weeks, but still allows for teams to complete a full schedule of matches with the final to be played on the last weekend of October.

NZR’s Head of Women’s Rugby Cate Sexton said it was pleasing to have the updated draw confirmed so teams could adjust preparations, but stressed it was still dependent on Government announcements on Covid-19 levels.

“A number of options were presented to Provincial Unions and they worked collaboratively and promptly to agree on this outcome.

“This give our teams some certainty in the preparations over the next few weeks and, depending on what happens with Alert Levels, we hope the Auckland-based teams will be able to train together again soon,” said Sexton.

North Harbour, Auckland and Counties Manukau are currently unable to train under Covid-19 Level 3 restrictions, which are in place through to at least 26 August.

NZR continues to work with Provincial Unions on specific Covid-19 protocols and restrictions to ensure the competition can go ahead if some regions are in Level 2.

The 2020 FPC North Pool will now kick off with Waikato hosting Northland, Counties Manukau and North Harbour doing battle in Pukekohe and Auckland traveling south to Taranaki. The South Pool will kick off the following weekend.

Canterbury, the current FPC champions and holders of the JJ Stewart Trophy, will start their season in Palmerston North against Manawatu.

You can find the full draw here.

Fans will be treated to some thrilling action with leading Black Ferns and Black Ferns Sevens players representing their Provincial Unions across 39 matches, kicking off on Saturday 22 August.

Champions, Canterbury, will be aiming for a fourth consecutive title while Auckland Storm and Waikato can expect a big occasion when they meet in week two, opening a blockbuster rugby event at Eden Park before the North v South match.

New Zealand Rugby’s Head of Women’s Rugby Cate Sexton said Provincial Unions are well under way in their preparation for what promises to be an exciting season.

“There is a lot on the line this season because the level of competition continues to grow, and players will be eager to impress. The allure of a black jersey, with the World Cup at home next year will no doubt bring the best out of players and teams,” said Sexton.

The Farah Palmer Cup will be played in two pools split geographically with Northland, North Harbour, Auckland, Counties Manukau, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki making up the seven-team North pool.

Last year’s beaten finalists Auckland Storm, and perennial top performers Counties Manukau are likely to lead the charge in the North Pool, with several teams to be boosted by the inclusion of top sevens stars.

Portia Woodman and Tyla Nathan-Wong will join the Northland Kauri, Sarah Hirini will don the green strip of the Manawatu Cyclones while Ruby Tui will be eying up a debut for the Auckland Storm.

The South pool will start on Saturday 5 September with Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Tasman and Otago joining reigning champions Canterbury.

Otago, winners of last year’s Championship division, will look to continue their impressive 2019 form, getting the chance to face competition heavyweights Canterbury and Wellington in round robin.

Canterbury will have to defend the JJ Stewart Trophy against Tasman, Otago and Wellington in their three home fixtures.

The top two teams from each pool take part in crossover semi-finals and the Final will be held a week later on 17 October.

At least 16 matches are set to be broadcast live on Sky Sports during round robin and a weekly highlights show will make sure fans can be across all the best action.

Click here to see the 2020 Farah Palmer Cup draw.