{"id":13874,"date":"2021-05-18T07:00:24","date_gmt":"2021-05-17T19:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/?p=13874"},"modified":"2021-05-18T14:19:39","modified_gmt":"2021-05-18T02:19:39","slug":"rugby-schedule-ahead-with-2021-domestic-rugby-draws-announced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2021\/05\/18\/rugby-schedule-ahead-with-2021-domestic-rugby-draws-announced\/","title":{"rendered":"RUGBY SCHEDULE AHEAD WITH 2021 DOMESTIC RUGBY DRAWS ANNOUNCED"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Rugby fans are in for an eventful provincial season with the 2021 draws announced for the Bunnings Warehouse sponsored National Provincial Championship (NPC), Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) and the Heartland Championship.<\/span><\/p>\n

The FPC presented by Bunnings Warehouse, New Zealand Rugby\u2019s (NZR) premier women\u2019s competition will kick off the provincial rugby season on Friday 16 July. The nine-week season will take on extra importance as players stake a claim for Black Ferns berths ahead of the much-anticipated Rugby World Cup 2021, delayed to 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following a nail-biting winner-takes-all final in 2020, the FPC presented by Bunnings Warehouse returns to the Premiership \u2013 Championship format this year, Canterbury kicking off their title defence against Counties Manukau.<\/span><\/p>\n

Restoring the NPC to its title, the Bunnings Warehouse NPC competition kicks off three weeks later on Friday 6 August. Auckland play long-standing rivals Canterbury at Eden Park, while down south Otago play regional neighbour Southland at Forsyth Bar Stadium.<\/span><\/p>\n

Traditional rugby rivalries between provinces will also be at their best during the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship, which makes a welcome return with teams hungry for the prestigious Meads Cup and Lochore Cup. The competition kicks off with a block-busting matchup between Whanganui and Horowhenua K\u0101piti.<\/span><\/p>\n

NZR General Manager Community Rugby, Steve Lancaster said the provincial competition unites rugby communities throughout New Zealand, and never more so than in the last year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing some strong increases in participation at the grassroots level this season, with junior and women\u2019s rugby numbers up and senior numbers rebounding to pre-Covid levels and better in some cases. Kiwis are showing genuine eagerness to return to the game and support local rugby.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship returning to the rugby calendar this year, following its cancellation in 2020, we\u2019re looking forward to a cracking provincial rugby season across all three of our national championships,\u201d said Lancaster.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"Farrah Palmer Cup presented by Bunnings Warehouse<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The FPC presented by Bunnings Warehouse, sees a seven-week round robin, with the top four teams in the respective Premiership and Championship divisions playing semi-finals 3 to 5 September. The following weekend will see the respective finalist teams play off for the Championship and Premiership titles.<\/span><\/p>\n

Premiership teams this season include Canterbury, Counties Manukau, Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Wellington, Otago and Waikato. The Championship teams are Manawat\u016b, Taranaki, Hawkes Bay, North Harbour, Northland, and Tasman.<\/span><\/p>\n

Defending champions Canterbury will look to continue their dominance by defending the JJ Stewart Trophy at home matches against Counties Manukau, Wellington and Bay of Plenty.<\/span><\/p>\n

Click here to view<\/a><\/strong> schedule for the FPC presented by Bunnings Warehouse<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Bunnings Warehouse NPC<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

After 10 weeks of round robin, the top four teams in the Premiership and Championship will progress to the semi-finals on 16 and 17 October, with the finals taking place the following weekend, 23 and 24 October.<\/span><\/p>\n

Defending champions Tasman will kick off their campaign against Bay of Plenty, while Ranfurly Shield holders Hawke\u2019s Bay will make their first defence of the famous log \u2018o wood with home matches against Otago, Waikato, North Harbour, Bay of Plenty and Tasman.<\/span><\/p>\n

Click here to view<\/a> <\/strong>schedule for the Bunnings Warehouse NPC<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship sees an eight-week round robin before the top eight teams play off for the Lochore Cup and Meads Cup. The finals will be played the following weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n

Defending Meads Cup Champions North Otago play South Canterbury (Lochore Cup holder 2019) in Round One in Oamuru.<\/span><\/p>\n

Click here to view<\/a><\/strong> the schedule for the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rugby fans are in for an eventful provincial season with the 2021 draws announced for the Bunnings Warehouse sponsored National Provincial Championship (NPC), Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) and the Heartland Championship. The FPC presented by Bunnings Warehouse, New Zealand Rugby\u2019s (NZR) premier women\u2019s competition will kick off the provincial rugby season on Friday 16 July….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"RUGBY SCHEDULE AHEAD WITH 2021 DOMESTIC RUGBY DRAWS ANNOUNCED.\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/wp.me\/p4wlzH-3BM\r\n\r\nRugby fans are in for an eventful provincial season with the 2021 draws announced for the Bunnings Warehouse sponsored National Provincial Championship (NPC), Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) and the Heartland Championship.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[35,4,34,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-farah-palmer-cup","category-heartland-championship","category-npc-national-provincial-championship","category-rugbyheartland-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/0001.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4wlzH-3BM","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13630,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2021\/04\/01\/new-name-for-npc-as-bunnings-warehouse-signs-three-year-partnership-with-new-zealand-rugby\/","url_meta":{"origin":13874,"position":0},"title":"New name for NPC as Bunnings Warehouse signs three-year partnership with New Zealand Rugby","author":"admin_hland","date":"April 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Bunnings Warehouse has secured naming rights for the NPC, FPC, Heartland Championships & Super Rugby Aotearoa U20s tournament. Farah Palmer Cup presented by Bunnings reverts to Premiership-Championship format. New Zealand Rugby and Bunnings Warehouse are excited to announce the signing of a game-changing three-year deal to sponsor domestic competitions and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bunnings FPC"","block_context":{"text":"Bunnings FPC","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/bunnings-fpc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/TrophiesWEB.jpg?fit=1100%2C430&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/TrophiesWEB.jpg?fit=1100%2C430&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/TrophiesWEB.jpg?fit=1100%2C430&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/TrophiesWEB.jpg?fit=1100%2C430&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/TrophiesWEB.jpg?fit=1100%2C430&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15940,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2022\/05\/18\/bunnings-warehouse-npc-fpc-and-heartland-championship-2022-draws-announced\/","url_meta":{"origin":13874,"position":1},"title":"Bunnings Warehouse NPC, FPC and Heartland Championship 2022 draws announced","author":"admin_hland","date":"May 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Image credit and caption: Getty Images, Farah Palmer Cup presented by Bunnings Warehouse Premiership 2021 Final - Canterbury v Waikato\u00a0 Domestic rugby season preparations are in full swing with the 2022 season draws announced for the Bunnings Warehouse NPC, Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) presented by Bunnings Warehouse and the Bunnings\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Farah Palmer Cup"","block_context":{"text":"Farah Palmer Cup","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/farah-palmer-cup\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/gtyu-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/gtyu-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/gtyu-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/gtyu-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/gtyu-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14598,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2021\/09\/10\/draws-confirmed-ahead-of-next-weekend-for-the-bunnings-warehouse-npc-and-heartland-championship\/","url_meta":{"origin":13874,"position":2},"title":"Draws confirmed ahead of next weekend for the Bunnings Warehouse NPC and Heartland Championship","author":"admin_hland","date":"September 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Bunnings Warehouse NPC will re-start in Hamilton and the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship season will belatedly kick off in Te Kuiti as provincial rugby resumes next weekend, New Zealand Rugby (NZR) announced today. NZR has released the revised draw for the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship season, which will kick-off\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "RugbyHeartland News"","block_context":{"text":"RugbyHeartland News","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/rugbyheartland-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/0001.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/0001.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/0001.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/0001.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14615,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2021\/09\/14\/rugby-in-auckland-remains-on-hold-two-weeks-of-bunnings-warehouse-npc-and-fpc-confirmed\/","url_meta":{"origin":13874,"position":3},"title":"Rugby in Auckland remains on hold, two weeks of Bunnings Warehouse NPC and FPC confirmed","author":"admin_hland","date":"September 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The Bunnings Warehouse NPC and Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) will continue without Counties Manukau, Auckland and North Harbour for the next two weeks, New Zealand Rugby (NZR) has announced today. NZR\u2019s decision follows the Government\u2019s announcement that Auckland will remain at COVID-19 Alert Level 4 until Tuesday\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Farah Palmer Cup"","block_context":{"text":"Farah Palmer Cup","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/farah-palmer-cup\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/photo-1524001430008-dcea34620d79.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/photo-1524001430008-dcea34620d79.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/photo-1524001430008-dcea34620d79.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/photo-1524001430008-dcea34620d79.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/photo-1524001430008-dcea34620d79.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14452,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2021\/08\/24\/all-rugby-postponed-or-cancelled-this-weekend-following-latest-covid-update\/","url_meta":{"origin":13874,"position":4},"title":"All rugby postponed or cancelled this weekend, following latest COVID update\u00a0","author":"admin_hland","date":"August 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"All rugby postponed or cancelled this weekend, following latest COVID update\u00a0 Bunnings Warehouse NPC, Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) and Heartland Championship matches, as well as all community and school rugby this weekend has once again, been cancelled or postponed\u00a0due to COVID-19 restrictions, New Zealand Rugby (NZR) has announced.\u00a0 The New\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Farah Palmer Cup"","block_context":{"text":"Farah Palmer Cup","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/farah-palmer-cup\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/232580246_5840957452646155_1094486536350302635_n.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/232580246_5840957452646155_1094486536350302635_n.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/232580246_5840957452646155_1094486536350302635_n.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/232580246_5840957452646155_1094486536350302635_n.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14421,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/2021\/08\/18\/all-rugby-in-new-zealand-this-weekend-cancelled-or-postponed\/","url_meta":{"origin":13874,"position":5},"title":"All rugby in New Zealand this weekend cancelled or postponed","author":"admin_hland","date":"August 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"All rugby in New Zealand this weekend cancelled or postponed Bunnings Warehouse NPC, Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) and Heartland Championship matches, as well as all community and school rugby this weekend has been cancelled or postponed, New Zealand Rugby (NZR) announced today. The next rounds of Bunnings Warehouse NPC, FPC\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Heartland Championship"","block_context":{"text":"Heartland Championship","link":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/category\/heartland-championship\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/232580246_5840957452646155_1094486536350302635_n.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/232580246_5840957452646155_1094486536350302635_n.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/232580246_5840957452646155_1094486536350302635_n.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/232580246_5840957452646155_1094486536350302635_n.jpg?fit=960%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13874"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13874\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13881,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13874\/revisions\/13881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyheartland.co.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}