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Français (Afrique)All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has made a strong case for the National Provincial Championship to remain part of New Zealand’s rugby landscape.
The country’s rugby bosses are currently considering major changes to its domestic competitions. NZ Rugby held a meeting in Wellington last week to discuss three proposals for the future of the game.
A leaked confidential NZR document titled Rugby Summit – Men’s Elite Competition Possible Options outlines the proposals.
They include expanding Super Rugby with two additional teams, retaining the current Super Rugby and NPC structures while merging the Super Rugby clubs with the main provincial unions, or replacing both competitions with a new eight- to 10-team tournament.
Rennie, however, believes the NPC remains an important part of New Zealand rugby.
“I watched a huge amount of footy on the weekend, so I think it’s a great comp,” he told NewstalkZB. “It’s a part of our rugby fabric here.”
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Rennie highlighted the connection between provincial rugby and local communities, particularly in smaller unions.
“NPC rugby is tribal,” he said. “You’ve got people who, in some of those smaller unions, may not be massive supporters of Super Rugby because a lot of their players don’t get to maybe represent one team, they’re scattered a bit. Whereas they get a chance on the weekend to go down and watch players whose fathers and grandfathers have worn the jersey before.”
Rennie also stressed the NPC’s role in developing players for Super Rugby and, ultimately, the All Blacks.
“It’s a real point of difference from a World Rugby perspective; I reckon it’s the greatest provincial competition in the world, semi-pro basically now, and that feeds Super Rugby, which is important to then go on and feed your All Blacks,” he said. “So that’s massively important and needs to be maintained.”
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Photo: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images
The post Rennie: NPC massively important appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.