1978 National Provincial Championship

The 1978 season was the third year of the National Provincial Championship (NPC), a provincial rugby union competition in New Zealand. Wellington were the winners of Division 1.

Division 1

Relegated to Division Two
Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Wellington 10 8 0 2 172 111 +61 16
2 Counties 10 7 0 3 167 110 +57 14
3 Canterbury 10 6 0 4 152 144 +8 12
4 Auckland 10 6 0 4 123 100 +23 12
5 North Auckland 10 6 0 4 129 137 −8 12
6 Manawatu 10 5 1 4 141 122 +19 11
7 Taranaki 10 4 2 4 156 129 +27 10
8 Southland 10 5 0 5 114 101 +13 10
9 Otago 10 3 1 6 115 164 −49 7
10 South Canterbury 10 2 1 7 92 150 −58 5
11 Hawke's Bay 10 0 1 9 68 161 −93 1

Results

June
5 June 1978
Counties 15–19 Wellington
[1]
Pukekohe Stadium, Pukekohe
14 June 1978
Hawke's Bay 4–9 Auckland
[1]
McLean Park, Napier
14 June 1978
Taranaki 17–17 Manawatu
[1]
Rugby Park, New Plymouth
21 June 1978
Counties 21–4 Manawatu
[1]
Pukekohe Stadium, Pukekohe
24 June 1978
Auckland 6–24 Manawatu
[1]
Eden Park, Auckland
July
1 July 1978
South Canterbury 7–26 Manawatu
[1]
Fraser Park, Timaru
5 July 1978
Otago 14–16 South Canterbury
[1]
Carisbrook, Dunedin
8 July 1978
Southland 14–6 South Canterbury
[1]
Rugby Park, Invercargill
15 July 1978
North Auckland 7–26 Counties
[1]
Okara Park, Whangārei
15 July 1978
South Canterbury 0–6 Southland
[1]
Fraser Park, Timaru
29 July 1978
Canterbury 23–0 Hawke's Bay
[1]
Lancaster Park, Christchurch
29 July 1978
Southland 6–7 Otago
[1]
Rugby Park, Invercargill
August
5 August 1978
North Auckland 12–3 Hawke's Bay
[1]
Okara Park, Whangārei
5 August 1978
Canterbury 18–7 South Canterbury
[1]
Lancaster Park, Christchurch
12 August 1978
South Canterbury 10–0 Taranaki
[1]
Fraser Park, Timaru
12 August 1978
Otago 9–14 Wellington
[1]
Carisbrook, Dunedin
16 August 1978
Otago 20–10 Hawke's Bay
[1]
Carisbrook, Dunedin
16 August 1978
Southland 16–7 Wellington
[1]
Rugby Park, Invercargill
19 August 1978
Taranaki 15–26 North Auckland
[1]
Rugby Park, New Plymouth
20 August 1978
Southland 15–7 Hawke's Bay
[1]
Rugby Park, Invercargill
23 August 1978
South Canterbury 6–10 North Auckland
[1]
Fraser Park, Timaru
26 August 1978
Wellington 22–10 North Auckland
[1]
Athletic Park, Wellington
27 August 1978
Taranaki 10–13 Auckland
[1]
Rugby Park, New Plymouth
30 August 1978
North Auckland 13–24 Auckland
[1]
Okara Park, Whangārei
30 August 1978
South Canterbury 3–21 Auckland
[1]
Fraser Park, Timaru
30 August 1978
Southland 13–10 Counties
[1]
Rugby Park, Invercargill
September
2 September 1978
Auckland 13–7 Canterbury
[1]
Eden Park, Auckland
2 September 1978
Hawke's Bay 17–17 Taranaki
[1]
McLean Park, Napier
2 September 1978
Manawatu 13–6 Wellington
[1]
Showgrounds Oval, Palmerston North
2 September 1978
Otago 9–19 Counties
[1]
Carisbrook, Dunedin
5 September 1978
Canterbury 6–21 Counties
[1]
Lancaster Park, Christchurch
6 September 1978
Wellington 26–10 South Canterbury
[1]
Athletic Park, Wellington
10 September 1978
Hawke's Bay 7–25 South Canterbury
[1]
McLean Park, Napier
10 September 1978
Taranaki 15–9 Southland
[1]
Rugby Park, New Plymouth
10 September 1978
Wellington 12–6 Auckland
[1]
Athletic Park, Wellington
10 September 1978
Canterbury 21–15 Otago
[1]
Lancaster Park, Christchurch
12 September 1978
Manawatu 10–12 North Auckland
[1]
Showgrounds Oval, Palmerston North
13 September 1978
Auckland 15–12 Southland
[1]
Eden Park, Auckland
13 September 1978
Counties 24–12 South Canterbury
[1]
Pukekohe Stadium, Pukekohe
13 September 1978
Taranaki 25–3 Otago
[1]
Rugby Park, New Plymouth
16 September 1978
Auckland 21–10 Otago
[1]
Eden Park, Auckland
16 September 1978
Manawatu 21–10 Hawke's Bay
[1]
Showgrounds Oval, Palmerston North
16 September 1978
Wellington 29–7 Canterbury
[1]
Athletic Park, Wellington
20 September 1978
North Auckland 26–10 Otago
[1]
Okara Park, Whangārei
20 September 1978
Counties 12–10 Auckland
[1]
Pukekohe Stadium, Pukekohe
23 September 1978
Hawke's Bay 7–8 Counties
[1]
McLean Park, Napier
24 September 1978
Wellington 19–15 Taranaki
[1]
Athletic Park, Wellington
24 September 1978
Canterbury 21–16 Southland
[1]
Lancaster Park, Christchurch
27 September 1978
Taranaki 26–10 Canterbury
[1]
Rugby Park, New Plymouth
27 September 1978
Otago 12–12 South Canterbury
[1]
Carisbrook, Dunedin
30 September 1978
Auckland 15–10 North Auckland
[1]
Eden Park, Auckland
30 September 1978
Counties 11–23 Taranaki
[1]
Pukekohe Stadium, Pukekohe
30 September 1978
Hawke's Bay 10–18 Wellington
[1]
McLean Park, Napier
30 September 1978
Manawatu 4–15 Canterbury
[1]
Showgrounds Oval, Palmerston North

Division 2 (North Island)

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Bay of Plenty 8 7 1 0 160 84 +76 14
2 Waikato 8 7 1 0 205 77 +128 14
3 Wanganui 8 6 2 0 117 71 +46 12
4 Poverty Bay 8 4 4 0 128 127 +1 8
5 Horowhenua 8 4 4 0 101 128 -27 8
6 Thames Valley 8 3 4 1 88 167 -79 7
7 Wairarapa Bush 8 2 6 0 108 105 +3 4
8 King Country 8 2 6 0 106 152 -46 4
9 East Coast 8 0 7 1 85 187 -102 1

Division 2 (South Island)

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts
1 Marlborough 5 5 0 0 124 33 +91 10
2 Nelson Bays 5 4 1 0 76 54 +22 8
3 Mid Canterbury 5 3 2 0 49 41 +8 6
4 North Otago 5 2 3 0 55 94 -39 4
5 Buller 5 1 4 0 53 81 -28 2
6 West Coast 5 0 5 0 27 81 -54 0

Promotion/Relegation

As the bottom-placed North Island team, Hawkes Bay were automatically relegated. The winners of Division Two North, Bay of Plenty, were automatically promoted to Division One.[2]

South Canterbury faced Division Two South winner Marlborough. The match was tied 10–10, which meant South Canterbury remained in Division One.

4 October 1978
South Canterbury 10–10 Marlborough
Try: Neville Richards
Con: Tony Kelly (0/1)
Pen: Tony Kelly (2/2)		[3]Try: lan McAlpine
Con: Steve Marfell (0/1)
Pen: Steve Marfell (2/3)
Fraser Park, Timaru

Ranfurly Shield

Manawatu began the season as holders having defeated Auckland in the 1976 season. In 1978, they defended the shield in four matches, extending their tenure to 13 successful defences before being defeated by North Auckland. North Auckland chose not to accept any more challenges in 1978 and thus held the shield for the summer.

Manawatu

  • beat West Coast 51–10
  • beat Horowhenua 42–14
  • beat Poverty Bay 24–0
  • beat Wellington 13–6
  • lost to North Auckland 10–12

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb Howitt 1978, pp. 83–85.
  2. ^ "Wgtn new rugby champion, Canty equal third". The Press. 2 October 1978. p. 36.
  3. ^ Howitt 1978, p. 85.

References

  • Howitt, Bob, ed. (1978). DB Rugby Annual 1978. Auckland: Moa. ISBN 0 908570 24 4.
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