# 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
| Wellington | 34–27 | Canterbury |
* 14 August 2004
| Otago | 40–24 | Northland |
* 14 August 2004
| Taranaki | 33–29 | North Harbour |
* 14 August 2004
| Waikato | 52–23 | Southland |
* 15 August 2004
| Auckland (RS) | 28–33 | Bay of Plenty |

#### Week 2

* 20 August 2004
| Southland | 16–48 | Taranaki |
* 21 August 2004
| Canterbury | 43–43 | North Harbour |
* 21 August 2004
| Northland | 29–37 | Auckland |
* 21 August 2004
| Otago | 16–16 | Wellington |
* 22 August 2004
| Bay of Plenty (RS) | 26–20 | Waikato |

#### Week 3

* 27 August 2004
| Canterbury | 42–7 | Otago |
* 28 August 2004
| Waikato | 59–11 | Auckland |
* 28 August 2004
| Southland | 54–26 | Northland |
* 28 August 2004
| Taranaki | 58–14 | Bay of Plenty |
* 29 August 2004
| North Harbour | 16–18 | Wellington |

#### Week 4

* 3 September 2004
| Wellington | 37–17 | Waikato |
* 4 September 2004
| Auckland | 32–34 | North Harbour |
* 4 September 2004
| Otago | 27–10 | Southland |
* 4 September 2004
| Northland | 11–62 | Taranaki |
* 5 September 2004
| Bay of Plenty (RS) | 26–33 | Canterbury |

#### Week 5

* 10 September 2004
| North Harbour | 35–16 | Southland |
* 11 September 2004
| Bay of Plenty | 44–16 | Otago |
* 11 September 2004
| Waikato | 41–21 | Northland |
* 11 September 2004
| Wellington | 27–21 | Auckland |
* 12 September 2004
| Taranaki | 30–23 | Canterbury |

#### Week 6

* 17 September 2004
| Otago | 27–39 | Waikato |
* 18 September 2004
| Bay of Plenty | 17–13 | Wellington |
* 18 September 2004
| Auckland | 51–22 | Taranaki |
* 18 September 2004
| Canterbury (RS) | 52–13 | Southland |
* 19 September 2004
| Northland | 16–40 | North Harbour |

#### Week 7

* 24 September 2004
| Waikato | 15–30 | Canterbury |
* 25 September 2004
| Northland | 24–29 | Bay of Plenty |
* 25 September 2004
| Wellington | 73–28 | Taranaki |
* 25 September 2004
| North Harbour | 20–3 | Otago |
* 26 September 2004
| Southland | 22–30 | Auckland |

#### Week 8

* 1 October 2004
| Taranaki | 31–14 | Otago |
* 2 October 2004
| Wellington | 65–12 | Northland |
* 2 October 2004
| Bay of Plenty | 38–20 | Southland |
* 2 October 2004
| Auckland | 20–28 | Canterbury |
* 3 October 2004
| Waikato | 25–20 | North Harbour |

#### Week 9

* 8 October 2004
| Auckland | 35–33 | Otago |
* 9 October 2004
| Taranaki | 20–26 | Waikato |
* 9 October 2004
| Canterbury (RS) | 68–19 | Northland |
* 9 October 2004
| Southland | 0–30 | Wellington |
* 10 October 2004
| North Harbour | 9–14 | Bay of Plenty |

#### Semi-finals

* 15 October 2004
| Wellington | 28–16 | Waikato |
* 16 October 2004
| Canterbury | 44–12 | Bay of Plenty |

#### Grand Final

* 23 October 2004
| Wellington | 27–40 | Canterbury |

## 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)