One competition. Nine Super Provinces. No more two tiers. Fold the NPC and Super Rugby into a single professional pyramid that returns top-flight footy to the provinces — and ring-fences real money for the grassroots that feed it. Nine fully professional teams instead of five means more opportunities, more talent kept in New Zealand, and deeper stocks for the All Blacks.
New Zealand currently runs professional rugby twice over. Super Rugby finishes, then the NPC kicks off during the All Blacks' test season — a second comp, missing the best players, asking the public to care all over again.
Centralised squads with weak links to the unions beneath them. In the major centres, fans already have their team — the Blues — so Auckland's NPC side plays in its shadow.
Proud 100-year-old provinces playing while the All Blacks are on — without a single All Black on the field. Seen as the second comp, it can't attract attention, especially where a Super team already owns the city.
The fix isn't to prop up both. It's to make them the same thing.
Every NPC union merges into one of nine Super Provinces. The franchise identity and the provincial identity stop competing, instead they become one. The NPC no longer exists, instead Super rugby is elevated back to the best domestic competition in the world.
// Legacy franchises wear their old Super 14 strips. New merged provinces blend the colours of both founding unions.
No conferences, no asterisks, no team you somehow never host. Everyone plays everyone, home and away, with one in-season bye plus a two week break over Christmas and New Years, followed by a top-six finals series that settles it.
Fourteen teams means Seven games every round — spread across the whole weekend instead of crammed into Friday and Saturday night.
The return of afternoon footy. Saturday and Sunday afternoon kick-offs bring back the kids-on-the-fence, sausage-sizzle provincial game day — and give broadcasters wall-to-wall rugby from Friday night to Sunday evening.
1st and 2nd earn the week off. 3rd hosts 6th, 4th hosts 5th.
Top two seeds return at home against the qualifier winners.
Hosted by the highest-ranked finalist. Winner takes the title.
Merged Super Provinces can't hoard every fixture in the big city. Each founding union's region is guaranteed at least 5 of the 13 home games.
Nobody loses footy. Dunedin gains a game, Southland keeps its full home season — except now every one of those Invercargill fixtures is top-flight professional rugby.
26 games sounds like a lot — until you remember today's players already grind through two competitions back to back.
Those six All Black rest weeks aren't a weakness — they're the development engine. They're exactly where the squad and development brackets earn real starts, in a comp that matters, in front of their own province.
One season, no collisions, test alignment between the North and the South — and a different year depending on which jersey you wear. Flick between the two.
| Weekend 1 | Weekend 2 | Weekend 3 | Weekend 4 | Weekend 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JAN | Off — New Years | Round 25 | Round 26 | Round 27 | — |
| FEB | Qualifying Final | Semi Final | Grand Final | Off | — |
| MAR | Club | Club | Club | Club | — |
| APR | Club | Club | Club | Club | — |
| MAY | Off | Off | Off | Off | Off |
| JUN | Off | Off | Off | Off | — |
| JUL | Pre-season | Pre-season | Pre-season | Pre-season | — |
| AUG | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 |
| SEP | Round 6 | Round 7 | Round 8 | Round 9 | Round 10 |
| OCT | Round 11 | Round 12 | Round 13 | Round 14 | Round 15 |
| NOV | Round 16 | Round 17 | Round 18 | Round 19 | Round 20 |
| DEC | Round 21 | Round 22 | Round 23 | Round 24 | Off — Xmas |
| Weekend 1 | Weekend 2 | Weekend 3 | Weekend 4 | Weekend 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JAN | Off — New Years | Round 25 | Round 26 | Round 27 | — |
| FEB | Qualifying Final | Semi Final | Grand Final | Rugby Championship | — |
| MAR | Rugby Championship | Rugby Championship | Rugby Championship | Rugby Championship | — |
| APR | Rugby Championship | Rugby Championship | Rugby Championship | Rugby Championship | — |
| MAY | Off | Off | Off | Off | Off |
| JUN | Off | Off | Off | Inbound Tours | — |
| JUL | Inbound Tours | Inbound Tours | Inbound Tours | Off | — |
| AUG | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 |
| SEP | Round 6 | Round 7 | Round 8 | Round 9 | Round 10 |
| OCT | Round 11 | Round 12 | Round 13 | Round 14 | Outbound Tours |
| NOV | Outbound Tours | Outbound Tours | Outbound Tours | Off | Round 20 |
| DEC | Round 21 | Round 22 | Round 23 | Round 24 | Off — Xmas |
Each Super Province splits cleanly in two. One arm chases trophies; the other grows the game. They share a badge — never a budget.
Ring-fenced means exactly that: not one dollar of community funding can be redirected to player salaries, coaching staff or the professional programme. The grassroots money is untouchable by design.
Every Super Province receives the same slice of the broadcast deal. The Crusaders and the Taniwha start every season on the same line.
An additional pool, distributed evenly, dedicated to keeping All Blacks and top professionals in New Zealand instead of Japan or France. NZ-qualified players only — every retention dollar protects the national pipeline.
Thirteen guaranteed home games a season. Fill your ground, keep the gate. Provinces are rewarded for building a home-town fortress.
Each Super Province sells its own front-of-jersey and commercial partnerships, its own merchandise, and its own corporate hospitality — all anchored in its own community.
Salary cap per team. Even funding plus a hard cap means the title is won by recruitment, coaching and development — not by chequebook.
Here's the profit & loss for a single Super Province's High Performance arm. Player payments are capped at 60% of revenue — a hard solvency rule, so no club can ever spend its way into collapse chasing a title.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Broadcast share50% of the $95.0m 2025 NZR deal ÷ 9 teams | $5.28m |
| Talent retention paymentsNZ-qualified players only — fixed and equal for every team | $6.00m |
| Ticketing13 home games × 12,500 fans × $35 | $5.69m |
| Sponsorship, merch & hospitalitySold locally by the province | $1.50m |
| Total revenue | $18.47m |
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Player paymentsMax 60% of revenue — under the $12.0m salary cap | $10.72m |
| 36 contracted players | $10.06m |
| 12 wider training squad × $55k | $0.66m |
| Operations32.5% — coaches, medical, admin, travel | $6.00m |
| Development7.5% — A team, U20/U18/U16 pathway | $1.38m |
| Total costs | $18.11m |
| Operating profit | +$0.36m |
The 60 / 32.5 / 7.5 split is a ceiling, not a budget. How much a club actually spends on players, operations and development is up to the club — but player payments can never exceed 60% of revenue, with the $12.0m salary cap holding a hard line on top. The 60% rule exists for one reason: to keep clubs solvent, and avoid the collapses rugby has seen in the past, here and up north.
| Bracket | Players | Avg salary | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| MarqueeAll Blacks & franchise faces | 3 | $900k | $2.70m |
| Senior professionalsTest-adjacent, 50+ caps | 5 | $460k | $2.30m |
| EstablishedRegular starters | 8 | $290k | $2.32m |
| SquadRotation & bench depth | 12 | $165k | $1.98m |
| DevelopmentFirst professional contracts — at the $95k floor | 8 | $95k | $0.76m |
| Contracted squad | 36 | — | $10.06m |
| Wider training squadTrain full-time, on call | 12 | $55k | $0.66m |
| Full playing group | 48 | — | $10.72m |
Minimum full-time contract. Every one of the 36 contracted players earns at least $95k — a genuine professional living, even on a first contract. Only the wider training squad sits below the floor, and they train full-time while staying eligible for club rugby.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Broadcast distribution50% of the $95.0m broadcast deal, shared ÷ 9 | $47.50m |
| Talent retention payments$6.00m × 9 teams — NZ-qualified players only | $54.00m |
| Total NZR commitment | $101.50m |
Of NZR's 2025 expenditure of $311m. Funding the entire professional provincial game — broadcast distributions plus every retention payment — costs around a third of what NZR already spends in a year. One competition to fund instead of two, with a known, capped price.
Super and NPC stop cannibalising each other. One competition, one season, one product the public can actually follow.
The provinces don't feed the professional game any more — they are the professional game. Thirteen home fixtures a year, with All Blacks running out in Whangārei, Invercargill and New Plymouth, not just the main centres.
Today the NRL's average salary sits around NZ$450k while a typical Super Rugby contract averages well under $200k — and Japan and France wave seven figures at All Blacks. Under this model, senior professionals earn $460k, established starters $290k, and marquee players $900k+ competitive money, at home. Every player who stays is another player available for All Blacks selection.
Today Super Rugby is done by June and the code goes quiet. Under this calendar there's meaningful rugby in every month — tests in autumn, club footy in winter, Super 14 from August through to a February grand final — competing all year, including against the NRL, instead of conceding half of it.
The whole men's domestic professional game — all nine Super Provinces, broadcast distributions and every retention payment — costs under a third of NZR's $311m annual expenditure. The other two-thirds stays where it's needed: the community game, the women's game, and Teams in Black assembly and match fees.
26 round-robin games plus finals puts NZ players on par with the European club season — match-hardened, not under-cooked, when they arrive at test level.
Because retention payments are identical for every team, no province can stockpile All Blacks and no province needs a top-up. The money is flat, so the talent has to spread itself — the market does the levelling, not head office.
A century of provincial history carried into the top flight. Fans back the place they're from, not a franchise invented in a boardroom.
The Ranfurly Shield carries over — defended on home soil, challenged for every season, and contested between the NZ Super Provinces only. The Log o' Wood stays where it belongs.
Equal broadcast shares, equal retention pools and a $12M cap mean any of the nine can win it — and the comp stays honest.
Community funding flows straight from NZR and is ring-fenced by rule. Growing players, coaches and refs is guaranteed, not hoped for.
U16 → U18 → U20 → A team → Super 14, all inside the same province. A kid in Whangārei can see every rung of the ladder from their front gate.
Professional rugby in Australia no longer just stops when Super Rugby ends — the Brumbies, Reds, Waratahs and Force get a real 27-round season. And as talent spreads, the Aussie sides get more competitive too.