Rugby is being reborn in the heartland

OPINION: I'm loving the NPC right now.

Call it by its sponsor's name, whatever, the national provincial championship has been so understatedly good that it's almost passed without comment.

Perhaps I'm guilty of looking at things through Ranfurly Shield-tinted glasses, but it's hard to fault much about our domestic rugby competition.

For several years the NPC has been a bit of a whipping boy.

The first half of the competition coincides with the sharp end of the NRL finals, one competition reaching its zenith while the other one is just warming up.

That usually attracts some unfair comparisons, but I'm hearing nothing of that at the moment.

Rugby is being re-born in the heartland.

Perhaps not in Manawatu or within the Tasman experiment, but in some other key areas there are new chapters being written.

Counties Manukau are travelling well, coming back from what looked like a slump with a hard-won win over Tasman on Thursday night. Hawke's Bay have suffered a bit this season, but their trip has been offset by the return of Bay of Plenty, while Taranaki are back in the frame after going into hibernation for a few seasons.

I've got a theory about how the Stags have saved the Ranfurly Shield, but I'm not going to pull that one out until the Log of Wood is lost so I'm not planning on sitting down to write it until about midway through 2013.

We've got teams sitting in the top half of the competition who are usually tenants at the bottom half.

Young players are getting a taste of top-level rugby. Some old heads like Tana Umaga, Brent Ward and Kees Meeuws are giving back.

You have little unions beating big unions. Unpredictable results across the board. In short, the sort of competition we deserve.

The only pity is that now that it's finally running right it's going to be changed.

The real test for this year's NPC will come in the second half of the competition.

Will the likes of Wellington and Canterbury come through the pack and take their usual positions in the final, or will the pacesetters break up that formula?

Will we see a Southland, a Taranaki or a Counties go all the way to the final – maybe even win?

I hope so, but even if they don't this has been a breakthrough season for the NPC.

It has needed the fraught atmosphere we had last year when teams were in danger of being gassed to create an artificial tension.

The NPC is regaining the tribalism that gets the fans' juices running.

Long may it continue.

nathan.burdon@stl.co.nz

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