The Bunnings Warehouse NPC will re-start in Hamilton and the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship season will belatedly kick off in Te Kuiti as provincial rugby resumes next weekend, New Zealand Rugby (NZR) announced today.

NZR has released the revised draw for the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship season, which will kick-off a month late due to COVID-19 restrictions, and a re-jigged schedule for what will be the third round of the Bunnings Warehouse NPC.

The Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship draw is here and the round three schedule for the Bunnings Warehouse NPC is here. A revised Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) draw will be announced early next week.

NZR’s domestic competitions, which have been on hold since mid-August due to COVID-19, can resume under Alert Level 2, meaning all teams outside of Auckland, which remains at Alert Level 4, can return to play from Friday 17 September.

Steve Lancaster, NZR General Manager Community Rugby was pleased to provide some certainty for fans, players, Provincial Unions and other stakeholders.

“It’s an uncertain time for everyone, so to have matches scheduled for next weekend and some exciting Bunnings Warehouse NPC and Heartland Championship rugby to look forward to is a great result. We are committed to playing all three domestic competitions in their entirety, and remain hopeful our teams in Auckland will be in a position to return to play in the coming weeks,” Lancaster said.

“It will be particularly pleasing to see the Bunnings Warehouse Heartland Championship kick off. Our rural communities missed out on supporting their teams last season and have been on hold again in 2021. Hopefully rugby can provide some relief during these challenging times.”

Article added: Monday 13 September 2021