Bunnings NPC draw announced for the 2023 season

The 2023 Bunnings NPC schedule has been announced, with Canterbury looking to go one better after a strong 2022 season.

The new season’s draw sees Canterbury on the road in the North, with all five round robin away games in the upper North Island.

With the FIFA World Cup on at the same time as the start of the competition, Canterbury will play their first two games in the Far North, with Northland in Round 1 and North Harbour in Round 2.

Canterbury are then home for three weeks, welcoming Manawatu in Round 3, a finals rematch with Wellington in Round 4 and Taranaki in Round 5.

A trip to Eden Park beckons in Round 6, before the team is away for the first game of Storm Week against Counties Manukau, with the week ended at home by welcoming Southland to Christchurch.

Rounds 9 and 10 see Tasman at Orangetheory Stadium, before a trip to Waikato concludes the round robin stages. The Finals series will go across October.

The beginning of the NPC season will run simultaneously with the Farah Palmer Cup, with the draw for FPC expected in the coming weeks.