After a jam-packed nine weeks of rugby in New Zealand, the Bunnings NPC quarterfinalists have been set for the world’s premier domestic rugby competition.
Defending champions Waikato have qualified second in the Odds Pool while Ranfurly Shield holders Wellington topped the pool with the Bay of Plenty and Hawkes Bay rounding out third and fourth position. In the Evens Pool, Canterbury were the dominant force moving through the season with only one loss to their name. The remaining three qualifiers were neck-and-neck on six wins each with North Harbour, Auckland and Northland all making the cut.
We look ahead to the quarterfinals and preview each side’s odds of winning the competition with odds from bookmaker William Hill.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: October 6th, 7:00 A.M. (EST)
Despite not having won a title since 2017, Canterbury are the overwhelming favourites for the title this year. With odds of 1.91 to win the Grand Final, Canterbury are significantly ahead of the pack with the next closest contender being Wellington at 5.50 to win.
Canterbury will play Northland in a quarterfinal in what would appear to be the least competitive of the four quarterfinal matches this weekend. Northland had an excellent season by their standards with wins over fellow finalists Bay of Plenty, Auckland and Wellington. However, their heavy 46-17 loss to Canterbury this time last month is a worrying sign and all evidence points towards Canterbury getting home easily in this one.
Odds for Northland to win the competition are the longest of all eight finalists at 51.00.
Wellington have had their best NPC season in a long time regaining some of their form from the 2010s that saw them place second in six out of seven seasons.
Their odds of 5.50 at William Hill reflect a strong season that featured only two losses as well as the winning of the Ranfurly Shield off Hawkes Bay a fortnight ago. Wellington will again face Hawkes Bay this weekend in a quarterfinal where the home side is heavily favoured to win.
Hawkes Bay are the second longest odds at 17.00 to win the competition.
The two remaining quarterfinals this weekend feature the tightest expected matches with Waikato and Bay of Plenty playing for the second time in two weeks and Auckland traveling to North Harbour for the Battle of the Bridge.
Waikato have a slight edge over Bay of Plenty having won by a point last week. This one is a bit of a coin flip, however, and with odds of 8.00 against 11.00 to win the competition, this weekend’s match is anyone’s to win.
Auckland, on the other hand, are slightly favoured against North Harbour having won the fixture in round one of this season 36-26. The men in striped blue are 8.50 favourites to win the competition and are building well while North Harbour sit back at 13.00.
Tune in this weekend to see the world’s best domestic rugby competition take one step closer to crowning a champion in 2022.
