Canterbury NPC team to play at new Te Kaha Stadium, but Rangiora not ruled out
Wednesday, 3 September 2025
The Canterbury Rugby Football Union has not ruled out returning to rustic Rangiora in future, but plan to stage all 2026 home games at the new Christchurch stadium.
Between 4500 and 5000 fans watched NPC leaders Canterbury beat Manawatū 53-14 on Saturday at Rangiora Showground Oval.
It was a true “home” game for hooker Ben Funnell, who plays for North Canterbury club Hurunui, to celebrate his 100th NPC game against his boyhood province.
The CRFU have taken games to Rangiora for three consecutive years, and players have raved about a return to a grassroots venue where the crowd is close to the action.
Chief executive Tony Smail said the move had been a success, but it was likely all Canterbury’s 2026 home fixtures would be played at One New Zealand Te Kaha Stadium, which is due to open with a Super Rugby Pacific Super Round in April.
He said Canterbury, “similar to the Crusaders’’, had put ”our heart and soul into supporting that stadium to get up and running’’.
White they were still working through with stadium operator Vbase on “what our occupation looks like”, Smail said “it would be fair to assume there’s a desire, in year one, for us to play our games there”.
He said Rangiora had been a wonderful venue and had helped hugely in “what we were trying to achieve there’’, namely “bring that connection back” with the Canterbury country rugby community “to our NPC and FPC [Farah Palmer Cup] teams.
“It’s been fantastic from our side, and from North Canterbury’s, as well.”
The first NPC game at Rangiora in 2023 was designed to promote interest in the 100th anniversary game for the Southbridge Shield, played annually by the North Canterbury and Ellesmere sub-unions.
North Canterbury also got to host the NPC games in 2024 and 2025 by virtue of being Southbridge Shield holders. Captained by Canterbury NPC squad hooker Nick Hyde, they won again on Saturday, 56-12, for a four-peat.
Canterbury have a 2-1 win-loss record at Rangiora. They beat Taranaki in 2023, but lost to Wellington there last year.
Smail said in year one, the Canterbury players initially discovered the Rangiora changing rooms were rather different to what they were used to. “Then they finished the game and said, ‘that was absolutely unbelievable. Can we come back here next year?’ They just loved the crowd being so close, and into it.”
Rangiora Showground displayed its myriad charms on Saturday - stunning early spring weather, sweeping views of Maukatere/Mt Grey and kids running to the pitch after the 100-cap presentation to Funnell.
Proximity to the pitch, flanked by an old-school stand on one side and a grassy embankment on the otherr, makes it a popular venue.
Smail said the Rangiora attendance was similar to what Canterbury get at Apollo Projects Stadium.
Re-creating the Rangiora atmosphere in a 30,000-seat stadium “will be a challenge’’, he admitted.
“But we are working on a plan to make it accessible for everyone who wants to come, so we will be aiming to fill it up.
“It’s a massive challenge, but we’ve got to give it a go.”
He said the CRFU would set ticket prices to ensure that people who otherwise “wouldn’t have a chance to go to it should be able to come because the price will be fair enough for them”.
Smail said the new five-year Sky Sports-New Zealand Rugby broadcasting deal - which will see provincial matches screened free-to-air on TVNZ - could lead to some unions staging NPC and FPC games together for logistical and cost reasons, at bigger stadiums than regional venues.
But he said the CRFU were not ruling out Rangiora as a future host.
“We will have the ability to take games outside [Te Kaha], we won’t be locked into having all of them there. But I think in year one we will be absolutely looking to maximise our first entry into the stadium.
“But I wouldn’t discount it for the future. Absolutely not.”
The Canterbury FPC team had a successful game at Prebbleton last year. Its schedule has not been locked in yet for 2026, so a Rangiora match could be a possibility.