The National Provincial Championship (NPC) is held annually. Rugby teams from 27 provincial unions compete in three divisions, 10 in Division One, 9 in Division Two, and 8 in Division Three. There is a promotion / relegation system - the bottom placed Division One team plays the Division Two champion to determine if they swap places; whilst the bottom placed Division Two team is automatically relegated and the Division Three champion promoted.

The NPC typically starts in August. Each team plays every other team in their division once in a round robin fashion. The top four ranking teams in each division then contest two semi-finals with the winners of those matches going on to contest a final. The winner of each final is then declared winner of the championship.