The 1976 season was the inaugural year of the National Provincial Championship (NPC), also known for sponsorship reasons as the Radio New Zealand National Championship, a provincial rugby union competition in New Zealand. Bay of Plenty were the winners of Division 1, while Taranaki and South Canterbury were the winners of Division 2 North Island and Division 2 South Island respectively.
| width=20 abbr="Position" | Pos | width=175 | Team | width=20 abbr="Played" | Pld | width=20 abbr="Won" | W | width=20 abbr="Drawn" | D | width=20 abbr="Lost" | L | width=20 abbr="Points for" | PF | width=20 abbr="Points against" | PA | width=25 abbr="Points difference" | PD | width=25 abbr="Tries for" | TF | width=20 abbr="Points" | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bay of Plenty | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 195 | 112 | +83 | 25 | 17 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Manawatu (RS) | 10 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 142 | 104 | +38 | 17 | 15 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Auckland | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 160 | 133 | +27 | 19 | 13 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Canterbury | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 153 | 118 | +35 | 20 | 12 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Counties | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 118 | 107 | +11 | 20 | 12 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Wellington | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 165 | 122 | +43 | 20 | 11 | |||||||||||
| 7 | Otago | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 106 | 148 | +42 | 11 | 10 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Hawke's Bay | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 125 | 130 | −5 | 18 | 8 | |||||||||||
| 9 | Marlborough | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 146 | 192 | −46 | 19 | 6 | |||||||||||
| 10 | Southland | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 105 | 161 | −56 | 13 | 5 | |||||||||||
| 11 | North Auckland | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 76 | 164 | −88 | 8 | 1 |
| width=20 abbr="Position" | Pos | width=175 | Team | width=20 abbr="Played" | Pld | width=20 abbr="Won" | W | width=20 abbr="Drawn" | D | width=20 abbr="Lost" | L | width=20 abbr="Points for" | PF | width=20 abbr="Points against" | PA | width=25 abbr="Points difference" | PD | width=25 abbr="Tries for" | TF | width=20 abbr="Points" | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taranaki | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 209 | 49 | +160 | 28 | 16 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Wanganui | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 216 | 87 | +129 | 31 | 14 | |||||||||||
| 3 | King Country | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 110 | 144 | −34 | 9 | 9 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Poverty Bay | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 92 | 115 | −23 | 11 | 8 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Waikato | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 173 | 76 | +97 | 28 | 8 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Wairarapa Bush | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 98 | 107 | −9 | 13 | 8 | |||||||||||
| 7 | East Coast | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 41 | 214 | −173 | 6 | 4 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Thames Valley | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 70 | 128 | −58 | 6 | 3 | |||||||||||
| 9 | Horowhenua | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 94 | 183 | −89 | 15 | 2 |
| width=20 abbr="Position" | Pos | width=175 | Team | width=20 abbr="Played" | Pld | width=20 abbr="Won" | W | width=20 abbr="Drawn" | D | width=20 abbr="Lost" | L | width=20 abbr="Points for" | PF | width=20 abbr="Points against" | PA | width=25 abbr="Points difference" | PD | width=25 abbr="Tries for" | TF | width=20 abbr="Points" | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Canterbury | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 103 | 39 | +64 | 14 | 8 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Buller | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 64 | 40 | +24 | 9 | 6 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Nelson Bays | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 72 | 77 | −5 | 11 | 6 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Mid Canterbury | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 50 | 55 | −5 | 6 | 5 | |||||||||||
| 5 | West Coast | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 59 | 63 | −4 | 6 | 3 | |||||||||||
| 6 | North Otago | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 41 | 115 | −74 | 6 | 2 |
As North Auckland came last in Division 1, the unbeaten winners of Division 2 (North Island), Taranaki, were promoted to Division 1 to replace them.
South Canterbury won Division 2 (South Island), giving them a promotion play-off against Southland; they lost the game 24–11 remained in Division 2.