{{short description|New Zealand rugby union tournament in 1981}} The 1981 season was the sixth year of the National Provincial Championship (NPC), a provincial rugby union competition in New Zealand. Wellington were the winners of Division 1.
==Division 1== The following table gives the final standings:<ref>{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090808023539/http://www.thesilverfern.co.nz/index.php/air-nz-cup-mainmenu-57/results-1976-2005-mainmenu-145 |title=NPC Results 1976-2006 }}</ref><ref name=Table>{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19811005.2.81 |title=Defeat for Wellington |work=The Press |date=5 October 1981 |page=17 }}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- |width=10px bgcolor="#ffcccc"| ||Relegated to Division Two |}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !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=20 abbr="Points"| Pts |- |1||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Wellington|ib=y}} |10||9||0||1||255||94||+161||18 |- |2||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Manawatu|ib=y}} |10||7||0||3||269||157||+112||14 |- |3||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Counties|ib=y}} |10||6||1||3||197||129||+68||13 |- |4||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Auckland|ib=y}} |10||6||0||4||55||135||-80||12 |- |5||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Waikato|ib=y}} |10||5||1||4||142||160||-18||11 |- |6||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Bay of Plenty|ib=y}} |10||5||0||5||183||172||+11||10 |- |7||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|North Auckland|ib=y}} |10||5||0||5||115||144||-29||10 |- |8||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Otago|ib=y}} |10||5||0||5||148||195||-47||10 |- |9||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Canterbury|ib=y}} |10||4||0||6||128||165||-37||8 |- |10||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Hawke's Bay|ib=y}} |10||1||0||9||158||279||-121||2 |- style="background:#ffcccc" |11||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Southland|ib=y}} |10||1||0||9||115||235||-120||2 |}
==Division 2 (North Island) == The following table gives the final standings:<ref name=Table/>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !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=20 abbr="Points"| Pts |- |1||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Wairarapa Bush|ib=y}} |7||7||0||0||141||29||+112||14 |- |2||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Taranaki|ib=y}} |7||6||0||1||295||52||+243||12 |- |3||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Wanganui|ib=y}} |7||5||0||2||208||70||+130||10 |- |4||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Poverty Bay|ib=y}} |7||3||0||4||170||140||+30||6 |- |5||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Horowhenua|ib=y}} |7||3||0||4||96||209||-113||6 |- |6||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|King Country|ib=y}} |7||2||0||5||105||119||-14||4 |- |7||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Thames Valley|ib=y}} |7||2||0||5||81||182||-101||4 |- |8||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|East Coast|ib=y}} |7||0||0||6||40||168||-128||0 |}
==Division 2 (South Island) == The following table gives the final standings:<ref name=Table/>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !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=20 abbr="Points"| Pts |- |1||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|South Canterbury|ib=y}} |6||5||1||0||143||66||+77||11 |- |2||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Marlborough|ib=y}} |6||5||0||1||150||67||+83||10 |- |3||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Mid Canterbury|ib=y}} |6||4||0||2||115||47||+68||8 |- |4||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Nelson Bays|ib=y}} |6||2||1||3||64||66||-2||5 |- |5||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|West Coast|ib=y}} |6||2||0||4||62||124||-62||4 |- |6||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|Buller|ib=y}} |6||2||0||4||49||85||-36||4 |- |7||style="text-align:left"|{{Rut|North Otago|ib=y}} |6||0||0||6||40||168||-128||0 |}
==Promotion/relegation== Division Two North winner {{Rut|Wairarapa Bush}} defeated Southland 10 points to 9 and were promoted to Division One for the 1982 season.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19811005.2.79.1 |title=Southland suffers disappointing loss |work=The Press |date=5 October 1981 |page=17 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{National Provincial Championship}}
1981 1