The Spirit have been allocated just two home games for the Farah Palmer Cup Championship this season.
They won the Championship convincingly last year after going through the season unbeaten, but a New Zealand Rugby restructure at the end of 2025 meant the Spirit were cruelly denied promotion to the Premiership.
Instead, Hawke’s Bay were relegated and the Taranaki Whio were scrapped from the competition, leaving both grades with six teams in their competitions.
The Spirit’s two home games are double-headers - the Otago men’s side play their NPC games afterwards.
The Spirit start their season at Forsyth Barr Stadium against Wellington on August 29 and play their other home game against Tasman on September 11.
They are away to Northland - the team the Spirit beat 37-12 in last year’s final - on September 5, and play Hawke’s Bay on September 20 and North Harbour on September 26.
Semifinals and finals will follow.
