Played since 1975, the New Zealand Provincial Sevens is one of the toughest sevens tournaments in the world.

Originally played in September/October, the tournament was moved to November so it could serve to select players for the upcoming IRB Sevens season.

In 2010 the tournament was moved to the first week of January. Teams play in one of the three qualifiers (North, South and Central) to compete in the final event.

The first tournament was held in Auckland in 1975. From there it moved to various venues around the country: Christchurch, Blenheim, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Feilding, Pukekohe and Rotorua. From 2004 to 2013 it was hosted in Queenstown, then returned to Rotorua for five seasons and, since December 2018, it is held in Tauranga.

The tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, but it returned in January 2022 with a new format: two qualifiers (North and South) and a final event in Tauranga. The top four teams from each qualifier advance to the final event.