Breakdown panel reveal Kiwi team that's impressed them in 2026

The Blues, Hurricanes, and Brumbies are all first-equal after five rounds, with the Chiefs and Reds not far behind, having played one less game in the 2026 season.

Moana Pasifika currently sit at the bottom of the table, on equal points with the Western Force, who have also only won one game during the opening five rounds.

Three Sky Sport pundits on The Breakdown have discussed which Kiwi team have impressed them the most to start the 2026 campaign, with all three giving different answers.

Former All Black halfback Justin Marshall believes that despite not getting the intended result over the weekend against the Crusaders, it’s the Highlanders that have impressed him the most out of the Kiwi sides.

“So I’m going to go the team that’s impressed me the most and that’s the Highlanders, I think they’re really tenacious team and they’ve got some firepower, the likes of Tangitau, Ratamatavuki Kneepkens playing well, even Tele’a came in and their loose forward trio looks really good,” Marshall said on The Breakdown.

“When they lost Dylan Pledger and Fabian Holland, everybody thought oh no, your season’s done, but they’ve fronted up big time, and you know when you’re in a contest with them that it’s going to be a contest big time, and it’s great.

“Because there’s not this big gap that we thought there would be, because their squad wasn’t as deep as some of the others. So that’s the team that’s impressed me the most.”

“The influence of Ruben love and what he sort of brings up. Now, the opportunities that they sort of go to, especially in the weekend, they had multiple opportunities on the outside edges they had they also set things up really nicely. In the middle with Jordie Barrett and Callum Harkin who has done a wonderful job as well.

“It’s now the ability to actually stick to something, because there’s so many opportunities, it almost becomes, oh, what we what do we actually go for?

“Their spine is actually really solid, their getting some more All Blacks back but when you bring a bench on like they did over the weekend, that front row and the explosiveness they brought, they are a force to be reckoned with.”

Current Auckland Bunnings NPC head coach Steven Bates likes what the Blues and the Chiefs are doing, but pinpointed the change in game plan for the Blues as a crucial adjustment made by Vern Cotter.

“The Blues and the Chiefs to be honest with you. What I like about the Blues is that they’ve gone for a power game  in season one, season two, the other teams adapted to them. Now the Blues have gone and they’ve adapted again.

“Yes, they’ve still got that power game, you didn’t see so much of it today, but what they do is they dent and then they go wide, and they’re starting to use guys like Caleb Clarke, and they’re on the edge.

“You probably didn’t see as much of it today, but you rewind when they play the Crusaders, and some of the tries they scored there, I thought they were outstanding in there, and and they’ve got some good tight-five members coming back, with Patrick Tuipulotu being one of them.”