Super Rugby Aupiki: Who is setting the pace early on in New Zealand?

Following two rounds of Super Rugby Aupiki, the 2025 grand-finalists remain unbeaten. However, both the Blues and Matatu were pushed to the limit after comfortable first-round victories.

Can Chiefs Manawa and Hurricanes Poua fight back into contention? What have been some of the talking points through the first two rounds of Super Rugby Aupiki?

Dodgy Discipline

Across 14 matches in Super Rugby Aupiki 2025, there were 234 penalties, averaging 16 per game. In the first two rounds this season, there have been 105 penalties, an average of 26 per game.

Remarkably, Matatu have conceded 29 penalties, with Pip Love’s 46th-minute yellow card against Hurricanes Poua costing nearly half of the 15 points the visitors conceded.

Poua’s three yellow cards across two games have cost 28 unanswered points.

Blues Yet to Hit Full Stride

The Blues have won 15 of their last 17 matches, including five in a row dating back to March 2025. Yet there is a sense they haven’t found top form in 2026. Though their 42-7 win against the Hurricanes Poua was impressive on the scoreboard, it was an ugly game, with a red card and an error-strewn second half.

Captain Maia Roos was blunt in her assessment of the Blues’ 27-26 win against Chiefs Manawa.

“To be honest, it was pretty ugly, but we gutted it out and were able to get our processes together towards the end and I think that’s what got us the dub.”

When Black Ferns and Manawa hooker Vici-Rose Green mauled over to make it 22-21 after an hour, the visitors looked likely to cause an upset.

However, five minutes later, Manawa and Black Ferns centre Justine McGregor was yellow-carded inside her own 22. The Blues then had a scrum with a one-player advantage.

Faultless execution of draw and pass saw Black Ferns Sevens winger Jaymie Kolose score in the corner. Kolose has 13 tries in 21 games for the Blues.

The lead changed three times in a tense affair. When the Blues built phases, they were menacing, but it didn’t happen often enough, according to Ross.

Plum is King

With three tries and 16 tackles in Matatu’s 52-26 victory over Chiefs Manawa in the first round, Elinor-Plum King joined Chey Robins-Reti as the only other Matatu player to score a hat-trick.

Furthermore, Matatu’s win was the biggest inflicted upon the Chiefs and was played before a record crowd of 11,793 at the new Te Kaha/One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch.

Plum-King played 12 games for the Poua with her only win in yellow and black, the Hurricanes’ last, against Matatu 36-29 on March 9 2024.

She has been a regular selection for Manawatu in the Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) since 2021, winning two championship titles and 22 of 32 games.

The 2025 Black Ferns XV selection is a product of Manukura, which has become the most dominant female rugby school in New Zealand.

“It’s definitely my goal to become a Black Fern,” Plum-King said. “What do I offer that’s unique? That’s a good question. I think I have a different profile from the other flankers. I can play all three positions, tackle, carry, and have strong work rate.”

Meanwhile, Manukura teammate and 2024 Black Ferns Player of the Year, Kaipo Olsen-Baker, has been on a tear. With 27 tackles, 39 carries, two clean breaks, nine defenders beaten, and 94 metres gained, she ranks in the top five in five important statistical categories.

Are the Hurricanes Poua Really Better?

The Poua’s losing streak has stretched to 12, with their last win on March 9 2024, against Matatu. On Sunday at Maidstone Park, Upper Hutt, the Poua almost beat the southerners. From 12-0 down, they rallied to close the gap to 18-15, the closest they’ve been to a win during the streak.

While the dire weather, with pouring rain and a swirling wind, was a leveller, Poua’s fight was commendable. Their captain, Sam Taylor, is an outstanding prospect. She ranks second in the competition tackle count with 30 and is a leader of growing repute. She has won 14 of 17 games for Manawatu in the FPC and has already featured in the Black Ferns XV.

Black Fern Renee Holmes has brought stability to first-five. Iritana Hohaia was put at fullback in the first game. The experiment failed. The Poua looked better with her at nine, where she played 19 Tests for the Black Ferns.

The lineout remains a major frailty, barely a third of possession won, and lapses in discipline are hurting.

The Poua have a reasonable chance of winning against Chiefs Manawa this weekend. They need at least one win this season to say they have genuinely improved.

Results Summary

Round 1

Matatu: 52 (Tries: Kaipo Olsen-Baker, Maia Joseph, Elinor-Plum King 3, Amy du Plessis,
Binky Muamua, Laura Bayfield tries; conversions Hannah King, six)
Chiefs Manawa: 26 (Tries: Vici-Rose Green 2, Leata Puni-Lio, Ariana Bayler; conversions: Carys Dallinger, three)
HT: 26-14

Blues: 42 (Tries: Braxton Sorensen-McGee, Mererangi Paul, Logo-I-Pulotu Lemapu Atai’i, Sylvia Brunt, Liana Mikaele-Tu’u, Tafito Lafaele, Atlanta Lolohea; conversions Sorensen-McGee seven)
Hurricanes Poua: 7 (Sam Taylor try; Renee Holmes con)
HT: 28-7

Round 2

Blues: 27 (Tries: Mererangi Paul, Tara Turner, Aldora Itunu, Katelyn Vahaakolo, Jaymie Kolose tries; conversion: Braxton Sorensen-McGee, one)
Chiefs Manawa: 26 (Tries: Lonita Ngalu, Carys Dallinger, Shyrah Tuliau-Tua’a, Vici-Rose Green; conversions: Dallinger, three)
HT: 21-17

Matatu: 18 (Tries: Binky Muamua, Kaipo Olsen-Baker tries; conversions: Hannah King, 1; penalties: Hannah King, two)
Hurricanes Poua: 15 (Tries: Iritana Hohaia, Angel Mulu tries; conversions: Renee Holmes one; penalties; Renee Holmes, one)
HT: 12-0