The four top performers from round eight of the Hilux NPC

The eighth round of the Hilux NPC saw Northland replace Hawke’s Bay at the top of the table.

Bay of Plenty rebounded from their Southland embarrassment to beat Hawke’s Bay 32-17 and claim “Battle of the Bay” honours.

A focused and passionate forward effort, coupled with an outstanding performance from Cole Forbes, consigned the previously top-ranked Magpies to a second consecutive defeat.

Wellington woes sank to unprecedented levels with a 52-28 drubbing to Northland, who demoted six frontliners to the bench. The Lions have lost a union record ten straight.

Northland hooker James Mullan was a second-half brute with two tries. He could become very useful for the Blues in Super Rugby Pacific. Equally eye-catching was fullback James Ramm, 28.

He scored two tries, made four linebreaks, and charged for 175 metres. A former Australian Under-20 representative, Ramm was awarded Northampton’s Breakthrough Player of the Season and the Player’s Player of the Season in his first year with the Saints in England in 2022. He later won two Premiership titles and joined the Western Force in Super Rugby Pacific.

Otago steamrolled Counties Manukau 50-21, with Christian Lio-Willie celebrating his 50th Otago game by scoring a try. The former All Blacks flanker ranks in the top ten of the NPC for carries, offloads, and lineouts. Openside Lucas Casey scored again, marking nine consecutive games with a try.

That equals the season record set by Karl Te Nana in 1997. Taranaki’s Jayden Haywood scored tries in ten consecutive NPC games between 2010 and 2011. He later became an Italian international. Loosehead prop Ben Lopas has won 24 of his 34 games for Otago. Based on current form, he could debut for the Highlanders, whom he trained with in 2026, in 2027.

Waikato battled to a vital 36-27 win against Manawatu in Hamilton, with a big Super Rugby recruit stepping up. Taranaki joined Waikato with four wins, thrashing Southland 55-19. The Stags haven’t beaten the Bulls since 2009 and haven’t won in New Plymouth since 2007.

Defending champions Canterbury edged North Harbour 25-24 with a star turn from an All Blacks South African tourist who saw no action due to injury.

Meanwhile, in the Farah Palmer Cup, an absolute champion of New Zealand rugby reached a special milestone.

Who were the performers of the week in Round 8 of the Hilux NPC?

George Bell (Canterbury)

Battling against a ferocious first-half wind, hooker George Bell was almost flawless in a hearty forward effort in which the visitors built a 15-7 lead, enough in the narrow 25-24 win.

Bell hit all seven lineout throws and scored all three of Canterbury’s tries from drives, the maul being Canterbury’s most effective way forward.

In general play, Bell carried 16 times and made more metres than any other player with 86 and added four tackles. He was replaced in the 55th minute, with Canterbury leading 20-7. Eventually, Canterbury finished with 13 players as they lost direction and a committed North Harbour rallied.

Wingers Kade Banks and Rory Taylor are electric. Blindside Xavier Treacy made 24 tackles; locks Tahlor Cahill and Max Fale combined for 39 tackles.

Bell is the second Canterbury hooker to score a hat-trick in an NPC game. Fellow All Black Brodie McAlister scored three tries in a 34-21 win against Northland in 2024.

The first NPC hat-trick by a hooker was by All Black Hika Reid for Bay of Plenty against Manawatu in 1983. Jesse Ranui followed in 1989 for Bay of Plenty against Hawke’s Bay, Francis Smith in 2008 for Northland against North Harbour, and Asafo Aumau in 2016 for Wellington against Northland.

Aumua scored four against Counties in a 64-31 win in 2022 and again against South Canterbury in a 67-21 Ranfurly Shield defence in 2023. In 2025, Bradley Slater scored a hat-trick for Taranaki at North Harbour Stadium in their 46-24 win.

The Canterbury record for most tries in a game against North Harbour is five by winger Joe Maddock in a 65-10 win in 2022. Five is also the record for most tries by a Canterbury forward in a single game. Rob Penny achieved that feat in a 73-3 win against Mid Canterbury in Christchurch in 1994.

Taha Kemara (Waikato)

Waikato snapped a three-game losing streak and saved their season with a vital win over Manawatu in Hamilton. Down 24-19 in the 62nd minute, the first-five and captain pivoted past one defender, slipped another and dashed 25 meters for a try that completely changed the momentum of the match.

“I wasn’t thinking anything, just instinct. That’s when I play at my best,” Kemara told SkySport afterwards.

Kemara used the wind to kick smartly in the second half and always looked likely when attacking the line. He added 11 points to the tally with his goal-kicking, including a late 40m penalty that stretched the advantage to nine.

Kemara has signed with the Chiefs in Super Rugby Pacific in 2027. A brilliant Hamilton Boys’ High School First XV player has the time arrived for the ascent of the gifted playmaker who was originally lured to Christchurch by a phone call from Crusaders coach Scott Robertson while still at college.

Openside Ollie Mathis topped the tackle count with 17 and won two of his three turnovers in the last ten minutes as Waikato settled the contest.

Hunter Kennedy on the wing for Manawatu is a prospect of real promise. Affectionately known as the Pipopo express, he helped Palmerston North Boys’ High School win their first Super 8 title in 20 years in 2025. He represented the New Zealand Universities against Japan Under-21s in June and scored tries in both games

Rico Simpson (Auckland)

Auckland has won consecutive matches for the first time in a year, repeating their 2025 success against Tasman at Lansdowne Park, Blenheim, six days after ending a four-game losing streak with a 43-33 win over Counties Manukau at Eden Park.

Silky fullback Rico Simpson has been influential in both victories. Against Counties, he scored a try, set up a try, contributed two linebreaks, charged for a game-high 130 metres, and kicked a penalty from halfway that halted a late Steelers surge.

His performance against Tasman was even more crucial. Simpson was involved in three tries, with a skip pass to winger Harlyn Saunoa releasing his former New Zealand Under-20s teammate. Later, when Auckland was stuck in their own territory and seemingly going nowhere, Simpson found space that led to forwards muscling up to help secure a try for the strong-running halfback Issak Fines-Leleiwasa.

Down 22-14 in the 66th minute, Simpson expertly offloaded to right winger Xavier Tito-Harris as Auckland drove deep inside Tasman’s 22, eventually leading to a Payton Spencer try.

 A confident Simpson is quite the attacking wizard—just ask Sacred Heart College First XV fans. In 2023, he captained a team that won their first 1A Auckland championship since 1965. His brother Keanu Simpson played first-five for the Catholics in 2026 and scored 182 points in 11A games, earning selection for the New Zealand M?ori Under-18 Ng? Whatukura, who will soon play in an international series in Hamilton.

Although Simpson isn’t the strongest in defence, having won three turnovers in the NPC, his tackle percentage is only 57. Improving this aspect of his game will ensure a long professional career.

There was a mighty showing from Auckland blindside Che Clark in this match, topping the tackle count with 19 and making 13 impactful carries—opposing Shannon Frizell, who started strongly but faded. Ten carries, 14 tackles, and three turnovers still make for a solid night.

Eloise Blackwell (Auckland Women)

In Auckland’s 62-21 win against Bay of Plenty in the fourth round of the Dame Farah Palmer Cup (FPC) at Eden Park on Saturday, lock Eloise Blackwell became just the second Auckland woman after Fiao’o Fa’amausili (ONZM) to reach 100 appearances since the team began in 1987. In 2017, Blackwell and Fa’amausili won a Rugby World Cup together as Black Ferns. This was the highlight of Blackwell’s 46-test career from 2011 to 2021.

When Blackwell debuted for the Auckland Storm in 2009, current teammates Emacyn Ieremia and Mikaya Tonga weren’t even born.

Ieremia and Tonga aren’t just teammates – they are students at a school where ‘Mrs Blackwell’ is on the teaching staff. Blackwell teaches and coaches them at Epsom Girls’ Grammar School, which won its first Auckland First XV championship this year. Tonga scored two tries and Ieremia kicked four conversions in the win against Bay of Plenty.

Blackwell has won 72 games and scored 22 tries for Auckland, winning six FPC Premierships. She has won three Super Rugby Aupiki titles with the Blues and played 117 games, winning four Coleman Shields with her premier club side Ponsonby.

She has also organised successful school holiday programs, helped boost primary school participation, and served as both a volunteer and an executive.

Ponsonby has won a dozen senior female championships and produced 24 Black Ferns, not to mention their 48 All Blacks and 52 senior men’s championships. In 2025, aged 35, Blackwell became the 12th person to have the double distinction of Centurion and Life Member on her blazer pocket.

The others are Percy Tetzlaff, Sir Bryan Williams, Trevor Paterson, Keith Nelson, Lin Colling, Murray Menzies, Jack Huch, Joe Stanley, Andy Haden, Grant McCurrach and Grant Rutherford. That group includes six All Blacks and one Manu Samoa representative.

Giver, teacher, champion player. Eloise Blackwell is everything good about rugby in New Zealand.

# On the opposite end of the high-performance spectrum, the Wellington Lions last lost ten games in a row from the 2013 final against Canterbury (13-29) through the first nine games of 2014. They scored 169 points and allowed 376.

The current team is worse. They have scored 249 points but conceded 472.

The Lions have conceded 61 tries so far in 2026, a new record for a season and the first time they have passed 50. In 2014 and 2025, they conceded 49 tries, both times in 10 matches.

In the past two years, Wellington have won only three of 18 games, scoring 524 points and conceding 737. Of the 21 highest scores Wellington has ever conceded, 10 occurred in the last 18 matches. Some scores repeat, such as 66 conceded twice against Canterbury in 1995 and 2026. The 42 conceded against Tasman has happened in three previous games.

In the past two years, three of the Lions’ top 20 defeats have occurred. Wellington have conceded 50 or more points 20 times, 15 of those since the NPC started in 1976; four have been this season. The previous record was two in 2016. Until Saturday, Wellington had never conceded 50 in consecutive matches.

The Lions have lost five consecutive home matches, equalling the runs from 2013-14 and 1955-56. Wellington has never lost every home game in a season but will have to beat Waikato on Sunday to avoid that feat.

The Lions have already set a new record for most consecutive away losses with eight: the last four of 2025 and the first four in 2026. This is one more than the old record of seven, set when they lost their final four matches in 1991 and the first three in 1992.

Before the Northland game, Head Coach “Party Starter” Trent Reneta said: “Results tell us where we are, not where we’re going. There’s been a lot of internal growth.”

At least Wellington won’t set the record for most losses in a season. With only ten fixtures, they can’t lose 11 games like the 1926 and 1975 teams. The 1975 team played 21, won 10, lost 11, and scored 373 points while conceding 369.

The 1926 team played 16 games but had the unusual distinction of beating both the Maori All Blacks 21-14 and the All Blacks 28-16. The Maori and the All Blacks included Wellington players Mark Nicholls, Cliff Porter, Kenneth “Snowy” Svenson, Dodi Wi Neera and Lieutenant-Colonel Eruera Te Whiti o Rongomai Love (great-great-uncle of present Wellington All Black Ruben Love).

The last Wellington team to lose ten games in a season was in 1989, but they won 11 out of 21 games.

The only season Wellington failed to win a single game was 1884, when they lost their only fixture, 9-0, to New Zealand before their first-ever tour to Australia, eight years before the New Zealand Rugby Union was formed and 21 years before the “All Blacks” name was widespread.

Wellington had five New Zealand reps in 1884: Henry Roberts, Edwin “Ned” Davy, John Dumbell, Peter Webb and Hart Udy.