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The three top performers from round four of the Hilux NPC
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Northland are the darlings of New Zealand Rugby after crushing Canterbury 36-12 to win the Ranfurly Shield for the first time in 17,509 days.
The Log o’ Wood was last played in Whang?rei on September 22, 1979, when North Auckland lost to Auckland 9-3.
Elsewhere, Tasman winger Kyren Taumoefolau continued his prolific try scoring with two more in a 46-17 Mako mauling of Southland. Taumoefolau broke the Tasman single-season record in just four games, passing Will Jordan (9, 2018) and Tomasi Maka (8, 2025).
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Hawke’s Bay whipped Manawatu 59-17 in Napier to complete an unbeaten month. Lock Hunter Morrison again caught the eye with two tries.
The Magpies have won 75 of 111 all-time games against the Turbos.
The Magpies’ highest score in the fixture is 76 in a friendly in 1998. The late Jarrod Cunningham scored 26 points.
North Harbour won their first “Battle of the Bridge” against Auckland since 2020 with a 27-19 win in Albany. Meanwhile, Auckland have won only six of their last 24 matches, a dreadful return for the competition’s most storied Union with 17 titles.
Bay of Plenty secured a crucial 28-24 win against Taranaki in Rotorua. Gregarious lock Seuseu Naitoa Ah Kuoi celebrated his 50th match for the Steamers with a try, while No.8 Nikora Broughton was immense again.
Wellington and Counties Manukau are on a collision course for a wooden spoon scrap next Sunday. The Steelers were overwhelmed by Waikato 45-12 in Hamilton with livewire openside Ollie Mathis scoring two tries.
The Lions were hammered 61-22 by Otago in Dunedin, conceding the fifth-highest score in their history. As if things could get worse for the Lions, their best player Du’Plessis Kirifi hobbled off with concussion after eight minutes.
Who were the performers of the week in Round Four of the NPC?
Rob Rush (Northland)
“Shock and awe” was the theme of Northland’s Ranfurly Shield heist: Canterbury humiliated 36-12, their record 18th tenure also their shortest, lasting just 11 days.
A Taniwha is a supernatural spirit known as a protective guardian or fierce, dangerous monster.
Northland embodied their nickname with a win that almost seemed supernatural against the shell-shocked defending champions.
Nobody epitomised the Herculean valour and audacious cheek of a Taniwha more than Rob Rush in his 50th match.
The bruising blindside made the most carries (17) and meters (57) of any forward on the paddock.
His 43rd-minute try, barreling in under the sticks from a cute switch, had the Red and Blacks reeling at 26-12. His 79th-minute wriggle through traffic was all heart, a glorious exclamation mark.
Rush provided no respite for Canterbury without the ball. He made 18 tackles, snaffled two turnovers and was ever present in disrupting those with bigger reputations.
Sam Nock and Rivez Reihana are well established with 148 NPC games combined. The talismanic nine-ten combination executed a strategy equal parts cunning, sensible, and bold.
Northland were relentless at the breakdown, pinpoint at set-piece with crafty attacking manoeuvres while serving up surprise kicks and alternative attacking “pictures” that sent the robotic and possibly complacent locals into a tailspin.
Aussie Hudson Creighton in midfield was a fortress with 14 tackles and no misses. Reihana had only one miss from 11 as Canterbury tested Northland in the 10/12 channel.
Northland’s win is their first against Canterbury at Okara Park since 1999. Their last success in Christchurch was 27-7 in 1987. In 2025, Northland held Canterbury to a 19-19 draw; Rob Rush scored a try then too.
Canterbury conceded the most points in Christchurch since a 45-26 loss to Hawke’s Bay in 2021. It was their heaviest home defeat since a 38-10 hiding by Tasman in 2014, the year the Mako made their first NPC final.
Future Irish international James Lowe scored two tries as did All Blacks David Havili and Jimmy Cowan. Marty Banks scored 16 points.
Canterbury’s coach was Scott Robertson (38 wins in 47 games). It was the only year in four he failed to win the title.
Canterbury are 15-time NPC champions. Their biggest defeat as defending champions was 32-3 to Auckland in 1984.
That year Auckland won 19 of 20 games overall, including their first NPC title with an All Blacks-laden team. It was the first of 10 titles in 13 years until 1996, with Auckland winning 208 of 235 games between 1984 and 1996.
In 1978, en route to winning their first title, Wellington beat defending champions Canterbury 29-7 with Bernie Fraser scoring four tries.
Tom Barham (North Harbour)
Wins in the “Battle of the Bridge” are few and far between for North Harbour with only nine in 44 matches.
Indeed, centre Tom Barham, who featured in 36 of the last 41 North Harbour games, had failed to win in three previous attempts. Setting up half of the hosts’ four tries helped change that.
His long cut-out pass to Rory Taylor and cross-kick caught by Israel Leota were as good as it gets. As the game tightened, Barham was busy and accurate on defence, making ten tackles.
Barham was decided in the 2025 Rugby Almanack as the “soundest” of North Harbour’s midfield backs in their bottom-of-the-table finishing season.
He played every game and scored tries against Otago, Northland and Tasman. This year he’s hit the ground running with tries against Tasman and Counties Manukau.
Others to shine for North Harbour were Tristyn Cook and Jack Lee, combining to complete 45 of 47 attempted tackles and snatch three turnovers.
Veteran halfback Bryn Hall is enjoying a new lease on life, singing for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby Pacific in 2027/ Could Leota become a Caleb Tangitau-style winger?
Sam Nemec-Vial (Otago)
There isn’t much to Otago’s fullback (181 cm, 81kg) but invariably something is happening when Nemec-Vial has the ball.
The free-wheeling whippet was always going to thrive against Wellington’s feeble defence. He had a hand in the first three tries with a skip pass to release Jona Nareki.
Then his Carlos Spencer-style pass between the legs carried on the momentum of an attack that ended in a try. Finally, an urgent chase and crushing tackle nailed a retreating Cam Burgess, forcing a bobble from the Lions ten five meters out as Otago crossed for a third.
Additionally, Nemec-Via scored twice, showcasing blistering pace on the right wing. He ranks in the top twenty of the NPC for tries, meters gained, defenders beaten and linebreaks.
Believe it or not, Wellington was better this week than they were in their abysmal 47-7 humiliation to North Harbour, where they were restricted to seven points or fewer for the 43rd time in the NPC. They’ve only won twice when that’s happened.
Wellington enjoyed sustained possession in the second half, which forced front rowers Rohan Wingham (20), Henry Bell (18) and Ben Lopas (15) into sustained tackling.
Impressively, the trio demolished Wellington at scrum time, earning several penalties.
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