The three top performers from round seven of the Hilux NPC

North Harbour knocked Hawke’s Bay off their perch, consigning the Magpies to their first loss of the season while winning their fifth game.

They won one in 2025. North Harbour’s last win against Hawke’s Bay had been 46-10 in 2020.

Otago posted their highest score against Tasman in a 57-33 win on Friday night. Lucas Casey has scored a try in his last eight NPC games.

That equals the Otago record of John Timu and is one short of Karl Te Nana, who scored in nine consecutive games in 1997. In the Farah Palmer Cup, Waikato and former Black Ferns hooker Grace Houpapa-Barrett recently scored tries in 12 consecutive matches.

Auckland snapped their four-game losing streak with a 43-33 win over Counties Manukau.

It’s hardly a surprise the Steelers stumbled at Eden Park, winning just two of their last 26 games at the venue.

Wellington suffered more embarrassment, losing 66-19 to Canterbury in Christchurch, their ninth straight loss.

Their worst run in ten in a row. The 66 points conceded by the Lions match the tally conceded in the woeful 1995 Ranfurly Shield challenge.

It is the second-highest in 183 matches against the Red and Blacks and the third-highest all-time.

Daniel Lienert-Brown, a winner of four NPC Premierships, celebrated his 100th game for Canterbury.

He is the 29th Canterbury centurion. The other props to crack a century are Murray Davie (123), John Ashworth (114), Stu Loe (122), Chris Earl (101) and Ben Funnell (101).

On Sunday, Southland smashed Bay of Plenty 43-12, their biggest win against Bay of Plenty. Their previous biggest win against the Steamers was in 1977, when they won 26-6. All Black and New Zealand cricketer Brian McKechnie scored 22 points.

It’s the Stags’ biggest win in any game since mauling Manawatu 37-12 in 2023.

The Turbos’ loose-forward trio might be the best in the competition. Super Rugby veterans TK Howden and Brayden Iose are in imperious form.

Howden ranks in the top ten of the NPC for carries, tackles, and lineout takes. Iose scored two vintage tries in the first win against Taranaki in 10 matches since 2013. The 2013 game was a tryless tussle won 12-6 on four penalties from Jade Te Rure.

Sandwiched between Howden and Iose is the extremely abrasive and promising Mosese Bason. The former New Zealand Secondary Schools and Under-20s representative, who won the Sir John Graham Medal as the best player at the 2024 Super Rugby Under-20 tournament in Tapou, has cemented a regular spot at the Turbos.

He started 10 of his last 11 games after four of his nine appearances were from the bench in 2025.5.

Against Taranaki, Bason made ten vigorous carries. His 16 tackles, including a rib-rattler on Sam Clarke, and three turnovers were vital in the Turbos’ success.

Bason won a jackal that advanced Manawatu into Taranaki territory just before Reece MacDonald’s winning penalty with two minutes remaining.

Became the 23rd Northland centurion and the first halfback since Sid Going, arguably Northland’s most iconic player.

The decade-long, 29-Test All Black was the most prolific winner, with six Tom French trophies for Maori Player of the Year.

Nock was responsible for 10 of Northland’s 31 kicks, helping the Tanwhai win the territorial joust with several clever long and short contestable options.

He distributed with usual speed and variety and scored his 25th try with a trademark snipe.

The openside flanker is the heartbeat of North Harbour, featuring in 45 of their last 49 games.

Against Hawke’s Bay, he scored a try, made pivotal carries in the lead-up to their second try, and when behind 24-12 delivered the last pass for Oscar Koller, a try that changed the momentum of the game. Melvin topped the tackle count with 16 and made 14 carries.