Round 4\u00a0Wrap:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Round 4 delivered another entertaining weekend of NPC rugby, with plenty of\u00a0free-flowing\u00a0attack,\u00a0upsets\u00a0and big scores across the country.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Otago\u00a0recorded\u00a0the biggest winning margin\u00a0of the round\u00a0by beating Wellington 61-22 on Sunday evening in Dunedin.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wellington\u00a0were competitive\u00a0in the game\u00a0until around the 25-minute\u00a0mark, but Otago\u2019s attacking\u00a0flair\u00a0looked back in full force as they strung together a consistent\u00a0flow of tries to put the visitors to rest.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were\u00a0plenty of standout performers. Lucas Casey was once again elusive with ball in\u00a0hand, and an\u00a0Otago backline featuring several Highlanders clicked into gear to\u00a0break open the Wellington\u00a0defensive line.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Northland produced one of the upsets of the round on Thursday night, stunning Canterbury 36-12 to claim the Ranfurly Shield for the first time in 48 years. A try just before halftime gave the Taniwha momentum, and they never looked back, dominating the second half to secure a famous Shield victory.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, the Southland Stags travelled to Nelson to take on the Tasman Makos. Tasman were too strong for the Stags as they dominated with ball in hand to win 46-17.\u00a0The contest was tight until late in the second half, with Tasman tacking on some late\u00a0tries\u00a0to clinch the\u00a0match.\u00a0Highlanders’ utility back Taine Robinson was able to contribute seven points through a try and\u00a0a\u00a0conversion off the bench for Tasman.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hawke\u2019s Bay and Folau Fakatava stay undefeated in the NPC as they thrashed\u00a0Manawat\u016b\u00a059-17.\u00a0Te\u00a0Kamaka Howden and the Turbos never really\u00a0looked\u00a0a\u00a0chance\u00a0at\u00a0any point in the match.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tai Cribb and Auckland went down to\u00a0cross-city rivals North Harbour.\u00a0Auckland were a constant step behind North Harbour as they trailed\u00a0the majority of\u00a0the match to lose 27-19.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
A tight contest was displayed between Taranaki and Bay of Plenty.\u00a0The\u00a0Steamers\u00a0took off to an early lead\u00a0at the end of the first half 21-7.\u00a0It was a game of two halves as Taranaki brought it back to 21-19 with the help of a Steamers yellow card.\u00a0However, Bay of Plenty were able to hang on\u00a0to win 28-24. Two Highlanders dotted down in this match, with Nikora Broughton and Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens both crossing for tries.<\/p>\n
Waikato pumped\u00a0Counties Manukau\u00a045-12.\u00a0The struggling Counties team are yet to log a win in the 2026 season, with discipline issues being a major reason\u00a0for\u00a0their loss over the weekend.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Round 4 Results:
\nCanterbury 12\u201336 Northland\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hawke\u2019s Bay 59\u201317\u00a0Manawat\u016b\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tasman 46\u201317 Southland\u00a0<\/p>\n
North Harbour 27\u201319 Auckland\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0Bay of Plenty 28\u201324 Taranaki\u00a0<\/p>\n
Waikato 45\u201312 Counties Manukau\u00a0<\/p>\n
Otago 61\u201322 Wellington\u00a0
\nRound 5 Fixtures:<\/p>\n
Thursday 27 August\u00a0<\/p>\n
Southland vs Hawke\u2019s Bay \u2013 7:10pm, Invercargill Rugby Park\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Friday 28 August\u00a0<\/p>\n
Auckland vs Bay of Plenty \u2013 7:10pm, Eden Park\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Saturday 29 August\u00a0<\/p>\n
Taranaki vs Canterbury \u2013 2:05pm, Stadium Taranaki\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Otago vs Waikato \u2013 5:05pm, Forsyth Barr Stadium\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Manawat\u016b\u00a0vs North Harbour \u2013 7:10pm, Central Energy Trust Arena\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sunday 30 August\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wellington vs Counties Manukau \u2013 2:05pm,\u00a0Hnry\u00a0Stadium\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Northland vs Tasman \u2013 5:05pm,\u00a0Semenoff\u00a0Stadium\u00a0
\nWhat\u2019s Ahead in Round 5:\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the first match of the weekend, Folau and the Magpies head\u00a0south to take on the Stags\u00a0in Invercargill.\u00a0\u00a0Hawke\u2019s Bay will provide a tough test for Sean Withy\u2019s Stags as they\u00a0remain\u00a0undefeated in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Auckland will take on Bay of Plenty\u00a0on Friday night at Eden\u00a0Park,\u00a0where Auckland will be looking to end their losing streak. Bay of Plenty have shown plenty of promise in the first four rounds. Nikora\u00a0Broughton has been in fine form, scoring a\u00a0handful\u00a0of tries and he will look to keep the momentum going\u00a0with a crucial win against a\u00a0somewhat\u00a0subpar\u00a0Auckland team.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Canterbury will take on Taranaki, where Adam Lennox and\u00a0Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens\u00a0will look to avoid their fourth\u00a0defeat in a row against the reigning\u00a0champions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Otago will play at home again as they take on Waikato in a clash between fourth and fifth. Waikato will serve as a good test for Otago as they come off\u00a0a strong\u00a0win\u00a0against Wellington. The usual suspects for Otago will be ones to look out for again through the likes of Lucas Casey and Jona Nareki who have\u00a0lit up the competition so far.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Te\u00a0Kamaka Howden and\u00a0Manawat\u016b\u00a0will take on a strong North Harbour side\u00a0at home. With just one win from their opening four matches, Manawat\u016b will be desperate to find a way to get their second win of the season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Wellington will take on the likes of Ioane Moananu and\u00a0Tuna\u00a0Tuitama\u00a0with Counties Manukau\u00a0in the bottom-of-the-table clash. Both\u00a0Wellington\u00a0and Counties are searching for their first win of the season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The final\u00a0match of Round 5\u00a0on Sunday\u00a0will be an interesting matchup between Northland and Tasman.\u00a0Northland,\u00a0who are the new holders of the\u00a0Ranfurly\u00a0Shield, will have to put it on the line against a strong Tasman side.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Players to Watch in Round 5:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nikora Broughton\u00a0– Bay of Plenty\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the first four rounds of the NPC, Nikora has had a significant impact in each match for Bay of Plenty.\u00a0He has been strong with ball in hand and\u00a0brings\u00a0a balanced game with a high work rate off the ball.\u00a0This level of performance is quickly becoming the norm for Nikora, so expect him to light up Eden Park against Auckland on Friday night.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jona Nareki\u00a0\u2013 Otago\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nareki,\u00a0one of the more experienced players in both the Otago and Highlanders squads,\u00a0has been the\u00a0go-to\u00a0man on the wing. He acts as a reliable finisher and defender on the edge of Otago\u2019s thrilling attack. His experience, mixed with\u00a0the\u00a0likes of Nemec-Vial and\u00a0Te\u00a0Hewi\u00a0has\u00a0put together some\u00a0electrifying tries over the first four rounds, not to mention Jona\u2019s\u00a0defence, which has\u00a0brought about multiple\u00a0try-saving\u00a0tackles already in the season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Will Stodart\u00a0\u2013 Otago\u00a0<\/p>\n
The versatile Stodart has been a consistent performer over the last few seasons for both Otago and the Highlanders. He holds a strong physical presence and\u00a0is one of the key leaders in the Otago forward pack. At just 22 years of\u00a0age,\u00a0he is one of the\u00a0Highlanders’\u00a0most exciting talents. With a strong work rate, he will be one to watch in terms of the number of tackles, carries, and involvement at the breakdown throughout the match.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Watch on SKY and TVNZ\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Round 4\u00a0Wrap:\u00a0\u00a0 Round 4 delivered another entertaining weekend of NPC rugby, with plenty of\u00a0free-flowing\u00a0attack,\u00a0upsets\u00a0and big scores across the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":869576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-869575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/869576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}