NPC talking points: Final playoff push brings brings ample of intrigue

Stuff

21 September 2023

NPC talking points: Final playoff push brings brings ample of intrigue

Just two rounds remain before the ladder is hacked, leaving eight teams to contest quarterfinals and the remaining six to dissect failed campaigns.

It’s set to be an intriguing conclusion to the regular season, too. After all, not one team currently in the top-eight is locked into a spot, and it’s going to be a squeeze for the final few playoff places.

As it stands, just four points separate seventh-placed North Harbour and 10th-placed Counties Manukau, while only winless Southland is eliminated from contention.

It’s also going to be a heck of a race for the top-four spots, which come with home quarterfinals, with only six points between second-placed Canterbury and sixth-placed Hawke’s Bay.

If anyone is breathing somewhat easy, it’s reigning champions Wellington.

Unbeaten atop the ladder with 37 points, they’ll secure No 1 seed if they beat North Harbour in Porirua on Sunday.

Riding a scorching 18-match winning streak, they would also retain the Ranfurly Shield, leaving just one final challenge – against Hawke’s Bay in Wellington Saturday week – to navigate to ensure they can stash the Log o’ Wood for a second consecutive summer.

Indeed, Wellington, unbeaten since losing to Northland on August 20 last year, are white-hot favourites to go back-to-back.

They’re riding their outstanding defence, having conceded just 19 tries in eight games, comfortably the fewest in a competition littered with free-flowing and high-scoring encounters that can make some of the Rugby World Cup matches seem like a snore-fest.

In addition to securing the top-seed and the Shield, beating North Harbour would also mark Wellington’s longest winning streak in history, surpassing the 18 scalps they stitched together between 1986-1987.

While all round eight matches carry playoff implications, the Canterbury-Tasman clash on Saturday will go a long way to determining the second-seed, while it’s essentially must-win time for Waikato when they host underperforming Otago on Sunday.

Taranaki’s home match against Auckland shapes as a beauty, with the winner taking a huge stride towards hosting a home quarterfinal.

Buckle up.

Thinking outside the box

Kudos to Canterbury, who continue to try new things in a bid to get punters through the gates.

Having taken a fixture to Rangiora for the first time this month, a move which attracted a crowd of 6500, they’ve set to host a triple header at Apollo Projects Stadium on Saturday.

They’ve invited four South Island Heartland Championship sides to the Garden City on a day they will host Tasman in what shapes as a crunch all-Crusaders region match.

That’s set to be pancaked in between (4.35pm) a couple of Heartland matches, starting with record-setting and reigning champions South Canterbury playing Mid Canterbury at 2.05pm.

In a West Coast derby, Buller will play West Coast in the 7.05pm match.

Stats chat

It’s not as easy to dig up NPC stats as it is when it comes to Super Rugby or other major competitions around the globe, but let’s single out a few notables.

Starting with a bloke – Heremaia Murray – few would have predicted would be leading the try-scoring charts through seven rounds of action.

The Northland outside back has touched down seven times, leaving him one try clear of Losi Filipo (Wellington), Michael Manson (Southland) and Blair Murray (Canterbury).

Murray also leads the competition for metres gained (734), and has made the second most carries (95) between Waikato’s Tepaea Cook-Savage (100).

Nobody has beaten more defenders than Kade Banks (North Harbour), while returning Warrior and Auckland’s Roger Tuivasa-Sheck tops the competition for offloads (14).

Outstanding Canterbury loose forward and captain Billy Harmon has made the most tackles (113) during a competition which has seen 18 of the 55 matches (32.5%) decided by seven or fewer points.