| Home team | Auckland |
| Away team | Wellington |
| Venue | Western Springs Stadium |
| Competition | NPC-Round Two |
| Kick-off time | 3:05 am (UK) 2:05 pm (NZ) |
| Watch Live in the UK | Sky Sports |
Auckland vs Wellington NPC round two preview as the sides meet in round two of the NPC.
Both teams lost their opening game of the 2026 campaign. Auckland picked up two points as they lost by seven to Canterbury, while Wellington ended up with one point for scoring more than four tries.
Read more match previews for all your rugby action here
Auckland vs Wellington confirmed lineups
| Auckland | Wellington | ||||
| Forwards | |||||
| Fusitu’a | 1 | Turnbull | |||
| Vikena | 2 | Poasa | |||
| Ta’avao | 3 | Tawake | |||
| Cordukes | 4 | Delany | |||
| Beehre | 5 | Plummer | |||
| Clark | 6 | Ropeti | |||
| Hainsworth-Fa’afo | 7 | Halalilo | |||
| Nofoagatotoa | 8 | Petaia | |||
| Backs | |||||
| Fines-Leleiwasa | 9 | Williams | |||
| Perofeta | 10 | Harkin | |||
| Simpson | 11 | Matsushita | |||
| Ahki | 12 | Kirifi | |||
| Taele | 13 | Palu | |||
| Spencer | 14 | Saumaki | |||
| Norrie | 15 | Burgess | |||
| Replacements | |||||
| Pole | 16 | O’Reilly | |||
| Ake | 17 | Lopeti-Moli | |||
| Tu’ungafasi | 18 | Hewitt | |||
| Cribb | 19 | Falloon | |||
| Baker | 20 | Taramai | |||
| Nginingini | 21 | Henry | |||
| Harford | 22 | Paraone | |||
| Saunoa | 23 | Soli | |||
Recent Form:
Auckland (Home team):
| Result | Date | Competition | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 1st August 2026 | NPC | Canterbury | 38-31 |
| Loss | 3rd October 2025 | NPC | Otago | 17-51 |
| Loss | 26th September 2025 | NPC | Hawke’s Bay | 45-28 |
| Loss | 20th September 2025 | NPC | Counties Manukau | 49-28 |
| Won | 14th September 2025 | NPC | Manawatu | 52-29 |
Auckland have now lost four matches in a row after an opening round defeat to Canterbury. They were sitting in a strong position against the 2025 champions when they were level at 31-31 with a few minutes to go. Richie Mo’unga showed his quality and broke Auckland hearts with a few minutes to go,
Wellington (Away team):
| Result | Date | Competition | Opponent | Score |
| Loss | 2nd August 2026 | NPC | Hawkes Bay | 33-52 |
| Loss | 4th October 2025 | NPC | Bay of Plenty | 26-33 |
| Loss | 27th September 2025 | NPC | Taranaki | 39-20 |
| Won | 20th September 2025 | NPC | Southland | 75-19 |
| Loss | 11th September 2025 | NPC | Northland | 43-26 |
Wellington got blitzed early on by Hawkes Bay and found themselves 26-0 behind after 20 minutes. Despite scoring twice, they conceded another before halftime to sit 31-14 behind.
In the second half they scored three tries, they conceded three.
Auckland vs Wellington head-to-head record (last five matches):
| Date | Competition | Winner | Score |
| 31st August 2025 | NPC | Wellington | 36-17 |
| 9th August 2024 | NPC | Wellington | 21-29 |
| 14th October 2022 | NPC Playoffs | Wellington | 54-19 |
| 20th September 2020 | NPC | Wellington | 21-39 |
| 22nd September 2019 | NPC | Wellington | 15-34 |
Wellington have won five in a row against Auckland, and eight points in 2024 was the closest margin between the sides. Auckland’s last win over Wellington came in 2018 when they won 38-17.
