Manawatu vs North Harbour NPC preview: Confirmed lineups

Home team	Manawatu
Away team	North Harbour
Venue	Central Energy Trust Arena
Competition	NPC
Kick-off time	8:10 am (UK) 7:10 pm (NZ)
Watch Live in the UK	NPC Youtube Channel

Manawatu vs North Harbour preview as the sides meet at the Central Energy Trust Arena in round five of the NPC. The teams have opposite record with North Harbour winning three of their four games, while Manawatu have won one. North Harbour could push as high as second with a strong win. 

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Manawatu vs North Harbour confirmed lineups

Manawatu			North Harbour
Forwards
Hala-Ngatai		1		Tafa
Dolokoto		2		Gordon
Wallace		3		L Tu’ungafasi
Harley		4		Farnan
Roiri		5		Lee
Howden		6		Cook
Bason		7		Melvin
Iose		8		Reeves
Backs
Viljoen		9		Muriwai
Worboys		10		Miln
Tapueluelu		11		Taylor
Tofa		12		Koller
Brown		13		Barham
Filimone		14		Leota
MacDonald		15		Banks
Replacements
Fakava		16		Hafoka
Sae-Ta’ufo’ou		17		Cowley-Andrea
Gavigan		18		Tofilau
Woods		19		Olaaiga
Johnson		20		Ah-Hing
Philipson		21		Hall
Wild		22		Namoce
Laumape		23		Pulini

Recent Form:

Manawatu (Home team): 

Result	Date	Competition	Opponent	Score
Loss	21st August 2026	NPC	Hawkes Bay	59-17
Loss	15th August 2026	NPC	Otago	27-29
Won	9th August 2026	NPC	Southland	36-35
Loss	2nd August 2026	NPC	Northland	40-14
Loss	4th October 2025	NPC	Hawke’s Bay	10-38

Manawatu were hit with a heavy defeat by Hawkes Bay in the last round of the NPC. They got off to a great start and were leading 12-7 after 20 minutes. Manawatu then conceded seven tries in a row, were able to score one more and then conceded another to finish the game behind by 42 points. 

North Harbour (Away team): 

Result	Date	Competition	Opponent	Score
Won	22nd August 2026	NPC	Auckland	27-19
Won	13th August 2026	NPC	Wellington	7-47
Won	6th August 2026	NPC	Counties Manukau	59-19
Loss	31st July 2026	NPC	Tasman Makos	31-29
Won	3rd October 2025	NPC	Southland	15-14

North Harbour have now on three games in a row to push up the table in the NPC after a narrow defeat in week one. In the last round they picked up a 27-19 win over local rivals Auckland. They scored four tries in the first half to take a 24-14 lead into the break. A penalty late in the game, having conceded a try early in the second half to win by eight points.

Manawatu vs North Harbour head-to-head record (last five matches):

Date	Competition	Winner	Score
1st August 2025	NPC	Manawatu	38-25
14th September 2024	NPC	North Harbour	58-19
10th September 2023	NPC	North Harbour	29-48
14th August 2022	NPC	North Harbour	64-14
29th September 2019	NPC	North Harbour	16-29

Manawatu won the meeting between these sides last year with North Harbour having won five in a row before this.