Taranaki Bulls vs Auckland NPC preview: Confirmed lineups

Home team	Taranaki Bulls
Away team	Auckland
Venue	Stadium Taranaki
Competition	NPC
Kick-off time	8:10 am (UK) 7:10 pm (NZ)
Watch Live in the UK	NPC Youtube Channel

Taranaki Bulls vs Auckland preview as the sides meet in round six of the NPC. 

Taranaki sit ninth in the table with two wins from their five game so far and with five bonus points are on 13 points. Auckland have only won one match so far this year and also picked up five bonus points to sit on nine points after five games. 

Read more match previews here

Taranaki Bulls vs Auckland confirmed lineups

Taranaki Bulls			Auckland
Forwards
Proffit		1		Fusitua
Pokai		2		Vikena
Parker		3		Ta’avao
Jury		4		Cribb
Parete		5		Hallam-Eames
Namosimalua		6		Baker
Loft		7		Woodley
Boshier		8		Nofoagatotoa
Backs
Ngatai		9		Arscott
Clarke		10		Harford
Naholo		11		Saunoa
Rona		12		Taele
Grindlay		13		Latu
Tikioisolomone		14		Spencer
Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens		15		Simpson
Replacements
Landon-Lane		16		Pole
Lawrence		17		Ake
Johnston		18		Davies
Sa		19		Topeni
Walters-Hansen		20		Clark
Mildon		21		Fines-Leleiwasa
Viljoen		22		Basson
Tamanivalu		23		Tito-Harris

Recent Form:

Taranaki Bulls (Home team): 

Result	Date	Competition	Opponent	Score
Won	29th August 2026	NPC	Canterbury	40-26
Loss	22nd August 2026	NPC	Bay of Plenty	28-24
Loss	14th August 2026	NPC	Northland	42-0
Loss	7th August 2026	NPC	Waikato	32-38
Won	1st August 2026	NPC	Counties Maukau	5-20

Taranaki Bulls got back to winning ways with a 40-26 victory against Canterbury. They had a strong first-half, taking a 28-7 lead shortly after the break. Canterbury would score three tries in the final 30 minutes, but two tries from Taranaki would score two more to secure a brilliant win.

Auckland (Away team): 

Result	Date	Competition	Opponent	Score
Loss	28th August 2026	NPC	Bay of Plenty	19-22
Loss	22nd August 2026	NPC	North Harbour	27-19
Loss	15th August 2026	NPC	Hawkes Bay	31-44
Won	8th August 2026	NPC	Wellington	34-31
Loss	1st August 2026	NPC	Canterbury	38-31

Auckland lost their third game in a row as they fell to defeat against the Bay of Plenty. After a slow start they were 12-0 behind after 16 minutes. Auckland scored three tries in a row to take a 19-12 lead with 25 minutes to go. A Bay of Plenty try with 10 minutes to go bring the scores back level. Auckland conceded a penalty in the final moments and Bay of Plenty kicked for three points to win. 

Taranaki Bulls vs Auckland head-to-head record (last five matches):

Date	Competition	Winner	Score
16th August 2025	NPC	Taranaki	8-50
23rd September 2023	NPC	Taranaki	18-16
1st October 2022	NPC	Auckland	38-24
10th October 2020	NPC	Auckland	28-29
11th October 2019	NPC	Auckland	11-35

Taranaki have won the last two meetings between these sides, with a huge away win last season. The two meetings before that were won by the home side.