Waikato vs Manawatu NPC Round 8 Preview

Home team	Waikato
Away team	Manawatu
Venue	FMG Stadium Waikato
Competition	NPC Round 8
Kick-off time	6:05 am (UK) 5:05 pm (NZ)
Watch Live in the UK	NPC YouTube Channel

Waikato vs Manawatu preview as the sides meet at FMG Stadium Waikato in the eighth round of the NPC. Both sides are separated by one point in the table with Manawatu leading their opponents on 20 points to Waikato’s 19. This is despite Manawatu having an extra win, picking up four victories from seven games to Waikato’s three wins. They currently sit in and around the important eighth place which would get them into the playoffs.

Waikato vs Manawatu confirmed lineups

Waikato		Manawatu
Forwards
Tupaea	1		Hala-Ngatai
Ralph	2		Tuputupu
Dyer	3		Wallace
Burr	4		Harley
Eti	5		Howden
Jacobson	6		Woods
Mathis	7		Bason
Lauaki	8		Iose
Backs
Farrant	9		Philipson
Kemara	10		Worboys
Stephens	11		Tapueluelu
Anderson	12		Tofa
Lewai	13		Filimone
Salibiau	14		Wild
Rata-Makene	15		MacDonald
Replacements
Anae-Ah Sue	16		Dolokoto
Quinn	17		Pratt
Kautai	18		Sae-Ta’ufo’ou
Smith	19		Allen
Brown	20		Roiri
Nakajima	21		Wilson
Leuila	22		Kennedy
Tuivailala	23		Laumape

Lineup changes:

W: Ralph and Laukaki come into the pack with the latter leading to a shuffle in the back row. The backline sees major changes. Leuila comes out at 12, Anderson moves into the 12 shirt from 13 last week and Lewai moves into 13 from the wing. The back three is completely changed with Stephens, Salabiau and Rata-Makene coming into the back three.

M: Hala-Ngatai comes into the front row and Woods comes in at six to shift Howden into lock. Worboys comes in at 10, shifting MacDonald back to 15. Wild moves to 14 and Filimone moves into 13.

Key matchups

Lauaki vs Iose

Lauaki is one of the exciting young backrowers in the country and has impressed over the last few seasons to earn a place in the Highlanders squad. Iose has been brilliant for the Hurricanes and carried that form into the NPC season.

Recent Form:

Waikato (Home team):

Result	Date	Competition	Opponent	Score
Loss	12th September 2026	NPC	Northland	34-17
Loss	5th September 2026	NPC	Canterbury	14-36
Loss	29th August 2026	NPC	Otago	43-38
Won	23rd August 2026	NPC	Counties Manukau	45-12
Loss	16th August 2026	NPC	Southland	32-31

Waikato lost out in their Ranfurly Shield attempt to make it three losses in a row. After conceding on 15 minutes, the visitors got on the board with an athletic finish from Dan Sinkinson to get his side on the board. Northland scored off the back of a rolling maul to bring the score to 12-5. Sinkinson thought he had a second try after an intercept in midfield, but an earlier penalty infringement allowed Northland to kick and bring in the halftime score at 15-5. Northland started the second half well with a try in the corner, but Cook-Savage pulled out one of the finishes of the season under pressure from three defenders trying to knock him into touch, but he managed to get the ball down.

After two Northland tries had basically sealed the game for Northland, Waikato were able to score one more try to leave the score at 34-17 at full-time.

Manawatu (Away team):

Result	Date	Competition	Opponent	Score
Won	10th September 2026	NPC	Taranaki Bulls	27-25
Won	5th September 2026	NPC	Bay of Plenty	12-29
Won	29th August 2026	NPC	North Harbour	43-40
Loss	21st August 2026	NPC	Hawkes Bay	59-17
Loss	15th August 2026	NPC	Otago	27-29

Manawatu pulled off a narrow win to make it three wins in a row. By the 12th minute they were 10-0 down following a long range penalty and a maul try for the Bulls. Manawatu had struck back within three minutes scoring from several phases after receiving a free kick at the line out for incorrect numbers. A penalty would leave the sides level at 10-10. In wet conditions a poor clearance kick from the Bulls allowed Manawatu to get over just before halftime. They couldn’t hold the lead into the break though and conceded with the clock in the red.

Manawatu took the lead first in the second half after a few scrappy situations allowed them to slip through the line and send Doug Philipson over for the try.

James Tofa got a yellow card for slapping the ball out of the nines hand and Taranaki scored from the maul. They conceded another penalty that the Bulls kicked leaving Manawatu behind.

In the final few minutes it looked like Manawatu were going to be held up in open play, which would have given Taranaki the win. Taranaki prop James Profitt jumped around the back the maul in an offside position and MacDonald kicked the winning points.

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

Date	Competition	Winner	Score
6th September 2025	NPC	Manawatu	36-26
26th August 2022	NPC	Waikato	53-6
18th August 2018	NPC	Manawatu	24-19
16th September 2017	NPC	Manawatu	10-23
4th September 2016	NPC	Waikato	19-10

The last three meetings in this fixtures have been won by the home team, but these meetings have been sporadic with only three taking place since 2018. Manawatu won the crucial meeting by 10 last year.