2026 NPC Semi-Finalists Set

After the weekend NPC matches, the semi-finals are set with Northland hosting Otago on Fridays night, and Canterbury hosting Taranaki on Sunday afternoon.

Northland beat Tasman 26-21, Otago beat Hawkes Bay 50-14, Taranaki beat North Harbour 50-31, and Canterbury beat Waikato 62-26

Northland: 26 

Tries: Brady Rush 37’, Lachlan Hooper 40’, Terrell Peita 51’, Ricki Heremaia 74’, Conversions: Rivez Reihana 3

Tasman: 21 

Tries: Johnny Lee 4’, Kyren Taumoefolau 21’, Dylan Irvine 77’, Conversions: William Havili 2

Otago: 50

Tries: Lio-Wille, McClea, Mau, Bell, Nemec-Vial, Lam, Irving, Conversions: Millar 5, Pellegrini, Penalty: Millar

Hawkes Bay: 14

Tries: Fakatava, penalty try, Conversion: Godfrey

Taranaki: 50

Tries: Naholo 2, Slater 3, Loft, Ratumaitavuli-Kneepkens, Tekoisolomone, Conversions: Clarke 5

North Harbour: 31

Tries: Taylor 2, Wye, Rice 2, Conversions: Howell 3

 Canterbury: 62 

Tries: Brodie McAlister 6' & 24' & 40', Johnny McNicholl 11', Dallas McLeod 17', Kurtis MacDonald 26', Dominic Gardiner 36', Andrew Knewstubb 66', Tahlor Cahill 68', Tyson Belworthy 73', Conversions: Isaac Hutchinson 6

Waikato: 26 

Tries: Mason Tupaea 27, Austin Anderson 43', Waisake Salabiau 54' & 77', Conversions: Taha Kemara con, D'Angelo Leuila 2 

All Blacks Beat Australia

The All Blacks have won the opening Bledisloe Cup match against Australia 50-19 at Eden Park on Saturday night.

After conceding the opening try to Australia in the first minutes of the match the All blacks struck back to hold a 17-14 lead at half time. In the second half it was more of the same with a further five tries scored.

New Zealand: 50 

Tries: Peter Lakai, Tupuo Vaa’i, Cameron Roigard, Codie Taylor, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby, Will Jordan, Conversions: Damian McKenzie 6, Penalty: McKenzie

Australia: 19 

Tries: Tom Wright, Harry Wilson, Josh Nasser, Conversions: Ryan Lonergan 2

Black Ferns Defeat Scotland

Black Ferns: 66 

Tries: Mo'omo'oga Palu, Maama Vaipulu, Justine McGregor, Elinor-Plum King, Layla Sae two, Amy Du Plessis, Amarante Sititi, Tara Turner, Alena Saili, Conversions: Braxton Sorensen-McGee 7, Hannah King

Scotland: 14 

Tries: Evie Gallagher 2, Conversions: Helen Nelson 2

Scott Robertson Out As All Black Coach

All Blacks coach Scott Robertson is out as the All Blacks coach after two years in the role. After a review of the 2025 season in which the All Blacks won 20 of their 27 tests, New Zealand Rugby has issued a statement saying Robertson will leave by mutual agreement. 

The All Blacks have matches starting in July with France, Italy and Ireland, and then have an eight match tour of South Africa which includes four tests. Ultimately the focus will now be on who will lead the All Blacks this year and next with the Rugby World Cup in Australia in 2027.

Draw for 2027 Rugby World Cup In Australia

The draw has been made for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. New Zealand has been selected in Pool A with Australia, but match dates will be unknown until 3rd February 2026.

Pool A: New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Hong Kong

Pool B: South Africa, Italy, Georgia, Romania

Pool C: Argentina, Fiji, Spain, Canada

Pool D: Ireland, Scotland, Uruguay, Portugal

Pool E: France, Japan, USA, Samoa

Pool F: England, Wales, Tonga, Zimbabwe.

All Blacks Finish Year With Win Over Wales

The All Blacks have beaten Wales 52-26 to end the year on a high after last weeks loss to England. The All Blacks scored seven tries, with doubles to wings Sevu Reece and Caleb Clarke, while Damian McKenzie was successful with all the conversions. 

All Blacks: 52 

Tries: Caleb Clarke 2, Ruben Love, Tamaiti Williams, Rieko Ioane, Sevu Reece 2, Conversions: Damian McKenzie 7, Penalty: McKenzie 

Wales: 26 

Tries: Tom Rogers 3, Louis Rees-Zammit, Conversions: Dan Edwards 3 

All Blacks Beaten By England

The All Blacks have suffered their first defeat of their Northern Tour with a 33-19 loss to England on Sunday morning. The All Blacks had led 12-0 early in the match with tries to winger  Leicester Fainga'anuku and hooker Codie Taylor, but England fought back to narrow the score to 12-11 at halftime. The second half was all England as the pressure mounted against the All Blacks, with errors and the sin-binning of Codie Taylor contributing.

All Blacks: 19

Tries: Leicester Fainga'anuku, Codie Taylor, Will Jordan , Conversions: Beauden Barrett, Damian McKenzie

England: 33

Tries: Ollie Lawrence, Sam Underhill, Fraser Dingwall, Henry Pollock, Conversions: George Ford 2, Penalty: Ford, Drop Goals: Ford 2