By the numbers: The NPC's best performers of 2024

New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship pits the various corners of the country’s professional rugby community against one another in a unique and storied competition.

Players ascending, descending or stalling through the rugby ranks, fighting for Super Rugby squad selection or All Blacks squad selection all land in this melting pot of provincial pride, and in 2024, some new stars rose to the top.

International talent came filtering through as The Rugby Championship and Pacific Nations Cup wrapped up and global stars returned to the stage they once used as a launchpad, shoulder to shoulder with players looking to emulate that very journey.

Here are the players who led the tournament’s biggest statistical categories:

Tries scored

10 – Kade Banks, North Harbour

With North Harbour’s elite backline talent of one-time All Black Shaun Stevenson, All Blacks Sevens flyer Moses Leo, Tonga’s Fine Inisi and even a brief cameo from Mark Tele’a, you’d be forgiven for thinking Banks might be forced to take a backseat while the aforementioned stars shone.

However, among that crowd of fringe world-class athletes, Banks thrived. The 24-year-old scored more than a try per game in the campaign, four of which came in a single outing against Waikato in a 43-29 win. That match saw the scores locked at 22 points apiece with 25 minutes remaining before a rapid-fire Banks hat-trick broke the game open and secured a runaway win for his team.

The Blues winger found his way to the try line courtesy of swift backline chemistry as well as individual brilliance, proving a lethal final link in the Harbour chain.

All Blacks XV omission Ricky Ricitelli was next best with the hooker claiming eight ‘meat pies’ in the tournament’s regular season.

Defenders beaten

58 – Timoci Tavatavanawai, Tasman

The physical Fijian was in career-best form for the Mako in 2024 while playing on both the wing and some minutes at centre.

Also one of the tournament’s best breakdown turnover exponents, the bruising Highlanders back had his fingerprints all over Tasman’s season on both sides of the ball.

17 tackle breaks in round five’s one-point win over Hawkes Bay alone would have had him halfway to the top 10 most defenders beaten list, but a total season tally of 58 instead sees him well clear of the next closest player on the list – Kade Banks with 47.

Unsurprisingly, Tavatavanawai boasted the best tackle evasion success rate in the competition as well at 56 per cent.

Kini Naholo, Emoni Narawa and Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens also beat over 40 defenders on the season.

58 – Timoci Tavatavanawai has beaten more defenders (58) than any other player this @BunningsNPC season, and has the highest tackle evasion rate (56%) of any player to make more than 30 carries. Shark. https://t.co/KXLdylW5MA pic.twitter.com/WHMiE95pNi

— OptaJason (@OptaJason) October 9, 2024

Tackles won

164 – TK Howden, Manawatu

The Turbos’ last-place finish was an unjust reflection of the spirited performances of their loose forward trio in particular. However, with the team on the back foot in so many contests, Hurricanes loose forward TK Howden had no issue getting his hands dirty.

As impressive as Howden’s best defensive effort statistically was against Bay of Plenty, with 27 tackles made in the contest, there were plenty of players with 30-tackle games this season. What makes Howden’s record remarkable is his consistency.

The 23-year-old blindside flanker was the top tackler in three games this season but provided his side with fewer than 10 tackles just once while appearing in all nine games.

The next best in the tackle count this season was Otago’s 22-year-old flanker, Harry Taylor, with 152 tackles total.

Points scored

137 – Tane Edmed, North Harbour

The Waratahs playmaker was a surprise inclusion in Harbour’s 2024 squad, a signing that worked out rather well for the team.

A quarter of the 24-year-old’s total points on the season came in a single, record-breaking performance against Manawatu in round six’s 58-19 win.

The record in question was North Harbour’s single-game individual points record. Edmed’s two tries, seven conversions and three penalties saw his points tally reach 33 thanks to a perfect night off the tee.

Taranaki’s Josh Jacomb was 31 points behind the Australian first five-eighth in the season tally.

Clean breaks

17 – Moses Leo and Sofai Maka, North Harbour

Despite coming 10th in the competition, this Harbour team were simply electric across the backline.

Leo, no stranger to making breaks on the SVNS circuit, seamlessly slipped back into the 15-man game as a pacy centre that posed huge threats and helped set up the players outside him; players like Sofai Maka.

The young winger’s acceleration down the touchline is elite and helped him power through gaps in the defence on a regular basis.

Kade Banks yet again shows up here as the next best with 16 clean breaks in the competition, tied with Wellington’s latest All Blacks XV selection in Riley Higgins.