Round eight NPC: Snubbed All Black and NRL-bound winger star

Ricky Riccitelli (Taranaki) 

Defending champions Taranaki are well poised to defend their Premiership title sweeping to three wins in storm week to sit second on the table with a round to play. On Wednesday in New Plymouth, Taranaki edged North Harbour 31-25 with Ricky Riccitell scoring four tries, one better than fellow hooker Bradley Slater in Taranaki’s 63-19 thrashing of Hawke’s Bay on September 20.

Riccitell has had a stellar dozen months driving the Blues lineout to greater heights in their Super Rugby Pacific triumph and a vital cog in the Bulls’ surge to NPC glory in 2023. He’s rugged, reliable, and must be a contender for the All Blacks Japan /Northern tour in October and November.

Waikato’s Rob Gordon holds the record for most tries by a forward in an NPC match. The All Blacks loose forward scored five tries in a 75-12 win against Southland in Invercargill in 1990. Zinzan Brooke (Auckland, 1987), John Mitchell (Waikato, 1990), Liam Barry (North Harbour, 1993), Antonio Kiri Kiri (Manawat?, 2016) and Asafo Aumua (Wellington, 2022) have also scored four tries in an NPC game.

Three players have scored five tries in a game for Taranaki: George Loveridge v Whanganui, 1913, Dave Vesty v Thames Valley, 1971 and Mark Robinson v Southland, 1997.

Player Tackles Won

1

Sase Va'a

17

2

Josh Lord

15

3

Kaylum Boshier

15

Hoskins Sotutu (Counties Manukau)

Counties Manukau won the Jonah Lomu Memorial Trophy for the first time smashing table-topping Wellington 51-12 in a performance that appeared to summon the spirit of the big man. The Steelers were possessed in the collision area and scored some cracking tries as Wellington waned.

It was timely for Hoskins Sotutu to produce a damaging display with the All Blacks loose forward trio still not settled ahead of the Japan/Nothern tour.

Other standouts were Adam Brash, Alamanda Motuga, Ian West-Stevens, Kauvaka Kaivelata, Riley Hohepa and Tevita Ofa. Surprisingly, the score and margin (39 points) against Wellington aren’t the worst result for the Lions against Counties Manukau. That horrorshow was exactly ten years to the day before this one. On 27 September 2014, Counties-Manukau beat Wellington 55-7.

Player Carries

1

Peter Umaga-Jensen

16

2

Alamanda Motuga

15

3

Riley Higgins

13

Moses Leo (North Harbour) 

North Harbour kept their playoff hopes alive with a staggering 65-19 thrashing of Canterbury, the largest defeat Canterbury has suffered. Winger Moses Leo ran rampant with three tries and 238 meters gained.

The former Westlake Boys’ High School prodigee struggled for several seasons with injury. His breakthrough came at the 2020 Red Bull Ignite7s tournament where he was part of the winning Bolt side and was named Players’ Player of the Tournament. He made his All Blacks Sevens debut in Singapore in 2022 and was part of the 2022/2023 World Series winning team.

A rapid finisher possibly with the bulk and skill to play midfield Leo has also touched down this season against Auckland, Northland and Taranaki.

In 2026 he is set to join the Melbourne Storm in the NRL for two seasons. On current form, he’d be worthy of a Super Rugby Pacific contract in 2025.

Christian Lio-Willie (Otago)

Otago became the first team to lower Tasman’s colours in 2024 by scoring 26 unanswered points in the final 17 minutes of a 47-31 victory.

Once again Otago captain Christian Lio-Willie was to the fore with a crucial try after Otago had started sluggishly. Lio-Willie is the fifth most frequent carrier in the NPC. He also contributed 16 tackles in the Tasman triumph.

The Otago pack, in general, was excellent with locks Will Stodart and Fabin Holland each scoring second-half tries. Stodart ranks fifth for most tackles in the NPC with 115.