Canterbury have retained their Hilux NPC crown with a hard-fought 43-24 victory over the Northland Taniwha at One New Zealand Stadium in Christchurch.

The home side trailed 21-10 at halftime, but stormed home in front of a sold-out home crowd to claim their 16th NPC title.

Alex Robertson’s side ultimately had too much quality for the visitors, despite a valiant effort from Northland on Monday afternoon.

Canterbury’s impact, led by All Blacks hooker George Bell and Chiefs winger Isaac Hutchinson, was the difference as the home side squeezed Ryan Martin’s Northland in the second forty minutes.

Both sides had incredible moments in a game that had momentum swings and several lead changes. 

The pivotal moment came late in the second half, when inspirational Northland halfback Sam Nock was yellow-carded, which Canterbury took advantage of through Hutchinson.

The home side opened the scoring in the final through one of their most influential players across the season, Dominic Gardiner, who crashed over from close range.

Andrew Knewstubb briefly celebrated a big shot on Northland winger Brady Rush, only for it to become a yellow card on review from referee James Doleman, sitting the Canterbury first-five down for ten minutes.

Northland capitalised in the next phase of play, with Jordan Trainor setting up Heremaia Murray after a subtle grubber kick. The kick turned Chay Fihaki around, leaving Murray to scoop the ball up and dot down for Northland’s first in the final. Rivez Reihana slotted the conversion from ten meters in from touch.

Martin’s side battled away with one-off ball carriers close to the Canterbury line, before finally extending their lead to nine. Marcel Renata went close, but it was Trainor who broke two Canterbury tacklers to give Northland breathing room.

Northland then launched off the back of an overthrown lineout to break through and score on the stroke of halftime, and it was inspirational leader Sam Nock who created the break. The former Blues halfback burst through a gap in the Canterbury defence before linking up with Corey Evans close to the line.

Evans fended off two defenders, smashing the ball down to give the travelling Northland faithful more reason to believe. Reihana, once again, sent the conversion over the posts to give the away side a healthy lead heading into the halftime oranges.

HT: 21-10 to Northland.

Gardiner, as he did in the first half, started with a hiss and a roar with ball in hand, getting Canterbury over the advantage line. The home side then went to the trusty lineout drive, after Nock was yellow-carded for a cynical defensive play.

Northland looked like they may have stopped the rolling maul, but a powerful second shove saw replacement hooker George Bell cross to get the contest within a one-score margin.

It was that man again, Bell, who gave Canterbury the lead in the 54th minute, finding a small gap to the right of the posts off a Louis Chapman pop pass. Despite a couple of last-ditch tackle attempts, Bell was too strong, giving Canterbury a three-point lead with 24 minutes to play.

Reihana continued his fine form off the boot to level the game at 24-all, before Canterbury got back on the front foot minutes later.

An outrageous 25-phase attack from Canterbury saw replacement winger Isaac Hutchinson cross, diving under two covering Northland defenders in the 63rd minute. Fihaki took over the goal-kicking from the inconsistent Knewstubb, and the one-Test All Black knocked over the conversion at ease.

The visitors, who never gave up in their first NPC final, had their chances inside Canterbury’s 22-meter line, but twice threw it away with a lack of execution.

Hutchinson landed what looked like the killer blow in the 74th minute, after the ever-present Gardiner pounced on a Johnny McNicholl line break.

But minutes later, Tyson Belworthy said hold my beer. The replacement halfback scooped up the ball from the back of the scrum, backed his pace, pinned his ears back, and dotted down in the right-hand corner to clinch the 2026 Hilux NPC title.

FT: 43-24 to Canterbury over Northland.