Hawkes Bay vs Taranaki Predictions - Hawkes Bay to avenge 2023 final defeat against Taranaki

Hawkes Bay have won three of their last five matches against Taranaki, however, the last two have gone in Taranaki’s favour. Last season, Taranaki won 22-19 at home in the NPC final.

Hawkes Bay have started to stumble after opening their season with five successive wins. They were top of the table but have now dropped to fourth after two defeats in a row.

Last week, Hawkes Bay produced a shocking display out of nowhere, losing 50-5 to Waikato away. The week before, the Bay lost 25-24 at home to Tasman.

Prior to that, Hawkes Bay beat Northland, Southland, North Harbour and Canterbury.

After a shocking performance last weekend, expect plenty of changes to the Hawkes Bay side.

Taranaki are down in sixth place on the NPC table with four wins from six matches. They are on 20 points, seven behind their opponents.

The time has come for Taranaki, as defending champions, to start getting some big results if they want to defend their crown. Last week, Taranaki suffered a 33-20 defeat at Bay of Plenty, a match they would have expected to be much tighter.

Prior to that, Taranaki had beaten Otago and Waikato in tight matches.

Taranaki are in a decent spot, but they need to get a couple of wins in a row to get within striking distance of the top four. I don’t expect too many changes to the side that lost last week.