North Harbour vs Otago Predictions - North Harbour to prevail against Otago

Brad Newcomb

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Last updated: 37 minutes ago

Brad Newcomb 37 minutes ago

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North Harbour have won 4 of their last 5 home games.
Otago have lost 2 of their last 3 visits to Harbour.
Tip: North Harbour are predicted to cover the +1.5 handicap at home.

North Harbour have had success against Otago at home in recent matchups (Getty Images)

North Harbour must win to maintain their position in the standings to secure a home quarter-final in the NPC. Otago will be aiming to finish the regular season at the top of the table, but they have lost away to North Harbour in recent clashes.

North Harbour have won 4 of their last 5 home fixtures.
North Harbour have won 2 of their last 3 home matches against Otago.
Otago have won 3 of their last 5 away games.

Head to Head

Otago have the advantage over North Harbour, with eight victories to three in 11 meetings in the National Provincial Championship.

North Harbour Form

North Harbour scored a converted try in the first half against Canterbury last weekend to trail 15-7 at half-time.

Harbour improved in the second half, scoring three tries and a conversion, but fell just short against Canterbury, losing 25-24 at home.

Before that result, North Harbour lost 31-29 away to Tasman, beat Counties Manukau 59-19 at home, Wellington 47-7 away, and Auckland 27-19 at home, then lost 43-40 away to Manawatu before defeating Northland 57-42 at home and Hawke's Bay 31-24 away.

Harbour are fourth in the National Provincial Championship table with 31 points after eight rounds.

North Harbour have had a solid campaign so far and will have the belief that they can come out on top against Otago to give play-off ambitions a boost, as they have won four of their last five home matches.

Otago Form

Otago produced a solid first-half display against Counties Manukau last weekend, scoring four tries and three conversions to lead 26-14 at the break.

The away side added four tries and two conversions to their points tally to cruise to an easy 50-21 away win over Counties Manukau.

Earlier in their campaign, the Blue and Gold defeated Southland 41-14 away, lost 19-15 at home to Canterbury, beat Manawatu 29-27 away, Wellington 61-22 at home and Waikato 43-38 at home, then lost 35-24 away to Hawke's Bay before defeating Tasman 57-33 at home.

Otago are second in the NPC table with 32 points from eight matches.

Otago have been performing well lately and are on course to secure a home quarter-final berth, but they will have to be at their best to beat North Harbour, as they have lost two of their last three away games against their opponents.

Team News

North Harbour

Riley Tofilau scored a brace against Canterbury last weekend.

Kade Banks and Sam Tuitupou each scored a try in the match, while Cameron Howell slotted two conversions.

Starting XV: Oscar Cowley-Andrea, Bryn Gordon, Leka Tu’ungafasi, James Fiebig, Angus Farnan, Sam Tuitupou, Motikiai Murray, George Reeves, Bryn Hall (C), Cameron Howell, Rory Taylor, Oskar Koller, Leo Gordon, Thomas Barham, Hunter Rice

Replacements: Moses Hafoka, Toma Laumalili, Riley Tofilau, Taeao Pomale Time, Dane Sawers, Sam Wye, Coby Miln, Sofai Notoa-Tipo

Otago

Lucas Casey, Jona Nareki, Ben Lopas, Christian Lio-Willie, Oliver Haig, Saula Ma'u, Slade McDowall, and Sam Nemec-Vial each crossed the try line against Counties Manukau last weekend.

Patrick Pellegrini slotted five conversions in the match.

Starting XV: Benjamin Lopas, Henry Bell, Saula Ma’u, Will Stodart, Harry Irving, Lucas Casey, Slade McDowall, Christian Lio-Willie (C), Kieran McClea, Cameron Millar, Jona Nareki, Jake Te Hiwi, Josh Timu, Riley Lucas, Sam Nemec-Vial

Replacements: Nic Souchon, Marley Pearce, Rohan Wingham, Mitchell Tinnock, Charles Elton, Joel Lam, Patrick Pellegrini, Finn Hurley

Verdict

North Harbour v Otago

North Harbour have had success at home against Otago recently and are tipped to cover the +1.5 handicap.

North Harbour +1.5

Handicap

@1,81 - 3 Units

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North Harbour Win

Result

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Brad graduated from the University of South Africa with a Bcom-Management Accounting degree and has a financial background.

His love of sport has seen him venture down the road of researching sporting history for the past several years, specifically boxing, cricket and football.

Other sports of particular interest are golf, tennis, horse racing and motorsports.

Additionally, he spends his time researching the military history of his home country of South Africa.

He is an ardent Liverpool supporter and is known to DJ and release music on occasion.