NPC 2024: Hawke’s Bay Magpies herald the changes

Tiatia has played in over 80 NPC matches, including 61 for Bay of Plenty before moving to Hawke’s Bay and making 21 appearances in the black and white in 2022-23. He has also played in 57 Super Rugby matches, for the Chiefs, Hurricanes and Australian team Western Force.

Winger and centre Jonah Lowe has also been named in the squad but is not expected to play. He suffered a knee injury during a Super Rugby match as centre for the Highlanders in April and was quickly ruled out of both the remainder of the Super Rugby season and the NPC for surgery.

He was a pupil at St John’s College in Hastings before moving to King’s College in Auckland. He is the brother of former Magpies striker and Super Rugby player Karl Lowe. Since 2015, he has played in 73 games for the Magpies, scoring 137 points.

A New Zealand Under-20 representative in 2016, he has made 53 Super Rugby appearances, playing for the Hurricanes and Chiefs before signing for the Highlanders. He, like his brother, has played for the Māori All Blacks.

The absences follow the departure of former All Blacks halfback Weber, who made his 50th appearance for the Magpies last winter before signing for French side Stade Français Paris. He played in 19 games in a season that ended with a French Top 4 semi-final in front of 60,000, losing by two points to eventual champions Bordeaux.

A team of Hawke’s Bay club competition players opened the Magpies’ 2024 season with a Ranfurly Shield defence win over Heartland union King Country in Hastings on June 26, but multiple front-runners are expected for the next defence, against second-place Heartland team Whanganui in Napier on July 27.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier for Hawke’s Bay Today. He has 51 years of experience in journalism, including 40 years in Hawke’s Bay, covering news, including breaking news, sport, local events, issues and personalities.