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AUCKLAND, New Zealand — The New Zealand Warriors host the Manly Sea Eagles Saturday in the final round of the 2026 NRL regular season, with the Telstra Premiership’s minor premiership on the line as both clubs close out their home-and-away campaigns before the finals series begins.

Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. AEST, which translates to 5 p.m. local time in New Zealand, at Go Media Stadium, also known as Mount Smart Stadium, in Auckland. A capacity crowd is expected as the Warriors look to secure their first minor premiership by finishing atop the regular-season standings.

For fans in Australia, the match will be broadcast live on Fox League, channel 502, with streaming available through Kayo Sports beginning at 2:30 p.m. AEST, ahead of the scheduled kickoff. Kayo offers subscribers the ability to stream every match of every round live or on demand across a range of devices, giving Australian viewers flexible access to the game regardless of whether they are watching on a television, computer or mobile device.

New Zealand-based fans can watch the match live on Sky Sport Now, with the broadcast also scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. local time to coincide with kickoff. The NRL’s own streaming platform, WatchNRL, will additionally carry the match as part of its Round 27 coverage, offering an alternative streaming option for fans both within and outside Australia and New Zealand, excluding the Pacific Islands, where regional broadcast restrictions apply.

Saturday’s fixture carries significant stakes for the Warriors, who enter the match looking to claim the club’s first-ever minor premiership by finishing the regular season atop the NRL ladder. New Zealand has been in strong form heading into the final round, having sat top of the competition following a 14-point win over the Newcastle Knights in the previous round. A win over Manly would cement the Warriors’ position as minor premiers heading into the finals series, a notable achievement for a franchise that has historically battled inconsistency throughout its NRL history.

The match also holds broader significance for the finals race more generally, with several playoff positions and seedings still to be finalized as the eight qualifying clubs jockey for position ahead of the finals series. While Manly has already secured a place in this year’s finals, the Sea Eagles’ final positioning within the top eight could still be affected by Saturday’s result against the in-form Warriors.

Saturday’s fixture is one of three matches taking place as part of the NRL’s final regular-season Saturday, according to ABC Sport’s live coverage of the day’s action. Following the Warriors-Sea Eagles clash in Auckland, attention shifts to Townsville, where the finals-bound North Queensland Cowboys host the Canberra Raiders, before Cronulla hosts Melbourne at Shark Park later in the evening.

Warriors head coach Andrew Webster has overseen a significant turnaround for the club this season, with New Zealand’s push toward the minor premiership representing one of the more notable storylines of this year’s NRL campaign. Webster is also reportedly on track to become the Warriors’ longest-serving head coach, adding an additional layer of significance to the club’s strong finish to the regular season under his leadership.

Beyond the Warriors-Sea Eagles matchup specifically, Saturday’s broader NRL schedule features several additional Round 27 fixtures across the day and into Sunday. Other matches this round include the Cowboys hosting the Raiders, the Sharks facing the Storm, the Dragons taking on the Eels, and the Panthers meeting the Wests Tigers, rounding out the final weekend of regular-season action before the finals series begins.

For fans looking to follow the match through alternative means beyond a full video broadcast, ABC Sport is providing live blog and radio coverage of Saturday’s fixture as part of its broader coverage of the day’s NRL action, offering text-based updates and commentary for those unable to access the primary broadcast or streaming options.

The Warriors’ push for the minor premiership comes after a season in which the club has shown considerably improved form and consistency compared with recent years, positioning New Zealand as one of the league’s most closely watched teams heading into this year’s finals series. A strong showing against Manly on Saturday would provide further momentum for the Warriors as they prepare to open their finals campaign in the coming weeks, likely with home-ground advantage secured given their position atop the ladder heading into the final round.

For Manly, Saturday’s match against a Warriors side chasing the minor premiership presents an opportunity to build momentum of their own heading into the finals, even with their playoff position for this year already effectively locked in. The Sea Eagles will be looking to close out the regular season on a positive note as they turn their attention toward the postseason.

With three closely watched matches unfolding across the final Saturday of the NRL’s regular season, including the marquee Warriors-Sea Eagles clash with the minor premiership at stake, fans across Australia, New Zealand and beyond have a range of broadcast and streaming options available to follow all the action as the league transitions from its regular-season schedule into the finals series in the weeks ahead.

Kickoff for the Warriors-Sea Eagles match remains set for 3 p.m. AEST, or 5 p.m. local time in Auckland, with Fox League and Kayo Sports serving as the primary broadcast options for fans in Australia, Sky Sport Now covering the match for viewers in New Zealand, and WatchNRL offering an additional streaming option for those following the league’s broader international footprint as the regular season concludes and playoff positioning is finalized ahead of the postseason.

According to Kotak Securities, the implied one-year forward P/E of ITC’s tobacco business is around 11X, based on depressed FY2027-28E earnings per share compared with FY2026 levels. The brokerage said this valuation implies that the market either expects the tobacco business’ earnings to remain stagnant at low levels in perpetuity, believes the value of ITC’s non-tobacco businesses is significantly lower, or has limited appetite for the tobacco business.

Kotak’s valuation assigns a 16X multiple to September 2028E earnings for the tobacco business, resulting in a 12-month fair value of Rs 194. For the non-tobacco business, it uses 30X September 2028E EBITDA to arrive at a 12-month fair value of Rs 80. The brokerage assigns another Rs 84 to ITC’s other businesses and cash.

Tobacco business: What is the market pricing in?

Kotak Securities believes its 16X two-year forward P/E multiple for ITC’s tobacco business is reasonable. The multiple implies 4.8% growth in free cash flow to equity (FCFE) in perpetuity assuming an 11% cost of equity, and 5.8% perpetual FCFE growth assuming a 12% cost of equity.
The brokerage noted that the implied growth in net profit is similar to the PAT growth estimates for major global tobacco companies.

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Against this backdrop, the 11X implied P/E for ITC’s tobacco business in the reverse-SoTP valuation suggests that the market either expects earnings to stagnate at low levels in perpetuity or considers Kotak’s near-term earnings estimates for the business too aggressive. Kotak said its assumptions for the tobacco business should address the latter concern.

Non-tobacco business: A high multiple, but faster growth

Kotak Securities acknowledged that its 30X two-year forward EV/EBITDA multiple for ITC’s non-tobacco business may appear aggressive compared with peers, particularly after the sharp derating in their multiples over the past few months.However, the brokerage expects ITC’s non-tobacco business to deliver faster profit growth than other companies. It attributes this to likely stronger growth in several key categories where ITC has lower market shares, along with the scope for margin expansion as the business scales up.

Kotak expects strong growth in revenue and EBIT from the non-tobacco business over the next few years, even with only moderate expansion in its EBIT margin.

Splitting ITC could unlock value

Kotak Securities believes a vertical split of ITC into two separate entities, with the tobacco business housed in one and the non-tobacco businesses in another, could unlock significant value for shareholders.

According to the brokerage, the tobacco entity could attract value-oriented shareholders seeking steady growth and high dividend yields. The non-tobacco entity, meanwhile, could appeal to growth investors as well as a broader pool of investors who may otherwise be deterred by ESG concerns associated with tobacco.

The brokerage’s core argument is that ITC’s current valuation does not appear to fully reflect the value it assigns to the tobacco and non-tobacco businesses separately.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

NEWARK, N.J. — Damian Knyba pulled off a significant upset Friday night, dropping former unified heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. and winning a unanimous decision in a lopsided heavyweight main event at the Prudential Center, dealing a major setback to Ruiz’s attempted return to boxing’s title picture.

Judges scored the 12-round bout 117-110, 114-113 and 114-113, all in favor of Knyba, who improved his professional record to 18-1 with 11 knockouts. Ruiz falls to 35-3-1 with 22 knockouts, suffering just the third loss of his career.

The Polish heavyweight, standing 6-foot-7 with an 86-inch reach, used his significant size advantage over the 6-foot-2 Ruiz to control the pace of the fight from the opening rounds. Knyba threw an estimated 720 jabs over the course of the 12-round distance, using his lead hand to keep Ruiz at bay and prevent him from closing the distance needed to work effectively on the inside.

The fight’s decisive moment came at the end of the seventh round, when Knyba hurt Ruiz with a double jab-cross combination followed by a barrage of additional punches, dropping the former champion and leaving him needing to survive a difficult stretch before hearing the final bell of the round. Ruiz managed to recover and remain in the fight through the remaining rounds, but was unable to meaningfully close the gap on the scorecards against Knyba’s jab-controlled approach.

Ruiz did find moments of success during the fight, particularly in the fifth and sixth rounds, when he picked up his pace, began landing his right hand more consistently, and opened a cut on Knyba. Whenever Ruiz managed to close the distance, however, Knyba frequently tied him up in clinches, stalling Ruiz’s offensive output and limiting his ability to land sustained combinations.

Speaking after the fight, Ruiz pointed to Knyba’s clinching as a key factor in the outcome, while also crediting his opponent’s overall strategy.

“I just want to thank God, man, for this opportunity and Eddie Hearn,” Ruiz said. “I don’t know. I think it was just him holding. Every time I try to come in, he hold me really tight. And I couldn’t let my combinations go, but he played a good game plan, but I love to run it back and do things a lot different.”

Despite the loss, Ruiz insisted he remains capable of competing for a heavyweight world title, attributing much of his difficulty to the lengthy layoff heading into the fight rather than any decline in his overall ability.

“Of course I do, man,” Ruiz said when asked if he still believes he can win a title. “It was just a long layoff and it was a great opponent, you know, and I didn’t want to take an easy fight, so that’s why I took Damian and he’s a big guy, but you know, we got to take risks.”

Ruiz made clear he does not intend to retire following the setback, expressing a desire to remain active and continue pursuing another run at a heavyweight championship.

“Like I said, I want to thank God and, you know, it’s not done,” Ruiz said. “God’s not done, man. Just because of this loss, I still got it in me, man. I just need to stay active and I want to fight again. I want to fight again.”

Friday’s fight marked Ruiz’s first bout since a majority draw against Jarrell Miller in August 2024, and just his second fight over the preceding four years. Ruiz, who turns 37 in a week, famously shocked Anthony Joshua in June 2019 to become the first heavyweight champion of Mexican descent, only to lose the belts back to Joshua in a rematch roughly six months later. The seven years since that title loss have been defined more by inactivity, weight fluctuations and inconsistency than by regular competition inside the ring.

The fight represented Ruiz’s first bout under his new promotional deal with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing, a partnership aimed at helping guide him toward a second heavyweight championship run. Instead, the opening fight of that deal produced a knockdown and a loss to an opponent who had himself been stopped in his previous outing.

For Knyba, Friday’s win represents by far the most significant victory of his career, coming just months after he was stopped in the third round by interim WBC champion Agit Kabayel in January, a defeat that had put him in what analysts described as a must-win situation heading into Friday’s bout. Knyba’s win over a former unified heavyweight champion repositions him within the division after that earlier setback, and immediately raises questions about potential next steps for the Polish heavyweight, including a possible rematch with Ruiz.

Two former world champions serving as broadcast analysts during the fight suggested afterward that Ruiz should consider stepping away from the sport following the loss, according to accounts of the broadcast, though Ruiz’s own comments made clear he has no immediate plans to do so.

Elsewhere on Friday’s undercard at the Prudential Center, Vito Mielnicki Jr. defeated Austin Williams by unanimous decision in a middleweight bout, with all three judges scoring the fight 98-91. In a significant upset on the undercard, Eridson Garcia stopped heavily favored Alan Chaves by unanimous decision to win the WBO Latino lightweight title, dropping Chaves four times over the course of the bout. Super featherweight Zaquin Moses also picked up a win, stopping Angel Antonio Contreras after the fifth round when Contreras remained on his stool.

With Friday’s loss, Ruiz’s hopes of quickly returning to heavyweight title contention have been significantly complicated, even as he has indicated a clear intention to continue fighting. Given the competitive nature of the bout despite the lopsided official scorecards, a rematch between Ruiz and Knyba stands as an obvious next step for both fighters, and one that Matchroom Boxing may have strong incentive to pursue given the financial investment already made in building Ruiz’s comeback campaign around a potential second heavyweight championship run.