Taranaki beat Southland 23-6 in their national provincial rugby match in New Plymouth on Saturday night.
Earlier, Canterbury beat Otago 35-20 in Dunedin.
And Waikato stormed into the top three of the ITM Cup standings after outscoring Northland 45-33 in their clash in Whangarei.
Both sides scored five tries a piece but the Waikato first five Stephen Donald's kicking proved the difference: he scored 25 of his sides 45 points with four conversions, four penalties and a try.
