Taranaki and Wellington took the midweek honours in Wednesday night's ITM Cup rugby matches.
Taranaki beat Northland 23-16 in Whangarei, coming from 13-0 behind in the first half and scoring three tries to one.
Earlier Wellington scored a 37-28 home win over Canterbury.
Both sides secured bonus points for scoring four tries in the match, which Wellington led 20-14 at half-time.
The Lions fell behind 14-3 including an opening try conceded within the opening seconds, after No.8 Victor Vito couldn't take the kickoff. But he made amends with a try early in the second spell as his side piled on 37 unanswered points, though Vito wasn't happy to conced two late tries and the bonus point to Canterbury.
