Halangahu kick after the siren sinks Southland
There was plenty of joy for the away teams in the ITM Cup on Sunday, with North Harbour and Waikato posting impressive wins.
North Harbour won their first game of the ITM Cup season in thrilling fashion, with an after-the-siren penalty seeing them edge Southland 26-25 on Sunday.
Daniel Halangahu's sixth goal of the night was a match-winner for the visitors, who overcame a 22-7 deficit in the first half to triumph in Invercargill.
Willis Halaholo crossed twice for Southland in the first half, but they were to lament a second-half comeback from North Harbour - former NSW Waratahs five-eighth Halangahu the hero with 11 points after the interval.
The revival from Steve Jackson's North Harbour was all the more impressive, given their last-start 43-0 loss to Wellington.
Bay of Plenty's tumultuous season continued in a 43-10 defeat to Waikato.
Backing up after a win over Southland on Wednesday, Bay of Plenty barely fired a shot as Waikato made it back-to-back victories.
Brad Weber crossed twice for the visitors in Tauranga, while Michael Mayhew, Zane Kapeli, Jordan Payne and James Tucker also touched down for Waikato.
Bay of Plenty have a 2-2 record in the Championship, while Waikato improved to 2-1 and moved their points differential into the positives.