A thrilling NPC southern derby has taken until the 79th minute to find a winner, with Otago snatching the game from Southland courtesy of a Freedom Vahaakolo try.
Southland went into the break with a 13-10 lead before the second half turned into a penalty contest, with Otago's Vilimoni Koroi and Southland's Marty Banks exchanging goals.
A Koroi penalty with 14 minutes to play put Otago in front but not before Banks snatched another one back 10 minutes later.
With the scores locked at 16-16 with three to play, a draw looked likely - before a break from Otago replacement loose forward Christian Lio-Willie put Vahaakolo in with little more than a minute to go.
Otago will be happy to come away with the points, given they lost three key players through injury - Josh Hohneck, Josh Ioane and Jona Nareki - in the opening 20 minutes of the game.
In the day's earlier games, a dominant Taranaki first half gave them the ideal start to their campaign, beating Hawke's Bay 33-19 in New Plymouth.
Fullback Stephen Perofeta was outstanding for Taranaki with 16 points, while poor discipline proved costly for Hawke's Bay. Taranaki took a 19-0 lead before the Magpies hit back with a try through first-five Lincoln McClutchie in the 30th minute.
Chiefs hooker Bradley Slater was another stand-out for Taranaki, up against the equally as impressive Hawke's Bay skipper and no.2 Ash Dixon.
Dixon's try with 13 minutes to go swung some momentum back to Hawke's Bay and only trailing by 7. But despite attacking for multiple phases, they were unable to break the staunch Taranaki defence again.
An injury-time try to substitute Vereniki Tikoisolomone secured what was a solid first-up performance from the Bulls.
In the capital, a Taine Plumtree hattrick saw Wellington Lions thrash Northland 54-7. Northland's afternoon went from bad to worse when replacement first-five Dan Hawkins was sent off for a shoulder charge, while veteran Rene Ranger left the field with an injury earlier in the first half.
Otago 26 (Gilbert, Vahaakolo tries; Koroi, Gilbert cons, Ioane, Koroi (3) pens) Southland 19 (Pleasants-Tate try; Banks con, 4 pens).
Taranaki 33 (Slater 2, Tikoisolomone tries; Perofeta 3 cons, 4 pens) Hawke's Bay 19 (McClutchie, Flanders, Dixon tries; McClutchie, Falcon cons).
Wellington 54 (Plumtree 3, Umaga-Jensen, Fidow, Savea, Kauika-Petersen, Laursen tries; Love 5; Laursen 2 cons) Northland 7 (Olsen try; Reihana con).
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