The boot of Josh Ioane has earned Otago a second consecutive NPC victory over Canterbury, winning 22-20 at Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium on Friday.
Nearly a year after their 23-16 victory over the same opposition, Otago completed a memorable comeback against Canterbury, rallying from being 17-0 down to hanging on for another gutsy win.
The loss is Canterbury's third in succession, having also fallen to Wellington and Hawke's Bay in the last two weeks.
At the centre of Otago's triumph was 26-year-old Ioane, who kicked 17 of Otago's 22 points, giving another glimpse of his undeniable ability despite his questionable consistency.
Both sides observed a moment's silence in tribute to former Chiefs, Crusaders, Māori All Blacks, Taranaki and Bay of Plenty utility back Sean Wainui, and once play got underway, Otago quickly looked to take the upper hand.
But after Ioane missed not one, but two early shots at goal for Otago, it was Canterbury that broke the deadlock after 20 minutes.
Canterbury's cause was hindered as No. 8 Henry Stowers had to be helped from the field after a knock to the head in a tackle, but that proved to be a blessing in disguise for the red-and-blacks.
As Stowers left the field, his place was taken by All Blacks Sevens star Sam Dickson, who didn't wait to make an impact. Running from the back of a Canterbury scrum, Dickson scored with his first touch in the NPC, darting over for the first points of the game.
Minutes later, Canterbury were in again. An attempted pass from Ioane was intercepted by winger Manasa Mataele, who sparked a counter attack that ended in first-five Fergus Burke scoring his side's second.
After Burke had converted his own try, the score had pushed out from 0-0 to 17-0 in favour of the visitors.
Otago struck back before the break as winger Freedom Vahaakolo was put through by Ioane, and finally saw the hosts capitalise on some fluid attacking rugby, before the first-five landed a penalty with the final act of the first half to send the teams into the sheds at 17-10 in Canterbury's favour.
But despite having held a 17 point advantage, Canterbury threatened to squander their lead, as Josh Ioane kicked three consecutive second-half penalties to give Otago a 19-17 lead heading into the final 10 minutes.
Canterbury snuck in front thanks to a penalty of their own, kicked by debutant Alex Harford, only for their ill-discipline to bite again.
A high shot on winger Vilimoni Koroi gave Ioane another chance to give Otago the lead, and he obliged with a perfect kick from the left touchline, seeing his side retake the lead with only minutes to play.
And after withstanding one last push from Canterbury, Otago sealed the victory in style, as Ioane fittingly cleared the ball into touch to complete his side's victory.
The win solidifies Otago's hold on third spot in the NPC's Championship, sitting on 16 points from their six games played so far, four points behind Manawatu, and 12 behind leaders Taranaki.
Canterbury meanwhile at the very least earned a bonus point to remain fifth in the NPC Premiership, one point behind Tasman, and four ahead of Bay of Plenty - who despite having a game in hand do not play in week eight, after their match against Northland was postponed.
