All Blacks lock Scott Barrett played 51 minutes as Taranaki topped Southland in a National Provincial Championship clash on Sunday.
It marks Barrett's debut outing for the amber and blacks who finished a pandemic interrupted season unbeaten and meet the same opposition in the Championship semi-finals next week.
Barrett skipped the All Blacks' Northern Tour for the birth of his first child, but will be a star attraction for his province's push for a championship title, although promotion to the Premiership has been ruled out because of the exclusion of Auckland-based teams.
Fijian winger Vereniki Tikoisolomone put the finishing touches on a somewhat messy performance for the Bulls, scoring a try against the run of play with 20 minutes to play to give his side a 24-10 lead, which they maintained for the final quarter.
Southland took an early lead through a Charle Alaimalo try, but in form winger Kini Naholo's try levelled the scores 10-10 at the break, before Taranaki shut the game down in the second half.
Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens also grabbed a five-pointer while Stephen Perofeta landed nine points with the boot.
