Southland moved out of the relegation zone in the NPC first division on Sunday with a 36-20 win over Bay of Plenty in Invercargill.

The home side scored five tries to two with Joel Wilson, Kuku Asolupe, Pailate Fili, Jason Harrison and captain Brendan Timmins crossing the line. Wing Sam Hala scored both of the Steamers' two second half tries.

The five competition points see Southland move into ninth place, above both the Bay and Counties-Manukau.

On Saturday, Taranaki eased past Counties Manukau 55-22 at Rugby Park in their latest first division clash.

Taranaki had the bonus points tied up by halftime thanks to tries from Brendan Haami, Daryl Lilley, Andrew Hore and Brent Thompson.

Counties hit back early on with a try through Patrick Petelo, but were never in the game after that.

Counties captain Danny Lee was sent to the sinbin following the fourth try after the niggle which had been going on all game started to boil over.

Andy Slater crossed early in the second half to extend Taranaki's advantage and this was soon followed by the sixth try from Mepi Faoagali. Daryl Lilley's conversion was good to take the score to 36-10 to Taranaki.

Lilley later sliced through the Counties backs to score his second try of the night as the game started to turn into a rout for Taranaki. A try from Campbell Feather on his 50th appearance and the conversion from Liley brought up the half century.

Two minutes later it was Paul Tito's turn to get on the score sheet. Gus Leger scored a consolation try for Counties and this was followed by another five pointer from Danny Lee before the end of the game.

At the Jade Stadium in Christchurch, home side Canterbury retained the Ranfurly Shield for a second year following a 31-29 victory over Wellington.

Wellington led 14-9 at halftime thanks to a brace by Lome Fa'atau, while Canterbury's response came in the form of three penalties from the boot of Ben Blair.

In the second half, the hosts crossed through Scott Robertson, Nathan Mauger and a final try by Blair to seal the win. Blair also added another penalty and two conversions.

Wellington's David Holwell (pictured) landed a total of three conversions and one penalty, with two tries coming from Christian Cullen and Paul Steinmetz in the second half.

Waikato's David Hill produced another notable performance in their 33-20 victory over Laurie Mains' Otago at Hamilton's WestpacTrust Park.

Otago opened the scoring through a Brendan Laney penalty, but Waikato responded with a try from Keith Lowen which was converted by Hill.

Otago snatched back the lead after some good work from Pita Alatini put Matua Parkinson in for a try. A successful penalty kick from Hill sent Waikato into the break 10-8 to the better.

Hill dominated the scoring after the break, slotting over a penalty, crossing for a try and converting it himself to give the Mooloo men a 12-point lead.

However, Otago showed great resolve in inching back into the game after tries to Sam Harding and Ryan Nicholas.

Another Hill penalty stretched Waikato's lead before Roger Randle intercepted Ryan Nicolas' pass to Dan Parkinson for a 60m break-away try that gave the team third place on the first division standings.

In Friday's match, Northland flyhalf James Arlidge kicked a last-minute conversion to send home side Auckland crashing to a 44-43 defeat in the NPC.