The weekend's games produced a rare draw between the Kia Toa Tigers and the East Coast Eagles, as well as a hard-fought victory to Otago University over the South Pacific Raiders.
The Eagles put in a strong performance against competition leaders Tigers in an entertaining 22-22 deadlock at the Kensington Oval on Saturday.
The Tigers got the scoring under way early in the game when they crossed for a try in the first 10 minutes.
The Eagles struck back with two tries of their own through Kingi Hautapu and Hyrum Martin as they secured the lead and put the Tigers under pressure.
The remainder of the half was tightly contested as both sides scored and the Eagles led 16-12 at the breakThe second half started with a lot of energy.
Kia Toa took the ball to the line through some aggressive running led by Shane Unahi and Koben Katipa, and looked threatening, despite not crossing the line.
The Eagles were up for the challenge, though, and met the Tigers runners with some strong tackles.
Jershon Wihongi was particularly impressive in his defensive efforts, making numerous tackles to stifle the Tigers attack.
The Eagles attack was also looking good, with Tama Apineru managing to evade defenders and putting his teammates into space.
Daez Mulipola was also a key to its attack as he dotted down twice.
Trailing by six points with little time left in the game, the Tigers were able to score a try and, with Vila Apuula's third successful conversion, the scores were level.
It was a game that either side could have won and both will be ruing missed opportunities.
The University Rugby League Club tasted victory with a hard fought 29-22 win over the South Pacific Raiders.
The Raiders scored early but University struck back quickly through prop John Stringer, who spotted a gap in the defensive line and pushed through for an easy try near the posts.
The first half was a tight contest.
Both forward packs were able to make some metres through the middle of the park with some aggressive running.
Sam Brame and Manassah Kutia were key to the Raiders attack, both damaging with ball in hand.
It was anyone's game at halftime but University lifted its game and, for the majority of the second half, showed some good attacking skills.
Joe Bywater stood out in his first game back from injury, contributing a field goal and three tries and providing the direction his side had been missing.
Dominic Tola made countless tackles and converted four of his five conversion attempts.
The Raiders made a strong charge late in the second half, reducing the gap to 6 points with 10 minutes to go.
But University was able to close out the game.
