The top of the table has a familiar feel as the Air NZ Cup continued to confound in week six.
The top four is comprised of teams which finished in the top five last year, including a Bay of Plenty side which snatched the competition lead back off Canterbury.
In a classic 19-17 upset in front of a baying crowd at Mt Maunganui, the Bay players tackled themselves to exhaustion to upset the defending champion.
Missing most of its All Blacks and coming down from the high of ripping the Ranfurly Shield off Wellington the previous weekend, Canterbury was forced into uncharacteristic mistakes and suffered its first loss since week one.
Captain and No 8 Colin Bourke was a force with ball in hand but it was Bay of Plenty's trojan-like defence that won the day, having to effect more than twice as many tackles as the visitor.
First five-eighth Mike Delany amassed 14 points with the boot while its only try, to former Cantabrian Phil Burleigh, helped turn around Bay of Plenty's 6-8 half-time deficit.
It faces a sizeable obstacle to maintain top spot next weekend, with a trip south to face Southland, which is in second place courtesy of a differential that is inferior by just nine points.
Southland would be outright leader were it not for a surprise 15-15 draw with lowly Northland in Invercargill to kick off the round in Invercargill.
Sitting behind Canterbury in fourth place is Wellington, last year's runner-up quickly jettisoning its Shield humiliation with a 62-19 rout of Counties-Manukau in Pukekohe.
Averaging nearly 40 points conceded per game, Counties-Manukau firmed further as likely wooden spoon recipient.
Tasman sneaked up to fifth place with its 34-15 win over Manawatu in Nelson.
Manawatu sinks into the bottom half of the standings after struggling to match the cohesion of Tasman's forwards.
Further down are Waikato and Hawkes Bay, which fought out a lively contest in Hamilton which the host won 30-22.
Hawkes Bay has slipped to 11th and is in serious danger of missing the semis for the first time since 2006.
Auckland and Otago reside in the top half of the table, just, after the Aucklanders won a tight clash 22-18 in Dunedin yesterday.
It is not so rosy on the other side of the bridge, as 13th-placed North Harbour fell to a fifth-straight loss, 17-13, to Taranaki in New Plymouth.
