Late Jordan's try help South edge out North 38-35
North 35-38 South, Sky Stadium
Will Jordan scored the decisive try in the added minutes as South went on to edge out North at Sky Stadium in Wellington.
This was the first game between these two sides since 2012 and went all the way down the wire. The game was earlier shifted from Eden Park to Sky Stadium following the lockdown restrictions in Auckland.
It took North just five minutes to get their opening points when Beauden Barrett's grubber kick was seized by Reiko Ioane for a try and Damian McKenzie improved it making it 7-0.
The response from South came in the seventh minute as Nepo Laulala dotted down and Jordie Barrett improved as the scores were levelled before the fullback kicked another penalty making the scoreline 7-10.
South had a setback with Braydon Ennor leaving the field injured and North capitalised on the momentum as Damian McKenzie scored a converted try at the end of the first quarter making it 14-10.
As Jordie Barrett missed a penalty in the 26th minute, Richie Mo'unga left the field for a Head Injury Assessment two minutes later. Nevertheless, Jordie with his converted try brought South in the front again with a 14-17 lead in the opening half.
North were the quickest to get off the block in the 47th minute when McKenzie made an inside pass to Aaron Smith as he crossed the whitewash in the 46th minute. McKenzie also kicked the extras making the scoreline 21-17.
It was an evenly matched contest with South once again fighting back through Will Jordan's try before Lomax ran hard on to a short ball and went over the line making the scoreline 21-31. The North though did not relent under pressure as Reiko's second reduced the arrears to eight points before Ash Dixon's 73rd minute put them into lead of 35-31.
As the game headed into the added minutes, Jordan grabbed a Richie Mo'unga's cross-field kick in the 85th minute to dive over the line and take South over the line with Jordie kicking the conversion to complete a three-point thrilling win.
