Otago Highlanders clung on for dear life to deny the Cats in Johannesburg and hold on to the lead in the Super 12 tournament after the weekend's fourth round of matches. The New Zealanders remained unbeaten after shading the unlucky Cats 29-28 at Ellis Park on Saturday, but had their series lead sliced to one point by New South Wales.

The NSW Waratahs had temporarily gone top of the standings after their 39-23 win over tackleshy and win-less Northern Bulls in Sydney earlier on Saturday.

Australia now have two title challengers with former champions Queensland Reds coming away from Auckland in third place with two points after a bumbling 12-12 draw in which penalty kicks yielded all the points.

Champions Canterbury Crusaders were involved in the weekend's second draw, 18-18, with fellow New Zealanders Wellington Hurricanes in Christchurch on Friday to pitch them into fourth place ahead of South Africa's Sharks, who were inactive.