Premiership leaders Wellington racked up their third successive NPC rugby win with an uneven 35-27 win over North Harbour on Wednesday.

Harbour, bottom of the Championship division with two losses from as many games, were on the back foot right from the first whistle when Wellington halfback TJ Perenara opened the scoring after barely three minutes.

The crisply worked try promised much, but Wellington couldn’t deliver a 40-minute effort and poor defence cost them dearly in the five minutes before halftime.

Well-taken tries from No.10 Lima Sopoaga and second five-eighth Charlie Ngatai gave Wellington a 21-0 lead after 26 minutes and they looked set to run away with the game.

But they were guilty of conceding too many turnovers, their lineout was erratic and their handling often sloppy.

Wellington’s defence looked distinctly ordinary when centre Francis Saili, back from All Blacks duty, reignited Harbour’s hopes with a scything run and a brilliant off-load for replacement second five-eighth Nafi Tuitavake to score.

Massey High School teenager Tevita Li exposed the Wellington defence soon after, using impressive pace and a swerving sidestep to cross right on halftime and cut Wellington’s lead to 21-14 at the break.

An exchange of penalties maintained Wellington’s lead after the restart until Ngatai claimed his second, and the bonus point try, after a decisive break and offload from Victor Vito as the hour mark ticked over.

Ahead 32-17 with 14 minutes remaining, Wellington should have had no trouble closing out the match. But the boot of Codey Rei, and the brilliance of Saili in crossing for his second try, closed the gap to five with seven minutes remaining.

Replacement Wellington prop Eric Sione’s sin binning for the final 10 minutes meant Wellington had to work right until the final whistle, but a late Sopoaga penalty eventually shut out the win.