The win gives Otago maximum points on the ladder after three rounds and will provide players with
plenty of confidence going into the next match, against Hawkes Bay in Napier on Saturday.
The win over Counties-Manukau at Logan Park on Saturday - Otago's first home game of the season - was set up by a solid defensive display and some crafty work at the breakdown.
Otago nabbed countless turnovers in the rucks, where young flanker Georgia Mason and prop Pip Love were to the fore.
The Counties-Manukau forward pack had plenty of size but could not get a roll on and in the end Otago ran away with the game.
The visiting team got as close as 15-12 shortly after halftime but Otago then scored the next 22 points.
Otago coach John Hyde paid credit to his side's defence and ability to stay calm under pressure.
''Straight after halftime there, when they came close to us, I thought we might have started getting flustered. But we composed ourselves well and came right back into the game,'' Hyde said.
''We have been working hard on getting some good structures into our game. We knew today our lineout would struggle against them so we had to be strong in our defence. We knew we probably could not do a lot in set phase so we had to look at getting some turnovers.''
The Otago side stopped many of the Counties-Manukau attacks in their tracks with clinical tackling and marked up well in the backline. Love made some nice runs, while hooker Lucy Emery got round the field well.
Mason, only 17, was tigerish all over the paddock. She had spent the week playing hockey for her school team in the North Island and made a mad dash to be at the game on Saturday.
She was ably backed up by No 8 Angie Sisifa and blindside flanker Rebecca Todd.
Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali showed her class at first five-eighth for Otago, while youngster Killisitina Moata'ane was dangerous in the Otago midfield.
Otago had started well with Nafatali scoring a penalty and then Love went over after a period of Otago pressure.
Nafatali then created the overlap for winger Summer van Leonhout to score.
The visiting side scored right on the break to put itself back into the contest and again six minutes into the second half.
But Otago regathered, gained some steel in the forward pack and a penalty by Nafatali was quickly followed by a second van Leonhout five-pointer.
The other winger in the Otago side, Claire Richardson, scored the bonus-point try after good passing by the backs and forwards.
Centre Greer Muir scored the final try for Otago after she broke the Counties-Manukau defence to score under the posts.
Otago v Counties-Man
The scores
Otago 37
Summer van Leonhout 2, Pip Love, Claire Richardson, Greer Muir tries, Victoria Subritzky-Nafatali 3 con, 2 pen
Counties-Manukau 17
Te Kura Ngate-Aerengamate 2, Mele Leuluaiali'i tries, Arihiana Marino con
Halftime: 15-7
