Rugby: Otago comeback to beat Taranaki

Otago scored four second half tries as they overcame a 16-point halftime deficit to beat Taranaki 34-27 in New Plymouth tonight.

It was a tense final sequence, as Otago drove from 40 metres out to within 10 metres of the line. They then put together 18 phases of pick and go, before replacement halfback Kaide Whiting took a gap to the left of a ruck to score the match winning try.

The try was not awarded immediately however, as referee Jamie Nutbrown referred it to the TMO. It made for a tense few moments, but the ball was deemed to have been grounded.

It was a messy game, having been played in terrible conditions, with the rain coming down hard and puddles on the park.

Otago looked to kick a lot from inside its own half, doing so poorly in the first half, but did it well enough at times in the second. That enabled them to play the game at the right end of the field and this, as well as some good tight play, was responsible for their tries.

The first two, both scored by Naulia Dawai, came from well-executed rolling mauls close to the line. They brought the score back to 22-20, then after conceding one, Aki Seiuli ran a great line to hit the ball at pace, again close to the line, and cross for Otago's third.

Liam Coltman got around the field well and was into everything, while Seiuli made a noticeable impact when he came on.

It was not always so plain sailing however and a big score looked possible at halftime, with Otago trailing 22-6. Otago had not looked like threatening and Taranaki had scored three good tries, two of which were initiated from Otago missed tackles.

They scored just one more though and were forced into making mistakes by the Otago defence.

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