Otago beat Bay of Plenty 43-30 in a game which ebbed and flowed at Forsyth Barr Stadium yesterday.
The home team fully deserved the win and it looked to be heading for its third half century in four games when it scored its sixth try with still 30 minutes left in the game.
But a raft of substitutions and a drop in skills by both teams saw the visiting side came back into the game in the final quarter and Otago could not add to its score.
The Otago side, however, would feel well satisfied with the win, having played on Wednesday, and will go into this Saturday night's championship semifinal against Wellington in the capital with some degree of confidence.
It showed plenty of speed on attack and was strong enough defensively against a Bay of Plenty side which pushed the offside line throughout the game.
Otago coach Cory Brown said with the side having its third game in 10 days players were a bit fatigued.
''The game was sort of stop start and we made a lot of changes at once. But I thought the guys that came on played well and everyone contributed,'' he said.
''It is encouraging that we are scoring a lot of points. There is some really, really, good stuff going on and guys are keeping to our attacking patterns.''
There was nothing riding on the match - both teams had qualified for the semifinals - but Brown said the side wanted to play well in the Otago jersey.
He said Wellington was a big strong side whose players liked to get momentum and get over the gain line so Otago needed to put them on the ground as soon as possible.
Prop Craig Millar (chest) and flanker James Lentjes (back) both left the field through injury yesterday but should be right for this week.
Otago was up 29-16 at the break and scored two further tries in the opening minutes of the second period to clear out.
First centre Matt Faddes cleaned up a poor kick when Bay of Plenty was hot on attack.
He proceeded to run 95m to score under the posts.
A few minutes later, replacement first five eighth Fletcher Smith sneaked over down the blindside to score a simple try.
Best for Otago were backs Faddes and fullback Tony Ensor, while halfback Josh Renton continues to distribute well.
Up front locks Blair Tweed and Tom Franklin worked well while No8 Naulia Dawai was lively.
Otago scored the first try of the game after just five minutes.
It rumbled the ball up to the tryline and Ensor managed to get the ball away in the tackle and Dawai went over.
Otago got its second try just before the half hour mark. Ensor gathered a chip kick and broke up to near the line. The ball eventually went wide and Faddes had enough strength to get through the tackle to score.
Ensor then showed dazzling athleticism to dive over in the corner to score when the ball looked to be going out for sure. He somehow managed to force the ball within a blade of grass of the sideline, following up on a kick by Renton.
Bay of Plenty replied with a try to skipper Culum Retallick and right on the stroke of halftime, after a long look by the man upstairs, Otago skipper Liam Coltman was awarded a try following a drive at the line.
In the ITM Cup premiership semifinals, Auckland takes on Tasman in Auckland on Friday night while Canterbury faces Taranaki in Christchurch on Saturday afternoon. Hawkes Bay will host Bay of Plenty in Napier on Saturday afternoon in a championship semifinal.
In games played over the weekend, Canterbury beat Southland 39-20 in Christchurch, Manawatu beat Wellington 39-33 in Wellington and Auckland beat Counties Manukau 31-16 in Pukekohe.
Yesterday, North Harbour beat Northland 36-12 at North Harbour.
Otago v Bay of Plenty
The scores
Otago 43
Matt Faddes 2, Naulia Dawai, Tony Ensor, Liam Coltman, Fletcher Smith tries; Peter Breen 4 con, pen; Smith con
Bay of Plenty 30
Culum Retallick 2, Nick Evemy tries; Dan Hollinshead con, 3 pen; Evemy 2 con
Halftime: 29-16
Crowd: 4500
