The Spirit’s 44-22 win over the Hawke’s Bay Tui in Hastings came despite conceding three late yellow cards, playing with 13 players for a 10-minute period.
Co-captain Julia Gorinski said it was pleasing to get the win but said there was plenty of room for improvement, especially in terms of discipline.
"Discipline will be one of the big work-ons, I’m sure.
"We stuck to our structure pretty well. It’s just going to be some of those finer details, and some of our tackles were not as dominant as we would’ve liked."
The 9-10 combination of Australian international Georgia Cormick and Maia Joseph was instrumental in Otago’s win.
It did not take long for the Spirit to strike as new cap Atawhai Hotene scored just 90 seconds into the game.
Some nice interchange between the forwards and the inside backs put Hotene in space out wide and she dotted down for the first try of the season.
A lovely cut-out pass from Joseph helped Campbell claim her first try just a few minutes later.
Hawke’s Bay was able to get on the board just before the new World Rugby-mandated drinks break through winger Nicolette Adamson.
A stolen lineout 5m from the Tui line led to Hotene bagging a double after a slick backline manoeuvre.
Hawke’s Bay added another three through the boot of skipper Krysten Cottrell before Cheyenne Cunningham crashed over for Otago’s third try of the half.
The home side was able to cut the Spirit lead to 24-15 heading into the break as Gemma Woods scored on the stroke of halftime.
Otago got the scoring under way in the second 40 as Campbell scored her second, again set up by Joseph.
An intercept try 10 minutes later completed the hat-trick for the 18-year-old winger before Cormick knocked over a penalty to give the Spirit a 24-point buffer.
A yellow card to Otago lock Ella Gomez was followed by the Tui striking back through Kahlia Awa.
Replacement Kayley Johnson was the next to see yellow, and Gorinski completed the trifecta of cards just as Gomez returned to the field.
However, Hawke’s Bay was unable to capitalise on the numerical advantage and conceded a late try, Cunningham’s second, to put the result beyond doubt.
In the other Championship games, North Harbour beat Taranaki 21-10 and Northland beat Tasman 29-10.
Canterbury beat Auckland 33-27 in the Premiership.
Farah Palmer Cup
The scores
Otago Spirit 44
Oceana Campbell 3, Atawhai Hotene 2, Cheyenne Cunningham 2 tries; Georgia Cormick 3 con, pen
Hawke’s Bay Tui 22
Nicolette Adamson, Kahlia Awa, Gemma Woods tries; Krysten Cottrell 2 con, pen
Halftime: Spirit 24-15.
-- Nic Duff
