North Otago piled on 40 points in the second half against East Coast to race away to a 48-8 win in Ruatoria on Saturday that sent it into the top four.
All six tries scored by North Otago were converted — five by Josh Casey and one by Casey’s replacement, Tyron Davies, late in the second half.
North Otago centre Shae Tucker scored a hat-trick of tries and winger Simon Lilicama added two to his tally.
North Otago is at present averaging more than four tries a game.
North Otago’s bonus-point win took it into the top four along with Wanganui, South Canterbury and Buller, all of which won games in the fourth round.
North Otago’s win came only after a rather ragged first half, where it led 8-2 at the break.
North Otago coach Barry Stevens was not impressed with the first half.
"It was, to be fair, a bit of a battle, with both sides making simple mistakes and turning over the ball. A few words were spoken at halftime about consistency and hanging on to the ball. The boys knew that ... when we went out for the second half," he said.
Stevens gave a lot of credit to the scrum.
"It went really well. We got a good platform from the scrum and when we put phases together our attack was strong as well.
"Our attack is intent on getting to the game line from the first phase and Cameron Morris and Oscar Pamment straightened the line to achieve this aim.
"Matt Duff took his opportunities, while Sione Vea, when he came on, gave us a bit of steel up front and he was a strong runner with the ball."
East Coast first five-eighth Todd Doolan opened the scoring with a penalty in the ninth minute.
Tucker found space out wide and surged into East Coast’s half, where he fed winger Lilicama, who raced 40m to score for Casey to convert, giving North Otago its 8-2 halftime lead.
Immediately, Tucker was the scorer when, from a tap penalty, he touched down for Casey to convert.
Eight minutes later, North Otago opted for the scrum after receiving a penalty 7m from the opposition line.
North Otago heaved East Coast back and from the breakdown, prop Dan Towler surged over.
Midway through the half Casey, always probing, stood in a tackle and Tucker was on hand to score his second which gave North Otago a 32-2 lead.
East Coast struck back with a try to replacement hooker Kareti Palmer but North Otago finished the stronger of the two, with Tucker intercepting a pass after East Coast elected to take a tap penalty 8m from its line.
Two minutes from the end and Lilicama went in for his second try from a tap penalty close to the opposition line.
North Otago will host Wairarapa Bush this Saturday.
Wairarapa-Bush beat Thames Valley 28-18 on Saturday and lies in fifth place, one point behind North Otago.
North Otago’s injured players should all be available for that game.
In other Heartland fourth-round games, Wanganui stays top of the ladder with a 22-10 win over King Country, which slips back to seventh place.
South Canterbury beat Poverty Bay in Timaru 58-28 to retain second place, while Buller is a point behind South Canterbury with a 48-0 win over West Coast.
Mid Canterbury moved up from eighth to sixth with a 42-26 win over Horowhenua-Kapiti.
- Terry O'Neill
Heartland Champs
The scores
North Otago 48
Shae Tucker 3, Simon Lilicama 2, Dan Towler tries; Josh Casey 5 con, Tyrone Davies con
East Coast 8
Kareti Palmer try, Todd Doolan pen
Halftime: 8-2 North Otago