Otago B finished its season in style with a good win over Canterbury B at Logan Park on Saturday.
Otago won 40-26 thanks to a fast start and some strong defence.
The home team put in a good team effort and had a 24-0 lead after 23 minutes.
First five-eighth Finn Strawbridge zipped through and regathered to score under the posts.
He converted and then kicked a penalty two minutes later to take a 10-point lead.
Winger Josh Gordon then ran in two tries, both converted by Strawbridge, to push the score out to 24-0 in as many minutes.
In typical Canterbury fashion, the visiting side came back and scored two tries in the last five minutes of the half to go into the sheds 24-14 down.
When Canterbury scored again early in the second half the margin was down to 24-19 and the game was getting interesting.
Strawbridge calmed the nerves slightly with three penalties after 48, 52 and 63 minutes to push the score out to 33-19.
When winger Zac Harrison-Jones scored after 68 minutes the score went out to 40-19 and the game looked safe. Canterbury scored a try right on full time to close it up to 40-26.
Best for Otago was openside flanker Jack McHugh, who was into everything, and Strawbridge who controlled the game well.
Two players from the South have been selected in the New Zealand Barbarians schools team.
Otago Boys' High School halfback James Arscott and Southland Boys' High School hooker Jacob Payne have both been selected in the team, which is coached by Highlanders high performance coach Cory Brown.
The Barbarians team will play New Zealand Maori under-18 in Wellington on Thursday and Fiji schools on October 1.
No players from the southern region made the NZ Schools side.
