Three tries in the final 15 minutes led to the Wellington Pride sealing a 41-19 win at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Saturday.
Until that final period, Otago had remained in touch and was the dominant team throughout the first half.
However, its inability to compete in the scrum proved decisive.
The Wellington pack exerted its dominance at every opportunity and that told late in the first half.
Otago conceded a penalty try and flanker Georgia Mason and prop Annemieke van Vliet were yellow-carded, all within minutes, as Wellington applied relentless scrum pressure on the Spirit’s line.
Wellington pegged one back to trail 19-14 at the break, but more importantly gained momentum heading into the second half.
Otago clung on early after the break, but found itself defending the majority of the half.
The scrum continued to be influential, while the Spirit was unable to make the most of the ball it did have.
The Wellington backs had plenty of ball to work with and proved dangerous in space.
Spirit coach Kane Jury has acknowledged the scrum as a key area to work on all season and said it was key in this game.‘‘It’s a non-negotiable set piece, isn’t it?’’ he said.
"Our girls have been working hard. We look out there today in the front row, there was one girl who played there all season in the club competition and the others didn’t.
"But that’s all part of it, that’s rugby and we’ve got to get better in that area and we will get better in that area.
"The girls are so positive about how we approach things at the moment, whether it be on or off the field and that’s all you can ask for."
He was happy with the performance though, saying that for the first 50 minutes it had been a very competitive game.
Alongside the scrum, he agreed the mistakes in the last 30 minutes had been costly, while the defensive pressure had been hard to keep up after conceding a few tries.
However, he felt it had been the side’s best defensive performance, despite conceding seven tries.
It got up quickly and was able to turn the Wellington attack back infield, which he said was hard to do.
On attack, the Spirit played with width and found space well in the first half.
It attacked well in the lead up to its first try, applying pressure which ended in lock Jessica Kendall crossing.
Three minutes later a strong kick-chase by three Otago players swamped Wellington’s Rejieli Uluinayau, who was left without support 10m from her line.
Sam Hollows made the tackle and Kilistina Moata’ane blew over the ball, allowing Morgan Henderson to pick it up and crash over.
Wellington hit back with a pick and go to Raylene Lolo, before an Angie Sisifa intercept ended in Sheree Hume running 70m to score a brilliant try, after link play from Greer Muir and Mason.
However, at that point, Wellington gained dominance and while the Otago defence hung on, it was unable to hold as the Pride applied pressure and showed its class in scoring some quality tries.
The match was Otago’s last crossover match with a premiership side.It remains in second place on the championship table and has three matches left before the playoffs.
Farah Palmer Cup
The scores
Wellington Pride 41
Dhys Faleafaga 2, Raylene Lolo, Sinead To’olala-Ryder, Jackie Patea-Fereti, Monica Tagoai tries; penalty try; Jane Bryce 2 con
Otago Spirit 19
Jessica Kendall, Morgan Henderson, Sheree Hume tries; Liv Waldron 2 con
Halftime: 19-14 Otago