The Otago Spirit fell to its first loss of the season, going down 38-10 to Wellington Pride in the capital on Saturday.
The Spirit had opened its campaign with two wins over North Harbour and Hawke’s Bay, and was sitting on top of the Farah Palmer Cup championship table.
But it was replaced by Wellington after the match in Porirua on Saturday.
The Wellington side was big and strong and thrived as the game went on.
Otago held Wellington to 10-5 at halftime, but the home team got on a roll in the second half and could not be stopped.
Winger Kiana Wereta scored a try for Otago, while Amy du Plessis scored the other five-pointer for the Spirit in her debut for the side.
Otago has another tough game this weekend when Counties-Manukau comes to town. The premiership side beat Auckland in Pukekohe on Saturday.
The match is part of a double-header,the women’s game starting at 2pm. The Otago men’s team plays Canterbury at 5.05pm.
• The Otago under-19 team lost its final game at the national championships in Taupo, going down 30-5 to Waikato in the final of the Sir Michael Jones Trophy.
The side finished 10th in the tournament, losing to Waikato on Saturday in a match to decide the winner of the bottom eight sides at the tournament.
Otago gave its all in the match, and fullback Harrison Boyle scored its try to tie the game up 5-5 about midway through the first half.
But big Waikato winger Siave Seti scored a couple of tries for Waikato, and the Mooloos led 17-5 at the break.Otago tried hard but could not get much going, not helped by a Waikato team which flirted with the offside line.
The tournament was won by Bay of Plenty, which beat Canterbury 35-30 in the final. It was the first time Bay of Plenty has won the title.
Pride v Spirit
The scores
Wellington 38
Ayesha Leti-Liga 2, Angeline Uila, Jackie Patea-Fereti, Bernadette Robertson tries; Amanda Rasch 5 con, pen
Otago 10
Kiana Wereta, Amy du Plessis tries
Halftime:10-5