Otago won the national championship women's match at the North Ground with a bonus point when it beat Manawatu 31-17 on Saturday.
Otago scored four tries and led 24-5 at the break and extended the margin to 31-5 when first five-eighth Victoria Nafatali scored her second try soon after halftime.
But the rest of the game belonged to Manawatu as it attacked from all parts of the paddock and scored 12 unanswered points.
Otago played vintage rugby in the first spell with its front row of Pip Love, Lucy Emery and Kat Wilton pushing Manawatu backward at most scrums.
Strong-running forwards Nicky Crawford, Kerry Stoddart and Angie Sisifa made ground with the ball.
The support play of the forwards was a feature and they helped Otago to sustain the momentum of the attack.
The rushed Otago defence kept Manawatu pinned behind the advantage line and created turnover ball.
Claire Richardson had a strong game in the midfield with her accurate tackling and her ability to snaffle ball from her opponent in the tackle.
First five-eighth Victoria Nafatali ran with power to break through the defence and used her strength to score two tries. Right wing Jamie Greene used her speed to score two first-half tries.
Manawatu kicked away too much ball in the first spell and this played into Otago's hands, as it ran the ball back at them.
However, towards the end of the first half, Manawatu started to run the ball from its own 22m and this tested the Otago defence.
Fullback Selica Winiata added spark with the ball and her two tries, either side of halftime, gave Manawatu confidence.
The second half was marked by an overdose of penalties as the game became a stop-start affair.
The best players for Manawatu were hard running fullback Winiata, strong running and hard tackling centre Shakira Baker, flanker Ebony Low, who made ground with the ball and lock Lydia Dickins, who was dominant in the lineout.
Kelly Brazier landed three conversions from the five Otago tries in the difficult wind conditions.
Women's NPC
The scores
Otago Spirit 31
Jamie Greene 2, Victoria Nafatali 2, Angie Sisifa tries; Kelly Brazier 3 con
Manawatu 17
Selica Winiata 2, Wairakau Grieg tries; Winiata con
Halftime: 24-5
