Otago teams had a rough couple of days at the national sevens championships in Rotorua at the weekend.
The men's team, which won the Southern region qualifier in November, went winless, while the women finished seventh.
Both teams were already out of the Cup section after each losing three matches on Saturday, meaning yesterday was all about playing for the lower placings.
The men, who lost 17-7 to Wellington, 22-19 to Taranaki and 26-19 to Hawkes Bay on Saturday, were on track to win their Bowl quarterfinal against Northland yesterday, but suffered a second-half collapse.
Taylor Haugh and Gavin Stark scored good first-half tries to lead 12-0 at halftime, but Northland hit back with three second-half tries to win 21-12.
Otago struggled to control the restarts, and found itself defending for the majority of the second half.
The blue and golds were relegated to the Shield semifinals, where they lost their fifth game and final game against Wanganui 19-10.
Three losses - 27-7 against Counties Manukau, 24-0 against Wellington and 33-12 against Waikato - and a 14-14 draw with North Harbour on Saturday saw the Otago women miss out on the Cup stage.
But it picked up the first win of the weekend for the province yesterday morning, when it beat Wairarapa Bush 34-15 in the Plate quarterfinals.
However, a 19-12 loss to Waikato in the semifinals condemned the blue and golds to the 7th and 8th playoff, where they rounded off the weekend with a 26-10 win against North Harbour.
Counties Manukau won its first men's national title in 21 years, after thrashing North Harbour 54-14 in the Cup final.
Manawatu won the women's national title with a narrow 26-19 win against Wellington.
Auckland won the men's Plate final, Northland the Bowl final and Wanganui the Shield final.
Waikato's women's team beat Auckland 19-14 to win the Plate final, while Tasman beat Wairarapa Bush 12-10 in the Bowl final.
