North Otago overcame an imposing Poverty Bay pack and a strong first-half headwind to win their final NPC second division round-robin match 50-13 and claim the final place in next week's semifinals - an away match against Hawke's Bay.
Poverty Bay took control of the first half, dominating the scrums,
and first-five Earl Va'a kicked a penalty four minutes after No 8 Tom Solomon's try. But the momentum slowly swung North Otago's way with a Matt Adair penalty and try to North Otago centre Nathan Cunningham which gave them a 17-8 halftime lead.
The hosts saw Silao Vaisola sin-binned in the second half for careless use of the feet, but it failed to slow them down.
In Vaisola's absence, they scored one try - to blindside flanker Adam Kettle - and nearly added a second.
North Otago winger Faaitu Tuamohela added two tries within 10 minutes from close range, while left wing Scott Mayhew picked up a loose ball and scampered 65m to score.
Cunningham stamped his class again with a damaging run before passing to replacement Kilifai Fangipou to score with five minutes remaining.
In other matches yesterday, which had no bearing on the semifinals, Wanganui upset Nelson Bays 27-15 while Marlborough ended their NPC rugby history with a convincing 58-13 win over East Coast here at Lansdowne Park today.
Marlborough will merge with Nelson Bays as Tasman next year.
Division Two
North Otago 50
Poverty Bay 13
- NZPA
