Waikato, with Stephen Donald and Mils Muliaina playing key roles, have overwhelmed a hapless Otago 41-15 in a national provincial championship rugby match at Hamilton tonight and retain a spot in the top four with regular season rounds to go.
Donald was masterful in the No 10 short tonight forWaikato, his complete performance resulting in two tries, setting two others up and knocking over every attempt at goal with his boot for a personal points haul of 26 points.
Muliaina, making a rare NPC appearance, was a handful for the Otago defence with the timing of his sniping runs as well as intuitive passing and deservedly scored a popular try in the second half.
The scoreline however does not reflect Otago's contribution to a fast paced game.
Ably led by skipper Alando Soakai and backed by halfback Sean Romans and first five Chris Noakes, Otago came back strongly to take the initiative in the early stages of the second half after Waikato took a 17-3 lead at halftime.
Waikato's points came from tries to wing Henry Speight and centre Save Tokula who scored after Donald produced three good passes in the buildup. Donald converted both tries and kicked a penalty while Otago replied through a Glenn Dickson penalty.
A fired-up Otago took control of the game in the second half and cut the deficit to 17-15 with two tries by the 47th minute.
Soakai got the first after Otago put 10 uncomplicated phases together and then Romans finished off a dart by Noakes which split the Waikato defence.
Donald calmed his side down with another penalty for a 20-15 lead.
The complexion of the game was overturned in the next 14 minutes as Muliaina regathered a Donald chip to get his try and then Donald dotted down twice, the second a gem when he regathered his own chip down the left flank to score.
There was no coming back for a breathless Otago who had prop
Halani Aulika sinbinned in the final 10 minutes for a swining arm in the buildup to Donald's first try.
Waikato 41 (Stephen Donald 2, Henry Speight, Save Tokula, Mils Muliaina, tries; Donald 2 pen, 5 con) Otago 15 (Alando Soakai, Sean Romans tries; Glenn Dickson pen, con). Halftime: 17-3.
