Thomas Umaga-Jensen of Otago during the NPC - Wellington v Otago at Porirua Park/Jerry Collins Stadium, Wellington. Photo: Masanori Udagawa/Photosport
Defence was optional at Porirua, as Otago outlasted Wellington 46-41 at Jerry Collins Stadium.
Wellington certainly started where they left off against Waikato a week ago, scoring two tries in the first few minutes to shoot out to a 14-0 lead.
However, Otago hit back through promising halfback Dylan Pledger and Lucas Casey. The openside flanker scored a second on the half hour mark, before Wellington halfback Esi Komaisavai hit back for the home side.
Cam Millar tacked on a penalty to give Otago a deserved 24-19 halftime lead, before Will Tucker scored after the break to stretch the lead.
It probably should have been more, but the momentum swung back sharply, when an errant Otago pass was snatched by wing Tom Maiava to race half the length of the field and score. Lock Akira Ieremia crashed over shortly after to give Wellington their first lead of the game.
That advantage lasted all of a minute, before more shoddy tackling allowed Jona Nareki to stroll over for Otago, but not long after, Matt Proctor again kept Wellington in the game when he scored out wide.
By this stage, it was clear whichever team could just simply keep their heads for a while would win and Otago were first to figure it out. Thomas Umaga-Jensen's ultimately matchwinning try, once again through some frustratingly poor tackling, was followed up by 10 minutes of actually structured rugby by the visitors on both sides of the ball.
Millar knocked over a penalty goal in the 73rd minute, which gave them a two-score lead, and the ability to simply line up and defend Wellington's increasingly desperate attempts. The game ended with a bit of drama, with Jackson Garden-Bachop quickly kicking a penalty to leave Wellington with one opportunity off the kickoff to score a try to win.
Ultimately, that was too much to ask, as Otago's defence forced a forward pass to end the game.
The late shot at goal at least earned a bonus point for the defending champions, who head up the road next weekend to face Manawatu. Otago will fancy their chances, when they head to Pukekohe to play winless Counties-Manukau.
Read how the game unfolded here:
