Waikato 41
Otago 15
Stephen Donald may be on the edge of the All Blacks but he is in the middle of most plays when Waikato start to hum.
His spark helped Waikato to overcome a mid-match slump last night before they rediscovered their Mooloo mojo to burst away to a bonus-point try victory and keep their semifinal hopes burning.
Donald was left right and centre in the action with his hard running at Otago, distribution to both flanks, tactical direction and outstanding goalkicking. His two try, 26-point haul was just the sort of allround performance to remind the All Black selectors of his 19-test experience.
He had some solid henchmen last night. The Waikato frontrowers dominated the scrum, No 8 Alex Bradley was relentless in workrate, Save Tokula a handful in midfield and Tawera Kerr-Barlow a livewire at halfback.
Otago had their chances. Left wing Fetu Vainikolo squandered two tries in the first half. He was over the line for the first, but had the ball stripped from his grasp by flanker Jack Lam, then dropped a pass soon after with no defenders in sight and the tryline five metres away.
In contrast, Waikato took two of their three chances and a penalty from the other when Otago's offside defenders prevented a try to Dominiko Waqaniburotu.
Waikato started with great gusto, spreading the ball to the flanks and steadily making their way downfield from their first possession for wing Henry Speight to beat four defenders to claim the initial touchdown.
It looked ominous for Otago whose confidence had to be at a low level after a season of very modest results. They stopped the next Waikato surge, illegally, and were fortunate referee Richard Kelly did not punish them with a penalty try and a sinbin for hooker Peter Mirrielees.
Out of that sloppy start, Otago put the blowtorch on Waikato's defence for the next 15 minutes.
Then Donald hit Tokula with a superb cutout pass, creating space and time to canter to the tryline.
Waikato hit the sheds 17-3 ahead, but seven minutes after returning to work, their lead had narrowed after conceding two tries. It was a remarkable turnaround from Otago who had only found two wins in a wretched season.
That resurgence did not last though, as Donald weaved his Waikato magic and his troops followed.
Waikato: H Speight, S Tokula, M Muliaina, S Donald 2, tries; S Donald 5 con, 2 pen
Otago: A Soakai, S Romans, tries; G Dickson pen, con
Halftime: 17-3
