KEY POINTS:
Bay of Plenty 31
Otago 20
Departing halfback Jamie Nutbrown signed off from New Zealand rugby after scoring one of the tries of the season as the Bay of Plenty side regained their winning touch last night.
Nutbrown may be heading for one of the murkier parts of the sporting world at Ospreys but he will long remember his try which lit up this game at Mt Maunganui. He completed an 80 metre dash, instigated by five-eighths Mike Delany and carried on by Colin Bourke, which gave the Bay a 24-0 halftime buffer.
It was a comfortable lead and one they were never likely to relinquish even though they had to push into a stiff breeze after the break. That forecast proved accurate as the Bay added the necessary extra try to claim victory with a bonus point in what was a tasty duel between two sides coming off last week defeats.
After taking a first half pounding, Otago repaid those insults by scoring two converted tries and a whopping 53m penalty to Chris Noakes inside 15 minutes after the break. From a side which had looked disjointed and rattled before the break, Otago were suddenly on fire and stoking the Bay of Plenty nervous systems.
Lock Tom Donnelly completed one sweeping movement and captain Craig Newby another down the shortside and from their satisfactory position at the break, the Bay were suddenly under some tasty heat and the teams had barely had time to get warm again after the break.
From having a massive lead, the Bay were only a converted try ahead and then even less when Noakes kicked another penalty. The Bay started to look extremely twitchy while their mega-mascot Hori Bop attempted to rekindle some noise and enthusiasm from the 13,578 crowd. They responded and so did the Bay in a frenetic final quarter.
They struggled to staunch the bleeding until a concerted series of drives from the forwards near the Otago line, freed the ball and some space for the nifty Delany who outsmarted some forwards left in the Otago defensive line, for a vital try which he also converted into the stiff breeze from the sideline.
Bay of Plenty 31 (T. Latimer, C. Retallick, J. Nutbrown, M. Delany tries; Delany pen, 4 con)
Otago 20 (T. Donnelly, C. Newby tries; C. Noakes 2 pen, 2 con). HT: 24-0.
