KEY POINTS:
Hawkes Bay 19 Otago 10
Hawkes Bay celebrated a ground breaking win at Carisbrook last night in a match that provided further evidence that Otago are a fading rugby force.
Hawkes Bay were emphatic winners. It is 24 years since they last beat Otago, and they had not won in Dunedin since 1976.
During those intervening years the two teams have been on different rugby planets with Otago often bolstered by recruits from the Magpies area.
No more, and it was the rampaging, ball playing abilities of the black and whites which stood out and provided a perfect follow up to their smashing of doomed Tasman last week.
They had a swarming defence to rely on, but Otago made their job easy.
Hawkes Bay established a dominance late in the first half. Otago's only stanza of hope was early in the second half but their rare bursts in the middle of the field were inevitably followed by isolated players being swamped out wide. Their only try, to Daniel Bowden, came too late to influence the result.
It had taken half an hour for anything interesting to emerge but it was worth the wait, although not for the smattering of Otago supporters at the ground.
Hawkes Bay broke the try drought with a wonderful spell of cohesive football, spinning the ball left against thin defence to send wing Zac Guildford clear.
That gave Hawkes Bay a 13&
45;3 lead. The visitors followed that up with a series of terrific runs and passes, including Guildford hooking the ball over a couple tacklers to keep a move flowing and prop Sona Taumalolo making one of his familiar charges. The result was a penalty to Berquist although they deserved more.
It was the quality of the passes and the timing of the support running which stood out from Hawkes Bay towards the end of the half.
Otago's response was limp until the dying seconds of the period when they found room on the flank, but this promising attack was ended by a knock on. The other highlight was an oddity of a 35 metre drop goal from Berquist that looked doomed from birth yet somehow struggled its way on to the scoreboard.
Hawkes Bay 19 (Z. Guildford try, M. Berquist 3 pen, con, drop goal)
Otago 10 (D. Bowden try, C. Noakes con, pen). HT: 16&
45;3
