Mitre 10 Cup: Hawke's Bay blow past Otago

Hawke's Bay have continued their flawless start to their Mitre 10 Cup campaign with a 29-21 bonus-point win over Otago at McLean Park.

Boosted by the inspired play of All Blacks World Cup hopeful Brad Weber, the Magpies feasted on a mountain of early territory and possession to record their third consecutive victory.

A gallant Otago bolted down the home stretch with two tries in the space of three minutes to threaten a late comeback, but it was ultimately too little, too late.

The hosts opened the scoring through captain Ash Dixon, who cashed in on a textbook rolling maul to dot down in the 10th minute.

The visitors struck back just five minutes later, as Jona Nareki added a clinical finish on a slick backline move to tie the scores.

The Magpies were then stung by a yellow card to Lincoln McCutchie for an intentional knockdown, but were still able to cross for another try, as Tom Parsons burrowed over on the end of a sweeping movement that began in their own half.

A Danny Toala penalty extended the Hawke's Bay advantage to 17-7, which remained the scoreline going into the halftime break.

Toala was immediately back in the action when the second stanza resumed, bolting on to a pinpoint pass from Weber to waltz over net to the posts untouched.

Otago's hopes of a comeback were dealt a big blow with the sinbinning of Jona Nareki for an intentional knockdown of his own.

The Magpies instantly took advantage, Weber sneaking a richly deserved try down the fringe of a close-range maul to lift their lead to 29-7 with a quarter of the contest left.

Otago first-five Josh Ioane stepped inside some weak defense to score and give his side a sniff in the final 10 minutes.

A few minutes later, Michael Collins benefitted from a deft inside ball from Koroi to cut the Otago deficit to eight points and set up an intriguing finish, but the hosts managed to hold on to remain unbeaten.

They'll next travel north to take on the Taniwha next Saturday, while Otago will look to get back on track at home in a Ranfurly Shield defense against Manawatu next Friday.

Newshub.