The Otago Spirit were broadly competitive but pummelled in bursts as they slipped to a 47-12 loss to the Manawatu Cyclones in their Farah Palmer Cup championship game in Palmerston North on Saturday.
After their last-second win over North Harbour in the opening round, the Spirit were eager to snuff out the higher-rated Cyclones.
But the home side roared to a 19-0 lead inside the first quarter, and rattled on three more tries in a frantic seven-minute period in the second half to put the result beyond doubt.
Outside those patches, the Spirit gave as good as they got, but this was a clear signal that earning that long-awaited promotion to the premiership is not going to be easy.
Manawatu started with a bang when hooker Jayme Nuku celebrated her 50th appearance with a try in just the third minute.
The Spirit’s response faltered as their scrum came under pressure and they gave away a couple of penalties, and 37-year-old former Black Fern Selica Winiata profited when a quick tap led to an overlap out wide.
When winger Wikitoria Doyle hit the hole and scampered 60m for a lovely individual try, it was 19-0 and shaping to be a rather ghastly day for the Otago visitors.
The Spirit’s scrum settled, and with Jamie Church getting a couple of good runs on the wing and Sheree Hume controlling play nicely, there were some promising signs on attack.
Otago scored the opening try of the second half and it was worth the wait as some excellent handling led to Oceana Campbell crossing on the right flank.
If the Spirit had scored next, we would have had a game. Instead, the Cyclones responded with vicious efficiency, and roared to a 40-5 lead in minutes.
The pick of their tries started with an intercept on their own 5m line and ended with a gliding run from centre Hollyrae Mete.
Otago youngster Rikki Fitzgerald was yellow-carded for a dangerous tackle.
Te Atawhai Campbell, who scored the game-winning try in the first round, snapped up a loose ball and charged 70m to score, but Manawatu had the final say with their seventh try.
"We certainly knew it was going to be a tough one against Manawatu," Spirit captain Julia Gorinski told Sky Sport.
"Unfortunately, we didn’t execute our game plan like we’d hoped. A lot of costly errors, and it’s pretty hard to score points without the ball."
The Spirit are finally at home this Sunday when they host Tasman.
The Wellington Pride shape as the other championship heavyweights after their 61-7 thumping of the Taranaki Whio, while North Harbour smashed Tasman 46-5.
In the premiership, Counties-Manukau made it two from two with a 36-32 win over the Hawke’s Bay Tui, Bay of Plenty beat Northland 26-12, and Canterbury edged Waikato 10-7.
Farah Palmer Cup
The scores
Manawatū Cyclones 47
Jayme Nuku, Selica Winiata, Wikitoria Doyle, Rangimarie Sturmey, Hollyrae Mete, Molly Scuffil-McCabe, Alesha Williams tries; Winiata 6 con
Otago Spirit 12
Oceana Campbell, Te Atawhai Campbell tries; Cheyenne Cunningham con
Halftime: Cyclones 19-0.
