But for 40 minutes, the crowd of 2650 had hope the derby might end in a win for the little brother.
Otago led 16-7 at the break and had controlled the fixture.
First five Cameron Millar had a half to remember. He slotted 11 points with the boot and set up winger Jona Nareki with a wonderful run.
Millar swerved through a gap and palmed off another defender before swinging the ball to Nareki to finish.
It was a magic moment, and the home team had the reins.
But the visitors were more disciplined in the second spell and dominated the final quarter of the game, running in three tries.
Otago coach Tom Donnelly described it as a "bit of a bugger".
"We played pretty well in that first half but got a little bit impatient with the ball and just made a few errors in the second half," he said.
"And we let a good Canterbury side get on top of us."
Otago were forced into defending for long periods in the second half and "one missed tackle and they were good enough to make us pay".
There is no time to dwell on the defeat. They play Wellington on Wednesday night in Dunedin.
Otago lock Fabian Holland was a late scratching. Oliver Haig shifted to lock and Will Stodart was promoted from the bench to blindside.
Millar knocked over an early penalty but Canterbury struck back straight away when second five Jone Rova wrestled his way over near the posts.
Otago were able to turn the pressure back on the visitors.
Finn Hurley got a lovely inside ball from Millar and sliced through.
Thomas Umaga-Jensen put in a deft grubber for Nareki, who nailed James White in a bone-jarring tackle behind the line.
They tried to barge their way over as well before eventually settling for a second penalty from the boot of Millar.
Their next trip to the red zone netted another three points.
The sequence was broken when Millar scooped up a kick, powered through a gap and dispatched a defender with a nicely timed fend to set up Nareki, who ran around under the posts to dot down.
But midway through the second half, something was brewing for the visitors. The blue and gold wall cracked.
Dallas McLeod scored close to the posts and the centre featured again moments later in a break down the left.
Replacement loosie Tom Christie made a strong carry late in the move and got the ball to prop Finlay Brewis to score.
Brodie McAlister scored late to stretch the lead.
Otago wore Nugget Point Gilbert jerseys as a one-off, to acknowledge contributions from the South Otago rugby community, including stalwarts like David Latta and Richard Knight.
The jerseys, featuring a stunning image from local photographer John Caswell, will be auctioned with the proceeds going to community rugby in Otago.
NPC
The scores
Canterbury 34
Jone Rova, Dallas McLeod, Finlay Brewis, Brodie McAlister tries; James White con, Isaac Hutchinson pen, Shun Miyaki 3 con, pen
Otago 16
Jona Nareki try; Cameron Millar con, 3 pen
Halftime: Otago 16-7.
