Otago still controls its destiny and just needs to nail its opportunities, coach Steve Martin said yesterday.
Martin said but for a couple of fumbles in the second half, Otago could have scored twice more in the second half and put Tasman away in Nelson on Saturday.
Otago scored a try in the last play of the game, to snatch a 21-21 draw.
Twice in the second half, forwards in the backline could not hold on to the ball with a clear overlap outside them.
Otago had successfully moved the ball to the sideline and outnumbered the Tasman defence after several phases.
Martin said though the side was down by eight points after 11 min, he was pleased with the start, and the plan to expose the Tasman side down the blindside worked well.
He said individual errors had led to tries not being scored.
The Tasman players held on to the ball well and was hard to get it off them at times, he said.
The draw left Otago in ninth place, on 15 points, one spot short of a place in the quarterfinals.
There are three rounds left.
Martin said the threshold for the quarterfinals over the past couple of years had been 22-24 points.
Otago plays Taranaki, sitting right behind it on the table, on Friday night at Carisbrook.
It then travels to Hamilton the following week to play Waikato.
Waikato was beaten by Wellington on Saturday night but grabbed a bonus point to put it in eighth place.
"We still give ourselves a real chance of getting there [quarterfinals].
"It is very do-able and we are playing the teams around us."
Otago's last game of the round is against table-topper Wellington.
Taranaki plays Waikato in the last round.
Martin was pleased with the defensive effort on Saturday and with how the team came home strongly in the final minutes.
Prop Ben Nolan was taken off at half-time for tactical reasons, Martin said, as his replacement Jed Vercoe was a good ball-runner and handy in close-quarter exchanges.
Martin was hopeful of having experienced forwards Tom Donnelly and Keith Cameron available for the Taranaki match.
