With a strong wind at its back, it forced Manawatu to defend in its own half for large parts of the second half.
Otago boasted 65% territory after the break and was dominant at set-piece time. It could not turn that into points, though, and Manawatu tackled its way to a 27-14 victory in Palmerston North on Saturday.
For all its backline threats, Otago lacked creativity out wide and made too many mistakes.
Its most potent form of attack was through building pressure as it hammered away in the tight.
But the Manawatu defence was resolute. It racked up 154 tackles, and two tries from lineout drives were all Otago could muster.
Manawatu, in contrast, broke the Otago defence open a handful of times and took its chances when they arose.
Rust was probably a factor in Otago’s lack of finishing touch.
Back on the field for the first time in seven weeks — having been drawn against Auckland-based teams the two weeks following the lockdown break — there was always going to be polish lacking.
Coach Tom Donnelly acknowledged rust played a part in the performance, although felt Otago had shaken that off now.
"It was a pretty tough game for us, to be honest," he said.
"They were playing some really good footy and we were a bit rusty. We weren’t as accurate as we needed to be.
"We fought and our attitude was a really good. But we were just a bit inaccurate at times, particularly our breakdown, a lot of turnovers and our defence was a bit shady as well."
Manawatu used the wind to pin Otago in its own 22m throughout the first 20 minutes, as the visiting side showed its reluctance to use the boot into it.
While Otago held on well initially, a simple missed tackle off a 22m drop-out chase led to the first try.
No8 Brayden Iose shrugged off Otago centre Matt Faddes, before offloading to winger Tima Fainga’anuku to score in the right corner.
A break by left winger Ed Fidow then left the Otago defence scrambling, before first five Brett Cameron grubbered into space for Josiah Maruku to collect and score.
That put Manawatu up 14-0 inside 20 minutes, Otago having barely crossed halfway and not firing a shot on attack.
Otago halfback Kayne Hammington left the field with a head knock at that point. While that had the potential to be a big loss, James Arscott proved a handy replacement.
Otago worked its way into the game, finally getting into Manawatu’s 22m and generating some pressure.
Its pick and go proved effective and after Dylan Nel — who carried strongly all day — went close, he crashed over from the back of a lineout drive shortly after.
Cameron’s boot made it 17-7 not long after, before a piece of Faddes brilliance looked to have closed the gap.
However, his try was disallowed after a TMO consultation, and Manawatu held on.
An end-to-end try off the second-half kick-off, which went through about 20 sets of hands, was finished by Manawatu prop Jarred Adams.
From that point, Otago dominated the game, although it remained reluctant to throw the ball around.
Its set piece was strong and it looked to have crossed the line on several occasions.
But the Manawatu defence held strong, even when it was reduced to 14 men following a set repeated infringements.
A lineout-drive try to Lentjes with 15 minutes remaining was all Otago could manage.
