With players coming and going on and off the field during the 80 minutes, a gallant Otago side narrowly went down 27-24 to Wellington in the capital yesterday.
Otago hung on and defended strongly as Wellington had more territory and possession throughout the 80 minutes.
Many sides have caved against the powerful Lions this season but Otago just kept knocking people over.
Replacement winger Vilimoni Koroi scored a nice try with just under 15 minutes to go, when he followed up a grubber kick from centre Sio Tomkinson and won the race to the ball. With the conversion from Fletcher Smith, Otago tied the game up 24-24.
But Wellington swept down on attack and when referee Jamie Nutbrown found an Otago player offside, home town kicker Jackson Garden-Bachop put the ball right down the middle to put his side ahead with four minutes left.
Otago tried to get back into the match in the dying minutes but could not break the defence.
The visiting side had the consolation of a bonus point from the game and its playoff destiny will be decided in the last two games of the regular season, when it hosts Bay of Plenty and Southland.
Otago suffered injuries throughout. Mika Mafi came on early on for an injured Blair Tweed, who picked up a head knock.
Mafi himself came off about midway through the second half having run himself into the ground, only to have to go back on within minutes when lock Josh Dickson picked up an ankle injury.
Hayden Parker also had to come off after a short stint, having picked up an ankle injury. He had come on for Josh Ioane, who was struggling but Ioane was forced back on.
Halfback Josh Renton came on early in the second half but twisted his leg and lasted only 10 minutes. Jono Ruru returned to the field.
Coach Cory Brown said after the game it was a gutsy effort from his side.
"I can’t fault them, really. We were playing our third game in so many days and had plenty of dings in the side. But the guys just fronted up and gutsed it out," Brown said.
"It was very courageous. We know the way they play, with big ball runners, so you’ve got to stop their momentum. But if we put them under pressure then we knew we could be in with a crack."
Brown said the injuries were obviously a concern but the side just had to move on to next week and prepare for the last two games at home.
Otago stayed handy in the first half and led 11-10 at the break.
The blue and golds scored their only try of the first half just after the half-hour mark.
It had a scrum handy to the posts and a long cut-out pass from halfback Jono Ruru went to winger Latu Vaeno.He moved the ball inside when tackled and it struck a couple of players before landing in the hands of Ruru, who dived over.
Tei Walden and Tomkinson played well in the backline while the Otago scrum was powerful throughout.
In other games played over the weekend, Manawatu beat Southland 25-20, Auckland beat Bay of Plenty 38-19 while Canterbury defended the Ranfurly Shield with a comfortable 37-17 win over Waikato. In the late game yesterday Counties Manukau beat Northland 25-16.
Mitre 10 Cup
The scores
Wellington 27
Ben Lam 2, Alex Fidow, Julian Savea tries; Jackson Garden-Bachop 2 con, pen
Otago 24
Jono Ruru, Vilimoni Koroi tries, Fletcher Smith 4 pen, con
Halftime: 11-10 Otago