In the previous game against Wanganui, North Otago came under criticism for falling off one-on-one tackles and lack of penetration at the breakdown but coach Barry Matthews was more than happy with this performance.
"I thought the boys played very well.We wanted to go for four tries first of all and that bonus point before we won the game, which sounds a bit ... but we had to get a bonus point, otherwise we wouldn't be in contention for the Meads Cup," Matthews said.
"We had a game plan in which we thought we could attack through certain channels. We practised the moves at a walk through the week and on Friday night and Saturday morning and on the day the boys did it pretty well."
North Otago was asked to play into the strong southeasterly and, early in the second quarter, had established a 17-3 lead after Wairarapa-Bush first five eighth Glen Walters had kicked a penalty in the third minute.
North Otago was playing with confidence and, seven minutes later from a scrum 12m out from the opposition line, North Otago half Tala Fagasoaia slipped away to his right and fullback Chris Talanoa was up in support to send flanker Jack Wolfreys in for an unconverted try.
Four minutes later, rightwinger Rowan McKenzie scored the second try after hooker Josh Collier had led the charge to give North Otago a 10-3 lead.
The North Otago defence was quite outstanding.
"This week if there was a missed tackle there was always someone to clean up and we tried to work in pods and go together and I think it worked for most of the game."
Fourteen minutes before halftime, Fagasoaia sparked another sniping attack. Ralph Darling and Rangi Hepi continued the momentum with Hepi busting tackles before lock Eric Duff was on hand to score beside the posts. Billy Guyton converted to give North Otago a 17-3 lead.
Three minutes from halftime, the home side finally showed its ability when it created an overlap for left winger Nathan Hunt to score an unconverted try.
Wairarapa-Bush's tactics in the second half were to try valiantly to run the ball back against a near impenetrable North Otago defence. A kicking game would have been a more advisable option, giving the home side better attacking opportunities.
North Otago rammed home its advantage three minutes into the second half when, following a series of phases, centre Lemi Masoe, who had his best game this season, slotted a perfectly placed kick out wide for left winger Tim O'Malley to score.
Walter added his second penalty eight minutes later and, in the 64th minute, it was Masoe again who, seeing that the attack was covered out wide, calmly kicked a dropped goal to take North Otago to a 28-11 lead.
Wairarapa- Bush hit back, gathering the kick-off on the full, and replacement halfback Byron Karaitiana was on hand to touch down for Walters to convert and bring his side to within 10 points of North Otago. Wairarapa-Bush though had to be content with a late Walters penalty.
Standouts for North Otago were fullback Chris Talanoa with his incisive running and fine defence, Lemi Masoe, whose defence was outstanding and his ability to commit three defenders on attack was notable while halfback Fagasoaia had his best game of the season.
Up front Collier was aggressive and physical, Duff took some great lineout ball while No 8 Tony Lamborn impressed with his ability with the ball in hand and his deadly defence. Rangi Hepi scrummaged well and showed out for his support play.
North Otago's win took it into sixth place behind South Canterbury which is also on 20 points.
By Terry O'Neill.
Heartland Champs
The scores
North Otago 28
Jack Wolfreys, Rowan McKenzie, Eric Duff, Tim O'Malley tries; Billy Guyton pen,con; Lemi Masoe dg
Wairarapa-Bush 21
Nathan Hurst, Byron Karaitiana tries; Glen Walters 3 pen, con
Halftime: 17-8
