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.
He 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 lock Fabian Holland was a late scratching. Oliver Haig shifted to lock and Will Stodart was promoted from the bench to blindside.
Millar opened the scoring early, knocking over a long distance penalty in the third minute.
Canterbury struck back straight away. Second five Jone Rova wrestled his way over near the posts.
They had got into that position with a slick back move which carried them 40m up field.
Otago was able to turn the pressure back on Canterbury.
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 but eventually settled for a second penalty from the boot of Millar.
Their next trip to the red zone netted another three points as well.
The sequence was broken when Millar scooped up a kick and powered through a gap with a serve and a nicely timed fend to set up Nareki, who ran around under the posts to dot down.
White hit the crossbar with a late penalty in a frenetic finish to the half.
Only some desperate defence 10 minutes into the second half prevented Chay Fihaki scoring in the corner for Canterbury after he collected a nice skip pass.
Nareki was involved again. He put in some very heavy hits during a classy shift.
The visitors had clawed back some momentum and something was brewing,
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 will be auctioned with the proceeds going to community rugby programs 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: 16-7 Otago
