Waikato came crashing painfully to earth at Carisbrook on Saturday afternoon, their five- match unbeaten run brought to an end , 35-20, by a rampaging Otago side.

This was another wonderful game of NPC rugby, showing the depth of the New Zealand game and the resources at John Mitchell's disposal as he considers his squad for the end of year All Black tour of Europe. None will have done more to advance their claims than Otago lock Filipo Levi and no8 Taine Randell. With both Reuben Thorne and Anton Oliver unavailable because of injury, why look further than the 1999 World Cup skipper when a captain is appointed come early November ? Time and again he and the mountainous Levi stopped the previously formidable Mooloo forwards in their track. Late in the game , the 120 kg Royce Willis was driven back helplessly in one of many huge hits which destroyed Waikato's momentum and disrupted their rhythm.

Superb back-up was provided by 2002 All Black lock Simon Maling and young flankers Blackie and Harding, the Otago eight collectively and individually more than a match for the visitors. At fly half , Blair Feeney had another influential game, his decision making and place kicking again ensuring that his side were in the right places at the right times and able to capitalize on chances as they came along. Fijian wingers Seru Rabeni and Aisea Tuilevu had extraordinary games, refusing to be confined to the flanks, and always dangerous with ball in hand. One trademark Tuilevu try , in the 50th minute, set the ground alight. Positioning himself at scrum half at a maul just outside the Waikato 22, he plucked the ball out of a colleague's arms and tore through the fringe defence to plant the ball emphatically beneath the posts.

Waikato coach Ian Foster will no doubt be disappointed. His side has been in magnificent form but today they were outmuscled to the point that they lost sight of , and confidence in, the game plan which had proved so profitable in the first five rounds. In retrospect, he may regret the decision to leave Marty Holah on the bench , because in his absence Waikato lost the battle for the loose ball. The forwards could never assert their domination and get the maul going forward , so the platform was not there for the backs to build from. Keith Lowen left the action early, a victim of pre-match flu, and hard as Mark Ranby tried on his return, he was well contained. Wingers Randle and Reihana were almost as impressive as their Otago counterparts, always hunting for the ball and sniffing out the gaps in the defence.

A low scoring first half saw Otago take a narrow, 11-7, lead into the half time break. A Feeney penalty was the only score of the first quarter after Waikato had made the better start. A good Todd Miller try, profiting from good mauling and elusive running from Regan King , was countered by a Neil Brew five-pointer shortly afterwards. There was an element of good fortune about this one, an incisive Tuilevu burst creating the danger before Nicholas hacked through and the full back beat the defence for the touch down.

Waikato started the second half as if they meant to blow Otago away. Relentless pressure and ball retention created the inevitable opening for Roger Randle and close to the ruck he burst through the Otago defence. But that was probably as good as it got for Waikato. For the next 15 minutes they traded points , the Tuilevu try and a penalty from Feeney, to a Reihana penalty and Duggan dropped goal . At 21-20 we seemed set for a cliffhanger but as Waikato began to lose their shape and started to kick possession away, Otago pounced. Superb tries from Feeney and Blackie not only sealed the five points but also denied Waikato any chance of the consolation bonus. In the end they were well beaten , Otago having established themselves as serious title contenders. They have not beaten Waikato since the final 1998, also in Dunedin. Could this be a foretaste of things to come for Randell's men.

Scorers :

Otago : 35 : Tries : Brew, Tuilevu, Feeney, Blackie. Conversions : Feeney ( 3 ). Penalties : Feeney ( 3 )

Waikato : 20 : Tries : Miller, Randle . Conversions : Reihana ( 2 ) . Penalty : Reihana Dropped goal : Duggan

Teams :

Otago : Neil Brew, Aisea Tuilevu, Ryan Nicholas, Seilala Mapusua, Seru Rabeni, Blair Feeney, Byron Kelleher, Taine Randell ( captain ), Josh Blackie, Kelvin Middleton, Simon Maling, Filipo Levi, Carl hayman, Jason MacDonald, Carl Hoeft.

Subs : Silao Vaisola, Joe McDonnell, Peter Bowden, Sam Harding, Danny Lee, Sam Young, Romi Ropati.

Waikato : Todd Miller, Roger Randle, Regan King, Keith Lowen, Bruce Reihana, David Hill, Rhys Duggan, Deon Muir ( captain ), Scott Couch, Jono Gibbes, Keith Robinson, Royce Willis, Deacon Manu, Greg Smith, Michael Collins.

Subs : Mark Ranby, Derek Maisey, Duncan Jamieson, Marty Holah, Steven Bates, Tony Philp, Scott Linklater.