Bay of Plenty farewelled halfback Jamie Nutbrown with a result to savour as they beat Otago 31-20 in an Air NZ Cup match at Mt Maunganui tonight.

Bay of Plenty held on grimly after leading 24-0 at halftime, just six days after suffering their first loss of the season when thumped by Wellington.

That reverse clearly stung Bay of Plenty, who tore into a lacklustre Otago outfit after being aided by a first-half breeze at their backs.

The conditions could not be blamed for Otago's substandard performance in the first spell as they seldom threatened as a raft of handling errors gifted Bay of Plenty possession.

But Otago reinvented themselves during the halftime break and immediately made inroads into the deficit when tries to Tom Donnelly and skipper Craig Newby plus fine goalkicking from Chris Noakes saw them trail just 20-24 with 17 minutes remaining.

Delany then crossed for his team's bonus-point fourth try and added the sideline conversion for good measure to give Bay of Plenty breathing space.

Playing his final match on these shores before joining Welsh club Ospreys, Nutbrown was a busy man behind a hard working though under-rated forward pack.

He scored the best try of the match three minutes before halftime after first five-eighth Mike Delany made the initial incision inside his own half before offloading to No 8 Colin Bourke.

Bourke calmly drew the last defender and passed to Nutbrown, who gave Delany a gimme conversion from in front of the goalposts.

Nutbrown's effort complemented earlier tries to flanker Tanerau Latimer, who showed good strength to force his way over in the corner, and lock Culum Retallick, who powered his way over the line when Bay of Plenty quickly ran a free kick inside the Otago 22.

Otago burst to life after the resumption as they scored two converted tries within eight minutes of the restart.

Lock Donnelly crossed after two thrusts by halfback Toby Morland opened up the Bay of Plenty defence then the home side were caught a man short on the blindside from a ruck as Newby scored without a hand being laid on him.

Otago's resurgence continued when first five-eighth Noakes slammed over a 55m penalty in the 56th minute and another from closer range seven minutes later.

With Bay of Plenty now ahead just 24-20 the outcome hung in the balance until Delany squeezed through a gap then slid across the tryline after patient preparatory work by his forwards.

Result of an Air NZ Cup rugby match at Mt Maunganui tonight:-

Bay of Plenty 31 (Tanerau Latimer, Culum Retallick, Jamie Nutbrown, Mike Delany tries; Delany pen, 4 con) Otago 20 (Tom Donnelly, Craig Newby tries; Chris Noakes 2 pen, 2 con). Halftime: 24-0.