Wellington opened their season with a 13-5 win over Otago in a tight Farah Palmer Cup women's rugby match at Jerry Collins Stadium in Porirua on Sunday.
Bronwyn Dibb of Canterbury is tackled by Shonte To'a of Counties Manukau. Photo: Photosport
It took 40 minutes for Wellington to break the scoreless deadlock, but they did it in style with a length-of-the-field try finished off by centre Monica Tagoai.
The boot of first five-eighth Amanda Rasch - who added a conversion and two penalties - proved invaluable for Wellington, as did a defensive effort which was only breached late in the game when Otago winger Daimzel Rongokea crossed for a consolation try.
In other first-round Farah Palmer Cup matches, Canterbury kick-started their bid for a fifth successive title with an emphatic 59-12 win over Counties-Manukau in Christchurch.
Grace Brooker and Kendra Cocksedge both scored a brace in the nine-try win, as Canterbury opened out in the second half after leading 26-7 at half-time.
And Auckland scored six tries in their 44-12 win over Bay of Plenty at Eden Park, turning up the tempo after holding a 15-5 lead at the break.
Last year's coronavirus pandemic meant the women's competition was held under a truncated format.
The competition was split into north and south zones to save money, but this year it returns to a Premiership and Championship competition with 13 teams taking part.