Macpherson, Richard Knight, Paul Henderson, Mike Brewer, Arran Pene and Brent Pope. On the wings were John Timu who scored 16 tries (including two bags of four tries) and Noel Pilcher who scored 15 tries respectively that season for Otago. Otago played Wales and almost beat them 13-15 in a close match at Carisbrook in May 1988. They had a short tour to Australia, defeating the Australian Baabaas 32-16, ACT 50-3 and drawing with Sydney 11-11. Otago came 5th in the 1989 edition of the National Provincial Championship. They also toured Argentina and played three games defeating San Isidro 28-15; Banco Nacionale 37-27 and a Mendoza Selection 25-21. Otago came 3rd in 1990 in the National Provincial Championship. They won eight out of their ten games only losing to Waikato and Auckland They also toured Canada, winning all three games, against Canada 23-6; British Columbia 20-9 and the University of British Columbia 36-12. Otago played Australia at Carisbrook losing 20-24 in a close match. John Timu scored two tries and Paul Cooke one try for Otago in the game. 1991 National Provincial Championship Victory The Otago team captained by Mike Brewer and coached by Laurie Mains won every game that season bar the second game of season against Counties. The crunch game was against Auckland at Carisbrook where Otago won 17-6 with tries from Greg Cooper and Jamie Joseph. The final game of the season was against North Harbour at home with Otago winning 26-10. Marc Ellis, Paul Cooke and John Haggart all scored tries. Of the 1991 team, eleven of the regulars ended up playing more than 100 games for the province and the other eight played more than 50 games. The team had a great culture and Steve Hotton commented that "There were country guys, town guys and university students and we all got on really well". 1992 Second place in National Provincial Championship 1992 was the year that playoffs were introduced into the National Provincial Championship. The Otago team, now coached by Gordon Hunter, reached the semi-final against North Harbour which was played at Carisbrook. At half time, Otago led 13-3 thanks to a Paul Cooke try, a John Timu drop goal and Greg Cooper's goal kicking prowess. In the second half, North Harbour pulled the score back to finish with a 16 -16 draw prompting extra time. In extra time, Frank Bunce scored a try for