Otago under-19 has qualified for the top eight of the national tournament but its game against Canterbury today will decide whether it gets top billing.
Otago beat Southland 38-14 in Invercargill last month and Tasman 35-17 in Christchurch earlier this month in qualifying for the Taupo tournament.
Otago has a good sprinkling of premier club players and will be looking to them to lead the side to victory today against a committed Canterbury team.
Sam Aitken is a safe and dependable fullback for Otago, while winger Gavin Stark has lightning pace.
Josh Ioane, Fletcher Smith and Greg Dyer - who is playing halfback today - all play premier rugby and form a talented inside back combination, while Southern hooker Ricky Riccitelli leads the side.
Coach Barry Stevens said the new competition was a chance for Otago players to shine.
''This tournament is a huge opportunity for our young players and I know the team will be looking for a good seeding to help their chances of lifting one of the two trophies up for grabs,'' he said.
The tournament comprises 16 seeded teams, one from each of the ITM Cup unions, a second team from Auckland and a representative team from the 12 Heartland unions.
The tournament will be known as the Jock Hobbs Memorial Tournament after the former All Black and rugby administrator.
Counting the University of Otago social grades, Otago actually has the second-highest number of under-19 players to pick from - behind Auckland - of all unions.
The tournament kicks off next Sunday with teams competing across two divisions.
Teams in the top division will compete for a cup named after former All Black captain Graham Mourie, and the winner of the second division will be awarded the Michael Jones Trophy, named after the All Black loose forward.
Final seedings will be announced after the conclusion of the regional matches this weekend.
The Otago Development team will play a Darling Downs side at University Oval No 2 ground at 2.30pm today.
The Darling Downs side, which comes from around the Toowoomba area in Queensland, is on a three-match tour of Otago.
It will play in Oamaru on Wednesday and in Queenstown on Saturday.
Otago under-19
Team to play Canterbury
Sam Aitken, Gavin Stark, Noah Cooper, Josh Ioane, Liam Ward, Fletcher Smith, Greg Dyer, Alex Fitzgerald, Josh Tye, Dillon Hunt, Ben Tuiomanufili, Ethan Perrett, Cameron Keech, Ricky Riccitelli (captain), Callum Hardie.
Reserves: Sekonia Pole, Nathan Seiuli, Sammmy Seau, Max Hunt, Riley McDowall, Sam-Baker Fa'asalele-Leota, Jonathan Hayes, Ben Leggat.
