ODT Online rugby writer Jeff Cheshire looks at five key points from Otago's win over Waikato at the weekend.
A good response to last week
Previous form is not always the best indicator of how a team will play. Sometimes your best performance comes after your worst one. This was evident this week, as Otago walked on to the field with a clear chip on their shoulders. The early stages were going to be important, as a bad start like last week would have knocked their confidence. This was not an issue. After having an early kick charged, Otago got themselves out of trouble and showed great patience to set up a well-worked try in just the third minute. It set the tone for the game, and despite Waikato striking back soon after, showed Otago that they indeed could break down their opponents. In the end, they left the field with an enhanced reputation, having responded to last week's loss in the best manner possible.
Urgency in support
After two games very average games where they struggled to secure their own ball, the Otago forwards, and even backs, were far more urgent in their support play. Every time someone took the ball into contact there were always three or four players on them quickly to protect the ball at the ruck. Think Sam Anderson-Heather, James Lentjes, Liam Coltman, Jackson Hemopo, the list goes on.
It was the key feature that contrasted this performance with the last two. The forwards were more energetic, more aggressive and much better, which showed on the scoreboard.
Lineout on the money
Finally the Otago lineout operated well this year. Only once was the ball over-thrown, which was just as well considering the amount of throw-ins Otago had, particularly in the first half. They primarily used Tom Franklin jumping at the back and Jackson Hemopo one in front of him as their targets.
Both won a ton of ball and securing it further back made for easier delivery to the backline. Sam Anderson-Heather was on the money with his throwing, as was Liam Coltman when he came on. Now we know that they are capable of winning their lineout ball. The next question will be whether they can do it consistently.
Strong defence
After last week's defensive woes, the seven points will be extremely pleasing for this Otago team. Despite falling off a few too many tackles early on, they held Waikato to just one try and then galvanised as a unit as the game entered its second quarter. The best passage came in the first five minutes of the second half. Waikato were pressing the line hard and after conceding a penalty, Otago found themselves defending a lineout drive five metres out. They stopped the drive, then withstood multiple phases of attack, eventually forcing a knock-on. It was a passage of play which summed up Otago's day, just far more urgent and far more desperate.
More go-forward from forwards
Along with being more urgent, the forward pack looked better balanced and offered some forward momentum in contact. TJ Ioane was the standout, fighting hard for metres and was a handful with ball in hand as always. But he was not the only one. Both locks imposed themselves well, with Jackson Hemopo being particularly prominent carrying the ball. Sam Anderson-Heather was strong too, while Aki Seiuli made a series of good runs in the second half. Contrast this to the past two games, where essentially no one was doing this. It meant that the Waikato defence was on the back foot and not able to get up as fast. Consequently there were more gaps to run into as they were not organized, there was more space and when at times they got caught offside in kickable positions.
