Otago under-19 has made the top eight at the inaugural national under-19 tournament.
Now the real work begins.
The side will take on Waikato, in what is effectively a quarterfinal, at the Jock Hobbs memorial tournament in Taupo tomorrow.
Waikato won the Chiefs regional section of the tournament and will be a tough nut to crack, as it is an aggressive union for recruitment and has a big stock of players.
Otago under-19 coach Barry Stevens said the side had been making progress in every game and he had seen a couple of Waikato's games on tape, so would not be going into the game blind.
The side lost to Canterbury last week in the deciding game for the southern region, going down 27-22 after it led at halftime.
Stevens said it was a game where Otago could not get the ball for a period in the second half and that was when Canterbury scored points.
He said games were usually close at this age group and it could often come down to making the most or one or two scoring opportunities. Otago will be travelling to Taupo today and has been training hard this week.
The tournament will have games on Wednesday and final matches on Sunday.
There are also four seminars for players during the week, covering issues from nutrition to the perils of social media.
The tournament was introduced to help identify promising players of the future who will be part of next year's New Zealand under-20 side.
The Otago Development team to play Canterbury Metro on the University Oval 2 at 1pm today is.-Matt Faddes, Christian Walker, Aleki Morris, Logan Moore, Josh Gordon, Matt Te Tana, Josh Walden, Hame Toma, Hadleigh May, Adam Knight, Hale T Pole, Elli Tonga, Scott Manson, Sam Sturgess, George Bower. Reserves: Masui Akauola, Mike Colville, Angus Williams, Solomon Pole, Kurt Hammer, Corey McFadzen, Josh Casey.
Otago under-19 v Waikato under-19
Taupo, tomorrow, 5.05pm
Otago: Sam Aitken, Gavin Stark, Shae Tucker, Josh Ioane, Noah Cooper, Fletcher Smith, Greg Dyer, Alex Fitzgerald, Josh Tye, Dillen Hunt, Ben Tuiomanufili, Ethan Perrett, Cameron Keech, Ricky Riccitelli (captain), Callum Hardie. Reserves: Seko Pole, Nathan Seiuli, Sammy Seau, Max Hunt, Riley McDowall, Sam-Baker Fa'asalele-Leota, Jonathan Hayes, Liam Ward.
