The draw for the ITM Cup was officially released yesterday by New Zealand Rugby and features plenty of tough matches first up in a season which kicks off on August 13 in Invercargill when Southland entertains Auckland.
Otago will be looking for some good numbers through the gates and has been helped by having all three of its games against South Island teams scheduled at home and during the weekend.
A chance at grabbing the Ranfurly Shield looks remote. Otago plays holder Hawkes Bay in Dunedin and only an unlikely set of results will lead to a challenge against another side.
Otago will take on Canterbury in its first game of the season at Forsyth Barr Stadium on August 15.
This match will start at 4.35pm. The Bledisloe Cup match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies is scheduled to be played at Eden Park later that night. Another home game against Hawkes Bay follows a week later.
Otago then takes on Taranaki in New Plymouth, the first time in five years it will have played the newly named Bulls.
Next up is Tasman on a Friday night and then Otago has the Derby match against Southland at Forsyth Barr Stadium on September 26, late in the afternoon.
This is a lot better than last season, when the union hosted just one South Island team - Canterbury - and that game was played on a Thursday night.
The competition is squeezed into just over two months so each side plays one midweek game. Otago's midweek game will be against Northland, in Whangarei on a Wednesday, in week nine of the competition.
Otago will have played six days before that - against North Harbour away - and has four days to return from Northland to play Bay of Plenty at Forsyth Barr Stadium in the final game of the regular season. That means three games over 11 days, a lot better than other sides.
Otago coach Cory Brown said he was happy with the draw.
It was a tough opening couple of games but it would be good to catch those sides early.
Otago will play three pre-season games. A shadow Otago side, the Sassenachs, will play in the week leading up the club final. Otago will also play pre-season games against Tasman and Southland, both of these matches away from home.
