Otago built some confidence with a strong showing in their internal trial game in Cromwell yesterday.
The Blue team dispatched the Gold team 45-7.
The game was played over two 30-minute halves and the Blue lineup, which was effectively a shadow Otago side, cut loose, particularly in the backs.
Midfielder Thomas Umaga-Jensen and Kyan Rangitutia bagged a brace of tries each and outside back Sam Nemec-Vial impressed again.
He is sharp on his feet and scored just before the break to give the Blue team a 28-0 lead.
Fullback Sam Gilbert was assured at the back.
The locking duo of Joseva Tamani and Will Tucker combined for a nice try by Tucker, who performed his core roles well.
Otago blew several restarts during the warm-up match against Southland in Dunedin last week, but were much more secure at that phase.
Loose forward Slade McDowall put in a big effort for Gold.
He had a standout club season for Kaikorai and he put his hand up in the trial.
Gold hooker Heath MacEwan put in an industrious shift as well, and Riley Lucas was solid in the midfield.
Otago coach Mark Brown said it was a fantastic occasion and they got a good crowd.
There were no major injuries, which was another good result.
"Everyone got the minutes under their belt that they needed to be ready for round one [against Southland in Invercargill next weekend]," Brown said.
"We made some improvements in little areas of the games, including kickoffs.
"The backs got good ball, so I think the way we recycled the ball and looked after the breakdown gave them space to express themselves.
"That is going to be one of the key parts of our game this year, just letting all our players express themselves and they certainly did that."
First five Cameron Millar and halfback Nathan Hastie know each other’s games well and they combined nicely.
"Cam was really connected with the forwards in front of him and his kicking game was on point as well.
"And Nat’s service was excellent. A couple of those box kicks he is well-known for were thrown into the mix.
"They were both very good for us."
