Otago coach Steve Martin says No 8 Paul Grant must be pushing for higher honours, after the South Otago product had a stand-out game against Tasman on Saturday.
Grant, at 21 the youngest in the squad, took the ball well off the back of the scrum, ran hard when he had the ball and made plenty of tackles when needed in the second half.
"I thought Paul had an outstanding game and he has got to be in real contention for a Super 14 spot. Our loose forwards really attacked them at the breakdown, and put pressure on them, which affected their game," Martin said.
He also praised the rest of the forwards, saying they followed the plan set before the game.
"We laid the platform in the first half and that came from the guys up front. We had chosen to play a tighter sort of game and squeeze the life out of them.
"We knew if we could get on top of them early we could have them. We wanted to keep it closer in and use guys like Kees [Meeuws] and Pete [Mirrielees] to hit it up. There weren't as many errors as last week but then again we had a more conservative game plan."
In the wet conditions, the emphasis was on hanging on to the ball, which the side did well, Martin said.
He said Otago did not close up shop in the second half, and it had a couple of opportunities but Tasman showed good line speed and tackled well.
Otago did not miss crucial tackles, as it it did last week, and, as the conditions worsened in the second half, it dominated territory.
Injury disruptions hindered Otago, with first five-eighth Glenn Dickson forced off and locks Hayden Triggs and replacement Hoani Matenga also leaving the field with injury.
Dickson was concussed after attempting a tackle, while Triggs has a problem with a shoulder and Matenga has damaged a hamstring.
All three are doubtful for Saturday's game against Counties-Manukau.
Otago is 10th on the table, with one round left.
Tasman co-coach Bevan Cadwallader said it was a "strange sort of game".
"Every time Otago got down in our half in the first half, they scored points. We had a close one which went against us and from then on it was always going to be tough," he said.
"I'm proud of the guys and the way they hung in there. But it was one of those games, especially with the conditions, that you couldn't get points quickly."
With the loss, Tasman's last hopes of making the semifinals disappeared.
Its final game is against Wellington in Blenheim next Friday.
The Highlanders are expected to announce two signings today.
Canterbury winger James Paterson is tipped to move to Southland, while young Wellington inside back Michael Hobbs has moved to Otago.
Both should be available for the Highlanders, though Hobbs has not played this season as he has been recovering from a back injury.
Hobbs, who turned 22 yesterday, is the son of New Zealand Rugby Union chairman Jock Hobbs.
