But there is little cause for alarm.
They are fresh from a stunning 46-41 win against Wellington in Porirua on the weekend, and coach Mark Brown has adopted an approach of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.
He has named a settled side for the match against Counties-Manukau in Dunedin on Sunday.
Hookers Henry Bell and Liam Coltman switch places. Bell gets the start this week, while Coltman is likely to emerge early in the second half.
Brown expected it would be a smooth transition.
‘‘We won't have to change a thing,’’ Brown said.
‘‘Jake's returning from [a groin] injury, he's had a couple of really good hit-outs in the Tuppy Diack competition, so we expect him to step straight up.
‘‘He's a strong carrier with some really good footwork and all we're asking of him is for him to be himself.’’
Josh Whaanga also returns from injury (knee) and will start from the bench. He will cover winger and potentially the midfield as well.
While Brown was delighted with the result against Wellington, there are areas he wants to see improvement.
Otago missed 21 tackles, which was no more than you might expect in any other game despite conceding six tries.
‘‘It's not great to leak that many points, but that wasn't down to tackle accuracy.
‘‘It was more a few game management issues and just letting them have some space on the ball on their own terms.
‘‘There's a lot of teams like them that if they get those conditions, they'll hurt you, so that's been a focus for the week.’’
NPC
Forsyth Barr Stadium
Dunedin, Sunday at 1.35pm
Otago: Sam Gilbert (captain), Jae Broomfield, Josh Timu, Jake Te Hiwi, Jona Nareki, Cameron Millar, Dylan Pledger, Christian Lio-Willie, Lucas Casey, Will Stodart, Joseva Tamani, Will Tucker, Saula Ma’u, Henry Bell, Abraham Pole.
Reserves: Liam Coltman, Ben Lopas, Rohan Wingham, Oliver Haig, Harry Taylor, Nathan Hastie, Josh Whaanga, Sam Nemec-Vial.
