Otago beat neighbour North Otago 46-14 at Forsyth Barr Stadium last night.
The game gave off strong preseason vibes.
It was messy, loose and, well, ugly at times. It also felt like an away game for Otago.
A good chunk of the 2138 spectators celebrated loudly when Kelepi Funaki crashed through to score in the second half.
Another big cheer welcomed Ratu Logavatu when he barreled over in the final moment of the match.
Otago had done enough in the first half to secure the win.
But this was not the Champagne rugby they played last year.
The performance reflected how little time they had together before the fixture — just three trainings.
Otago coach Mark Brown described it as ‘‘a bit of a stop-start spluttering game’’.
‘‘I think everyone out there had their moments. But what would sum it up is everyone was also a little bit inconsistent and that probably captures the whole game, to be fair.
‘‘But first and foremost, they went out and retained the shield. A lot of them made their debuts.
‘‘That’s going to be something that stays with them forever.’’
Otago opened the scoring with a pretty slick team try.
Rique Miln made a perfectly-timed pass to Josh Whaanga, who ran in from 20-odd metres out.
North Otago quickly put the setback behind them.
They spent a lengthy period camped in the Otago 22 but could not find a way through.
But having absorbed a lot of pressure, Otago struck.
Former North Otago flanker Tony Taufa got over in a melee close to the line.
He nabbed a second when he got in the boot of a lineout drive from 5m out.
Otago second five Jake Te Hiwi got a terrific offload to impressive fullback Charlie Breen to set up another.
Lock Harry Irving captalised. He scooped up the ball from a ruck and dived over from close range.
Otago led 34-0 at the break.
North Otago needed to have made more of their opportunities and were soon huddled under the posts again.
Whaanga had muscled over out wide.
But Otago found themselves down a man when prop Ben Lopas got a yellow card for a ruck infringement.
Winger Riley Lucas was very lucky not to get a card for a tip tackle on Logavatu as well.
It was a dreary second half and Otago spent a good chunk of it defending.
Te Hiwi skinned his marker and ran around the outside to score with 10 minutes remaining.
But the visitors had the final say when Logavatu got across the chalk.
Mitch Morton had an industrious match for North Otago and fullback Ben Paton had some good moments.
Te Hiwi and Whaanga were solid in the midfield for Otago and Taufa gave it plenty.
Otago’s next Ranfurly Shield defence is against Mid Canterbury in Alexandra on July 24.
‘It'll be a completely different set of people that run out for that game,’’ Brown said when asked if there was a lot to work on.
‘‘This game was scheduled for this reason, to give our Super [Rugby] guys a rest and let the best of club players put their hands up, both as a reward for their club performances and also to show us that they're ready to step up to NPC if needed.’’
Ranfurly Shield
The scores
Otago 46
Tony Taufa 2, Josh Whaanga 2, Harry Irving, Liam Coltman, Riley Lucas, Jake Te Hiwi tries; Rique Miln con, Mackenzie Palmer 2 con.
North Otago 14
Kelepi Funaki, Ratu Logavatu tries; Ben McCarthy con, Isaac Clunie con.
Halftime: 34-0.
