Otago’sconfidence healthyinRotorua

• Published date: 05 November 2021
• Publication title: Sports Tab

Three losses in a row had it on a downward spiral, and it was beginning to enter a scrap for a semifinal spot.

A brilliant opening 10 minutes against Northland turned that around.

Since then, Otago has not lost.

It has not always been attractive as it has, at times, tackled its way to three consecutive wins.

There has been plenty of determination among those performances, though.

The last two wins have come against two Premiership teams in Canterbury and Wellington.

Perhaps that is a sign of the strength of this year’s Championship — notably in table-topper Taranaki and a handy Manawatu team.

It will still give Otago plenty of confidence as it looks to topple another Premiership opponent when it faces Waikato in Rotorua tonight.

‘‘The boys are in a really good space,’’ Otago coach Tom Donnelly said.

‘‘They’re still working really hard each week. There’s still big parts of our game we need to get better at.

‘‘A lot of our focus has been around that — making sure when we turn up on a Monday, we look at the game in the weekend, areas we can improve on and how we can work on those.’’

The game will be of little consequence to Otago’s place on the Championship table.

Win or lose, it will travel to Palmerston North for a semifinal against Manawatu next week.

For Waikato, there is a little more to play for. It is involved in a tight scrap in which five teams are battling for three playoff spots in the Premiership on the final weekend.

Otago was not letting that change its approach to the game.

‘‘What we do every week is search for good performances,’’ Donnelly said.

‘‘Regardless of the result is we can be...