Chance for Otago to test itself

OTAGO will get its first chance to test itself today.

The team will face Southland in Waikouaiti in the first of two preseason matches, the other being against Canterbury in Timaru next Thursday.

The majority of the Otago squad has been together for two weeks and coach Tom Donnelly is happy with how it is tracking.

The Maori All Blacks returned this week, but several others are yet to come back.

The focus so far had been on building foundations about how it wanted to play, Donnelly said.

Today would be its first chance to test that out against live opposition.

‘‘We get to try a few combinations, look at how we’re going to play and how we’re going to come together,’’ Donnelly said.

‘‘The last week we’ve been training under not a lot of pressure. So it will be good to put our skill sets and and structures under a bit of pressure.’’

It would not be a fullstrength Otago team — a handful of players were carrying niggles and may be available next week.

Most notable among the injured players was midfielder Thomas UmagaJensen.

The 23yearold has had a horror run of injuries in recent years and picked up a ‘‘bangedup shoulder’’ in club rugby last Saturday.

Donnelly said the team was waiting on assessments to determine how bad it was and what it would mean for his role this year.

Places in the matchday 23 were still up for grabs and Donnelly said the preseason games would help decide who would play in its first game of the NPC.

That first game is just two weeks away when Otago hosts Southland at Forsyth Barr Stadium on August 7.