Otago has dropped its opening game at the national under-19 tournament in Taupo.
The team came up against a quality Wellington outfit and was beaten 22-3 yesterday.
"They were quite physical and controlled the ball better than what we were able to do," coach Seilala Mapusua said.
"There were a couple of quick tries just through a lack of concentration, but we had our opportunities.
"I thought we played with a lot of endeavour. We put them under pressure but Wellington's defence was pretty good, though."
Otago's next assignment is on Wednesday against Waikato, which was edged 30-25 by Auckland.
Mapusua said his side would need to improve its accuracy at the breakdown and be more more clinical when scoring opportunities presented themselves.
In other results, North Harbour took a 27-26 win against Counties Manukau, Taranaki dispatched Northland 58-0, Canterbury had a comfortable 27-7 win against Manawatu, Hawke's Bay cruised past Southland 44-0, Tasman beat Heartland 33-3 and Bay of Plenty had a convincing 50-0 win against Auckland Development.