It makes a lot of sense, and you can hardly blame Otago coach Tom Donnelly for sticking with a team that finally found some form on Sunday.
Donnelly and his fellow selectors have named an unchanged XV — indeed, an unchanged 23 — following the spirited 30-15 win over Northland that kept Otago’s faint playoff hopes alive.
Victory over Taranaki at Forsyth Barr Stadium tomorrow night is still essential.
To do that, the team that comfortably saw off the Taniwha will probably need to lift again, as Taranaki should be stiffer opposition.
Naming an unchanged side is partly a reflection of the fact some key injuries have restricted Otago’s options.
James Lentjes, Josh Timu, Cameron Millar and Thomas Umaga-Jensen would all have been likely starters, for example.
It is also a show of faith that the men who did it one week can do it the next.
Fielding the same XV in back-to-back weeks has become a rarity in the modern era.
Indeed, it has been nearly two years since Otago has chosen — or been able — to do that in the NPC.
The last time the province fielded an unchanged team was in the old Championship semifinal against Manawatu in Palmerston North on November 21, 2021.
That late date, if you have forgotten, was because another Covid outbreak halted the national championship for several weeks.
A sign of the high levels of player turnover at the grassroots is that just three Otago players — fullback Sam Gilbert, No 8 Christian Lio-Willie and lock Will Tucker — remain from the last unchanged team to this one.
The unchanged team in 2021 included Matt Faddes (playing club rugby in Kurow), Vilimoni Koroi (playing in the Heartland Championship for North Otago), Kayne Hammington (Japan), Liam Coltman (France), Josh Hohneck (retired) and Freedom Vaha’akolo (whereabouts unknown).
Otago squad
To play Taranaki
Sam Gilbert (co-captain), Josh Whaanga, Jake Te Hiwi, Jack Leslie, Jona Nareki, Ajay Faleafaga, James Arscott, Christian Lio-Willie, Sean Withy (co-captain), Tom Sanders, Josh Dickson, Will Tucker, Saula Ma’u, Henry Bell, Rohan Wingham.
Reserves: Ricky Jackson, Abraham Pole, Jermaine Ainsley, Fabian Holland, Sam Fischli, Kieran McClea, Finn Hurley, John Tapueluelu.
