The Old Golds turned on some attacking flair to beat Mid Canterbury 43-24 at the Ashburton Showgrounds.
Former Otago and All Blacks Sevens dazzler Vilimoni Koroi made his entrance to Heartland rugby with some touches of class, pinpoint kicking — including two wonderfully judged conversions — and backline generalship.
His efforts, however, were overshadowed by a booming performance from Junior Fakatoufifita.
The dynamic No 8 was a one-man wrecking machine as he looked hungry for action and was one of three North Otago players to bag a brace of tries.
"The man’s an absolute beast," coach Jason Forrest said.
"We want to get him some more isolation in those short channels. When he gets one-on-ones, he’s pretty much going to beat them every time."
Koroi, who was a forgotten member of the Highlanders squad this year and has taken the opportunity with the Old Golds to reignite his career, did everything expected of him, Forrest said.
"He controlled the game really well and just put us in the right areas.
"Just having that game driver is going to be great."
North Otago also got good efforts out of locks Rory Bartle and Josh Clark — the latter showing his remarkable ability to front up despite having barely been on a rugby field this year — while fullback Lucas Ollion showed some spark.
Heartland rugby is a short, sharp campaign so taking maximum points in any away game is reason to be satisfied.
"We’re very happy with that. Five points in the bag is a great way to start," Forrest said.
"The first games can sometimes be a bit niggly, so to score 40 points and probably leave 20 out there at the same time ... we have to be happy.
"Our set piece was good. The boys put in some big shifts there.
"In the backs, we had a lot of opportunities but we were just too deep at times, so that’s an easy fix.
"We let in a couple of soft tries but again that’s just a bit of detail and hopefully an easy fix looking ahead to next week."
The Old Golds used their lineout as an attacking weapon and scored their first try from the set piece just six minutes into the season when Fakatoufifita showed his strength.
He scored his second try 10 minutes later, and was involved in the try of the game in the 33rd minute.
Fakatoufifita and winger Mone Samate had an interchange on the left, Fakatoufifita popped a miracle ball to Samate, and the winger finished with acrobatic flair.
Massive centre Isireli Masiwini scored the first of his two tries to get Mid Canterbury back into the game but hooker Hayden Tisdall scored to make it 24-10 at the break.
Ollion’s two tries and Samate’s second — a 50m run from a counter-attack — made the game safe in the second half.
North Otago are at home to Wairarapa-Bush this weekend.
Meads Cup champions South Canterbury won their 22nd straight game, breaking the Heartland Championship record previously held by Whanganui, when they beat Horowhenua-Kapiti 48-14.
In a high-scoring round, Poverty Bay beat Buller 52-33, Thames Valley upset Whanganui 36-33, Wairarapa-Bush pipped East Coast 32-31, and West Coast thumped King Country 40-9.
Heartland Championship
The scores
North Otago 43
Junior Fakatoufifita 2, Mone Samate 2, Lucas Ollion 2, Hayden Tisdall tries; Ollion 2 con, Vilimoni Koroi 2 con
Mid Canterbury 24
Isireli Masiwini 2, Raitube Vasurakuta tries; Josh Jennings 3 con, pen
Halftime: North Otago 24-10.
