Jona Nareki was making his home debut in the Otago jersey under the roof on Saturday and he more than delivered.
The 19-year-old left winger scored three tries and had the better of the man he was marking, All Black Nehe Milner-Skudder.
His first two tries came from the good work of those inside him.
In the first half, Otago first five-eighth Josh Ioane put in a well-weighted cross kick for the Fijian winger to score.
Quick hands from a tap penalty gave Nareki his second try but he did all the work himself for the final try, which skipped Otago clear. He got the ball off a scrum in midfield about 35m out, burst through the gap and then pushed off halfback Jamie Booth to go over and score.
It was a quality try and Nareki showed he is a player of considerable promise. The man himself, who was born in Fiji but moved to New Zealand as a baby, was modest about his efforts.
"It was just all the good work from the guys inside me. They set them up for me," he said.
"I was nervous to start with but then I just thought it was just another game. The coaches said just back your skills and go from there. But yeah, it was a dream debut."
He said marking Milner-Skudder was a big ask, but he paid credit to those around him who helped him through the whole game.