The gap between the top four and the rest was made rather clear on the weekend.
The first stage of the Otago premier schools tournament is drawing to a close and the leading sides ran away with big wins.
Defending champion Otago Boys' High School First XV disposed of the Second XV 87-3 at Littlebourne to cement its spot at the top of the standings.
Southland Boys' High School drilled Wakatipu High School 95-0 in a rare home game in Invercargill.
John McGlashan College beat Dunstan High School 51-19 in Dunedin, and King's High School brushed aside the Combined Co-Eds 80-5 in Outram.
In the other games, Mt Aspiring College moved out of the bottom four with a 76-0 win against South Otago High School in Balclutha, while
Waitaki Boys' High School beat St Kevin's College 37-18 on Friday.
There had been some sensitivity about the lopsided scorelines earlier in the season. But the reality is the top sides are some distance ahead.
However, King's coach Ryan Bambry felt the concern was being overstated.
"I think there has been a lot of worry about this competition but the leaner years don't last, do they," he said.
"Every team goes through a patch when they lose a lot of players. In my opinion it is swings and roundabouts.
"You've just got to stay positive and things well eventually turn," Bambry said.
He was satisfied with his team's effort. King's had a lot of possession and "generally did what we wanted with it".
It led 33-0 at halftime and added another 47 points in the second half.
The Combined Co-Eds scored their only try with about 10 minutes to go.
King's midfielder Giovanni Leituala had a busy game setting up tries, while loose forward Keanu Vanisi was aggressive on defence and snaffled several turnovers.