There has been a quiet confidence in the Otumoetai College ranks that this year's First XV might be a bit special with a good chunk of last year's team back and tonnes of team spirit.
Saturday's 47-3 thrashing of the usually competitive Western Heights First XV at Otumoetai has confirmed that early season confidence - and some.
It was a superb performance by Otumoetai with their 15-man game plan working so well they ran in eight unanswered tries, with most starting inside their own half.
There were plenty of star performers in a fine all-round team performance.
Captain Sam Redmayne's lineout work in partnership with Josh Klugsfed dominated possession, the combination between halfback Ryan Brown and first-five Keegan Long was great to watch, No8 Matt Ensor's outstanding line breaks thrilled the good sized crowd, and the finishing out wide by centre Cameron Wragg and nippy left winger Iziaah Duncanson was outstanding.
Otumoetai began the game with a stirring haka but it was Western Heights, coached by Bay of Plenty rugby legend Ron Preston, who opened the scoring with a penalty in the first minute. But they never fired a shot for the rest of the game apart from a succession of niggly off- the-ball incidents that threatened to derail the game.
Otumoetai resisted the temptation and maintained discipline. By halftime they were leading 20-3 after tries to Duncanson, hard-working prop Aidon Blair and Ensor, and they had the game well under control.
A highlight of the first stanza was an old fashioned driving maul from a lineout by the well-drilled Otumoetai pack that marched on for 30 metres. The Bulls of old would have been proud of that and it typified the dominance of the Otumoetai pack.
Western Heights began the second half in much better frame of mind, testing the Otumoetai defence and finally playing with some structure. For 15 minutes there was no change to the scoreline but any thoughts Western Heights had of getting back into the game were wiped out by two quality tries in three minutes to finish off the visitors. First Long beat tacklers at will in a 20-metre burst to score in the corner, before centre Wragg finished well after a great build-up.
Hooker Jack Dodd, Wragg again and finally Klugsfed touched down to finish off the scoring on a memorable afternoon for Otumoetai College rugby.
Captain Redmayne and coach Jamie Davis were both pleased with how the team put into practice what they practiced during the week.
"I'm really stoked today. The boys played mean. We came out hard and matched their aggression I reckon," he said.
"We kept going hard for the whole game and they were tiring. I am proud of the boys."
Redmayne is in his second year in the First XV and loves this season's team culture.
"The boys are really tight this year. We have been playing together a long time now and are like brothers, which makes a big difference.
"We'd like to make the Chiefs Trophy for next year. We want to win every game we can, make it to the finals and win that. That's our ultimate goal."