Underachievers try to look on the bright side

Waikato are putting a brave face on a grim season which comes to an end against Otago in Hamilton today.

They began the competition as one of the fancied teams to at least make the semifinals. Instead five straight defeats have plunged them down the table.

Coach Warren Gatland, writing his pre-match column on the Waikato union's website, made it clear "there is no hiding our disappointment about our season".

But he hopes the younger players in the squad, who probably got more matchplay than they might have expected at the start of the competition, have benefited.

"Some of our new guys may not have expected to graduate to this level of rugby so soon in their careers, but given time and experience ... Waikato Rugby will be stronger for this in the near future," Gatland wrote.

If Otago start favourites, there is one point worth remembering. They have not won in Hamilton since 1995. Indeed, they have beaten Waikato just once in their last seven meetings.

"Hamilton's just a difficult place to play. Some teams on their home ground seem hard to beat," Otago coach Wayne Graham said. "Waikato will be do-or-die this time. It's their last chance to get any respect out of the season, so we're expecting a very physical encounter."

Gatland has jiggled his squad around, with Sione Lauaki returning from suspension at blindside flanker, Dwayne Sweeney getting a chance at second five-eighth, Mark Burman coming in at lock to partner Sean Hohneck and Nathan White getting a rare start at tighthead prop.

Otago are in the semifinals, but momentum is a big thing at this stage and they will be determined to grab their fifth successive win.

* Bay of Plenty will be in farewell mode when they host Northland in Tauranga today.

Apart from the highly-publicised move of halfback Kevin Senio to Canterbury, the Bay are also losing veteran fullback Adrian Cashmore to Wales, captain and lock/loose forward Wayne Ormond to Japan, and 100-cap veteran forward Paul Tupai, who is off to Britain.

The game will end a disappointing campaign for last year's semifinalists. They began with a tough away start at Otago and Canterbury and did not recover from those early defeats.

They should end on a winning note today, as Northland are winless and searching for their first NPC win since the end of 2002.