The Ōpōtiki men’s premier rugby team have made a good fist of their first five games in the Baywide Premiership.

Although they may not have won yet, with their most recent performance a 32-14 loss to Te Puke, there has still been plenty to like about the side.

They fight hard for the entire 80 minutes; they are looking to attack, when possible; they are not giving up and can match it with the top sides in the competition when they string some rugby together.

At scrum time, they’ve more than held their own; in fact, they’ve dominated on occasion.

Their lineout has been good and bad, but what has let them down most are errors at key moments.

Handling errors and poor passes are proving costly but so is their discipline on their own line with a yellow card on Saturday allowing Te Puke to take control.

Although those are all small things, it shows just how close Ōpōtiki are from clicking on the field and winning their first game.

Despite missing number eight Luke Morris, centre Kivoli Magalogo and a few others, they were still more than competitive against Te Puke.

Captain Jye McGough was outstanding in the loss; he looked dangerous around the ruck and cleared the ball well.

Another who shone was Andre Biddle; the hard-working hooker got through plenty of work on and off the ball, and went close to scoring a try.

Their loose forward trio of Morris, Te Awaitaia Rolls and Matthew Anstis has been outstanding all season and David Whyte, who has shifted to number eight in the absence of Morris, has also been formidable.

Another who continues to improve is young first five Tane Howe, who continues to grow each week.

Te Puke’s kicking game was superior in the weekend with three 50/22s helping them out of tricky situations.

Ōpōtiki managed two tries through Whyte and winger Braeden Elmiger, and the score could have been closer, but Mana Howe did miss a couple of handy penalties.

This weekend will be tough, but they should back themselves in front of a strong home crowd.

It’s their first home game in three weeks and they’ll be eager to show Te Puna that Princess Street Reserve is a hard place to come to as a visitor.

Te Puna sit in fourth place following their eight-point win over Greerton last weekend.

Ōpōtiki have more than enough attacking threats across the park, it’s just a case of things sticking for them.

The development team also lost 46-12, but have shown some positive signs since round one.

This weekend, they are also at home to Te Puna and will be hoping they can start the weekend off in strong fashion for Ōpōtiki Sports.