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Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Historic opportunity for Rams
Upper Clutha Rams. PHOTO: ODT FILES It is no surprise that Upper Clutha and Wakatipu are contesting Central Otago premier club rugby's final in Wānaka tomorrow, having been two of the standout teams for several seasons. But what is astonishing is that Upper Clutha and Wakatipu have not opposed one another in the Central Otago final for over 50 years. Upper Clutha club statistician Gary Reid believes the last time the two clubs fought out the final was 1972. "What was significant about 1972 was that it has been, until now, the only occasion Upper Clutha has won the club title and held the White Horse Trophy simultaneously. "They are in a position to repeat that achievement on Saturday." Upper Clutha experienced lean times after that and did not win the club title again until 2018. Since then, they have developed into a major force in Central Otago rugby, losing only three of their past 41 games across three seasons. After contesting the final in 2021, when they lost to Cromwell, they went through the 2023 season undefeated until Alexandra knocked them over in the final. But they remedied that last year, giving Alexandra a pasting in the final. Wakatipu won the title in 2017 (beating Arrowtown) and 2022 (beating Cromwell) but have stumbled at the semifinal stage the past two years. After eliminating Alexandra 26-7 in the semifinals last weekend, Wakatipu coach Jordan Manihera is confident his team are capable of a truly grand finale. "I'm happy for us to go into the final as underdogs. The last time we did that, in 2024, we took the White Horse Trophy off them. "Our mindset is we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Two weeks back, when we played at Wānaka, we didn't finish off the opportunities we created." Manihera has not ruled out fullback Conner Hamlin, who has scored 16 tries across two seasons, from playing, even though he suffered a painful rib injury last Saturday. "He's a tough rooster — we'll see how he recovers as the week goes on." There is little between the two teams as they prepare for the final. Upper Clutha have scored 60 tries and Wakatipu 55. Upper Clutha have conceded 27 tries (but none in the last two games) and Wakatipu 24. With 127 points, Wakatipu captain Rube Peina has overtaken Alexandra's Tyler Ford as the most prolific scorer in the competition.
Otago Daily Times
7 days ago
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Hookers make final in hundredth games
Saturday became a super special occasion for a couple of happy hookers in Central Otago premier club rugby as their teams, Upper Clutha and Wakatipu, qualified for the final. Both Scott Cunningham (Upper Clutha) and Phil Kingsbury (Wakatipu) led their teams out on Saturday as they each celebrated their 100th premier club appearances. The glory did not end there. Cunningham scored a try and won man-of-the-match honours as Upper Clutha defeated Maniototo 18-9 in Wanaka in challenging conditions. And Kingsbury turned in another distinguished performance as Wakatipu came from 7-6 behind at halftime to eliminate Alexandra 26-7 in Queenstown. Upper Clutha are now on track to scoop the pool for the season with the White Horse Trophy already secure in the trophy cabinet. Coach Alex Dickson was not overly excited about his team's victory on Saturday, however. "The wet, slippery conditions made life challenging for both teams," he said. "It wasn't an expansive game. Fortunately, we managed two tries in the first half, both to our front rowers (Ben McKeich getting the other one), which allowed us to hang on as Maniototo fought hard to the finish." After Saturday's final, Cunningham is off to Holland to play another season of club rugby there. Others who turned in distinguished performances for Upper Clutha were halfback Brodie Flannery and No 8 Jake Burtenshaw. The other semifinal was certainly a game of two halves. Alexandra, seeking to qualify for their third consecutive final, tackled themselves to a standstill in the first half. Wakatipu had close to 70% possession but managed just two penalty goals to show for it, as the Alex defenders pulled off dozens of try-saving tackles. In the 40th minute, Alex won an attacking lineout and worked a move that bamboozled the Wakatipu defence, allowing No 8 Sam Chapman to score in the corner. Tyler Ford's superb conversion put his team a point ahead. It was Chapman's 12th try of the season, and he was unquestionably man of the match across those opening 40 minutes. The Alex supporters were ecstatic, fancying a repeat of the 2024 semifinal. But Wakatipu, inspired by captain Rube Peina, gradually assumed control and it was Peina who had much to do with that. First, he kicked a penalty goal to put his side in front. Then he scored a try which he converted, followed by his piece de resistance — a 22m drop-out that, 70m downfield, became a 50-22 for his team. Wakatipu drove from the ensuing lineout, which produced a try to stand-out No 8 Anton Huisman, putting Wakatipu ahead 21-7, and not two minutes later that became 26-7 after Thomas Huisman stole an intercept and showed remarkable pace to outrun the Alex backs for another five-pointer. Wakatipu coach Jordan Manihera was thrilled with the outcome but said his team needed to start better in the final. "We've become a third-quarter team," he said, "something we've got to work on at training this week." One sad happening for Manihera is he has lost dynamic fullback Conner Hamlin, who finished up in hospital on Saturday after painfully suffering a broken rib. — Bob Howitt
Otago Daily Times
11-07-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
South well represented
A strong group from Otago and Southland have been named as part of a New Zealand secondary school cross country team to compete in Australia. Wakatipu runners Siena Mackley and James Weber, Otago Boys' runner Ruie Hyslop and St Peter's College runner Millie McFadzien will race at the Australian all schools cross country championships in the Gold Coast in September. — APL
Otago Daily Times
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Alexandra coach playing down prospect of hat-trick
Alexandra, who have proven themselves champion spoilers in the Central Otago premier club rugby competition over the past two seasons, are not sure whether they are up to completing the hat-trick this weekend. Two seasons back, after a decade as one of the competition's also-ran clubs, the Armadillos, under then new coach Lee Wilson, knocked over Cromwell in the semifinals before defeating hot favourites Upper Clutha in the final at Wanaka. They were again unfancied entering the semifinals in 2024 but unleashed one of their Irish imports against Wakatipu, Nathan Hook, who had not taken a kick at goal all season. But after the team's heroic captain (and goalkicker) Tyler Ford had scored two great tries, injuring his leg in the process, Hook banged over four booming penalty goals to give his side a 24-21 victory at Queenstown. They were outgunned by Upper Clutha in the final but had done wonderfully well to get that far again. Given what they achieved in 2023 and 2024, you would expect them to be full of optimism ahead of the semifinals now. But coach Wilson is not firing out any warnings this time. "We're coming off three losses and our No8 Will Healey hasn't recovered from the injury he sustained against Arrowtown. Wakatipu will certainly go into Saturday's game as a strong favourite. "The mud we've encountered over the past three weeks hasn't helped us. Here's hoping we have a dry ball to play with at Queenstown on Saturday." The Alexandra-Wakatipu clash at Molyneux Park on May 24 was one of the highlights of the season, with Wakatipu storming back from 29-12 down to score the winning try in the fifth minute of injury time. Wakatipu coach Jordan Manihera, while frustrated that his team did not convert their second half territorial advantage to points against Upper Clutha last Saturday, is confident they can do the business this weekend. "We proved our resilience against them in round three," he said. ''We know Alex's game, we know what they do, we know how to shut them down. "It's a massive opportunity to right some of the wrongs from last year. If we get through it will mean a first final for co-coach Kapa (Te Rangi Moeke) and myself. We're wanting to go all the way." The game offers some intriguing individual challenges. Ford is the competition's leading point-scorer with 114, three ahead of Wakatipu's Rube Peina. And Alex flanker Sam Chapman is the competition's equal top try-scorer (along with Matak's Dean Sinnamon) on 11, three ahead of Wakatipu's Conner Hamlin. Upper Clutha, boasting 11 victories from 12 games, are strongly favoured to defeat Maniototo at Wanaka Domain, although the Maggots are much-improved this season, having won seven of their 11 games. Maniototo have a couple of matchwinners in their backline — fullback Daniel Adam and first-five Ben Maxwell. If Maniototo can hold up against Upper Clutha's scrum, where hooker Scott Cunningham will be making his 100th appearance, they could cause the locals some concern. But it will be a massive surprise if Upper Clutha are not featuring in their third consecutive grand final on Saturday week.
Otago Daily Times
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Another home semi against Alex
Upper Clutha's Sam Masterton grapples with Wakatipu halfback Xavier Sadler during a White Horse Cup fixture in Wānaka last weekend. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Having lost their semifinals the past two seasons, the Wakatipu Premiers rugby side's amped to go one better this Saturday. And, in a repeat of last year, they'll be home again to Alexandra, who surprisingly tipped them over 24-21 after Waka had beaten them 27-0 in their own backyard the week before. Wakatipu secured their second place on the table this year after losing to top-of-the-table Upper Clutha in a White Horse Cup challenge in Wanaka last weekend. They were down 12-3 at halftime, coach Jordan Manihera suggesting his players didn't adjust to playing 90 minutes earlier than usual. However, for most of the second half they were in the ascendant, needing only a converted try to win, till reserve Paulie Tuala was yellow-carded for not wearing a mouthguard and they conceded a late try. "We had two tries disallowed and we were creating opportunities but we just weren't managing to finish them," Manihera notes. He says they're excited to play Alex again — they thrashed them 31-3 at home to start their season then beat them 31-29 at Molyneux Park after trailing 29-12 with 29 minutes to go. "We proved our resilience when we played them over there in round 2. "We know Alex's game, we know what they do, we know how to shut them down. "I think it's a massive opportunity for us to not only right some wrongs from last year, but if we get through it, it'll be a first final for [co-coach] Kapa [Te Rangi Moeke] and me, and we're wanting to go all the way." Wakatipu welcome back Anton Huisman and Don Lolo who were away last weekend, though that's counter-balanced by season-ending injuries last weekend to Josh Aperahama-Paenganui and Adam Fleming. Meanwhile, Arrowtown defaulted to Maniototo ahead of their last round-robin — the former finish with only two wins this season, while the latter, after finishing fourth, play Upper Clutha in the other semi this Saturday.
