After enjoying a particularly mild season, the Central Otago club final was a rude reminder that rugby is a winter sport as host Maniototo turned on less than friendly conditions for a repeat of last year's championship decider against Arrowtown.
Arrowtown set up a repeat of last year's final against Maniototo for the Central Otago Premiership after beating Upper Clutha in their semifinal in Wanaka on Saturday.
The local derby between the Wakatipu Premiers and Arrowtown Bulls on Saturday was a fight for survival in the Central Otago Championship as the semifinals draw near, and Wakatipu came out with the sort of determination you would expect from a team with its season on the line.
The Wakatipu Premiers had the hardest task in Central Otago rugby last Saturday - the long road trip to Ranfurly and a game against top-of-the-table Maniototo.
Everyone was in agreement; it was a beautiful day for rugby in the Wakatipu and both our local premier grade rugby teams took full advantage of the favourable conditions, notching up important home-ground victories in the Central Otago Championship.
It is not often a loss can be seen in a positive light, but the fact the Wakatipu Premiers were competitive against Otago country rugby powerhouse Lawrence on Saturday shows the team has plenty more to offer in this competition.
It has been a rough few weeks for the Wakatipu Basin's premier grade rugby teams, with both Arrowtown and Wakatipu following up below-par performances last week with back-to-back losses in the Otago country-wide competition.
It was smiles all around the Wakatipu Basin as both the Arrowtown Bulls and Wakatipu Premiers got the second phase of the Central Otago premier division rugby season off to a winning start.
In the first battle of the basin of the 2011 Central Otago rugby season Arrowtown came out on top, beating Wakatipu 28-19 to retain the White Horse Cup and secure four valuable competition points.
It was a beautiful sunny day to kick off the Central Otago premier rugby season on Saturday and, with another chilly winter with frozen grounds and bitter southerlies sure to come later in competition, the pleasant conditions were a nice way to start.
The old cliche defence wins games could not have rung more true in Ranfurly on Saturday as home side Maniototo defied all the game statistics to claim the Central Otago Premiership title from defending champion Arrowtown.
A large crowd gathered on the neutral territory of the Queenstown Events Centre on Saturday to watch arch rivals Wakatipu and Arrowtown play for a spot in the grand final of the Central Otago Premier Rugby Competition.
Stand by for the biggest local rugby game of the season.
It has been 14 long weeks getting to this point and at the end of regular season rugby both Arrowtown and Wakatipu have earned the right to at least one more week of footy.
Wakatipu hosted Matakanui at the Queenstown Rec Ground on Saturday afternoon.
It might be Winter Festival time in Queenstown but the biggest party on Saturday night was down the Kawarau Gorge in the shadows of the Clyde dam.
