The elephant and the mouse will do battle at the Balclutha showgrounds today.
Little old South Otago High School will host the behemoth-sized Burnside High School in the South Island final of the Co-Educational First XV tournament.
It hardly seems fair, a school with a roll of just over 500 pupils should be expected to match a school with a roll five times as large.Burnside has 2521 pupils, give or take the odd truant.
It is the largest school in the South Island and fourth-largest in the country.
But only 15 of them can take the field at a time, of course, so the odds are a little bit more even than when the Romans marched on to the battlefield.
South Otago bolstered its thin ranks during the Otago premier school tournament with three players from Blue Mountain College and two from Tokomairiro High School.
But they are ineligible for the co-educational tournament, so five players from the school’s 2nd XV have made the step up.
While the home team will start as underdog, it has been playing some decent rugby of late.
It beat St Peter’s College 64-11 in the Highlanders regional final.
Coach Alan Hill has viewed some game tape from Burnside’s fixtures this season and said the game "will be a big challenge for our boys".
"They are very well-drilled and they look to be quite a complete team," he said.
"From what I’ve seen they have good structure in the forwards and they have some big boys in the backs.
"But they will only get away with what we let them get away with, really. We just have to be confident in our game plan and get into it."
South Otago will look to play a fast-paced game and use the width of the field.
"That has been our strength. A good, flowing, fast game is what we look for.
"We’ve been playing some good rugby in the last few weeks. They’ve had good control and the big thing is they have not been in too much of a hurry to get to the tryline."
South Otago looks to prop Brady Robertson to do a lot of the hard work in the close exchanges, while lock Josh Hill has been a steady source of possession and fellow second-rower Todd Nicolson does the basics well.
In the backs, first five-eighth Luc Thomson has made a successful transition from halfback to the pivot’s role.
But centre Chase Owen shapes as the most influential figure.
He reads the game well, is a strong defender and keeps the younger players around him focused.
South Otago v Burnside
Balclutha Showgrounds, today, 1pm
South Otago: Harri Deacon, Zak Thoms, Chase Owen, Delaney McKenzie, Jordy McPhee-Hale, Luc Thomson, Levi Robertson, Kace Shaw, Jesse Hutton, Timothy Fa’amoe, Josh Hill (captain), Todd Nicolson, Brady Robertson, Reeve Murdoch, Max Homer. Reserves: Madison Latta, Jack Pringle, Tyrone Goodlet, Jamie Beck, Justin White.
Burnside: Emerson McKee, Marc Chancy, Mikele Ravalawa, Nick Wilson, Riain Lynch, Charlie Watanabe, Wills McCarthy, Jacob Mataiti, Cam Russell (captain), Chris Bainbridge, Jason Embling, Cam Porter, Taiki Mahanga, Perry Karati, Shota Okuna. Reserves: Aidan Conrad-Hinga, Logan Bainbridge, Zach Murphy, Jerome Karakia-Brown, Noah Chamberlain, Tom Fraser, Zion Smith.
