Held at the Pioneer Rugby Club grounds, the preseason match between Otago and Southland was the first hit out of the season for both teams.
Pioneer Rugby Club president Scotty Egan said the crowd at the game was great.
"A lot of it was kids and they were rapt to see some of the guys that they’ve seen on TV.
"It was quite vocal, which made for a good atmosphere.
"Everyone was pleased to see a game like that in Gore."
The weather played a part in it, leading to good conditions for rugby, he said.
"It was a great advertisement for us.
"We were rapt when [Southland] emailed us and asked if we would be interested.
"Those opportunities don’t come along that often."
He hoped for more games in Gore in the future and would be "keen as" to host another at Pioneer.
Otago won the game 33-24 but the Stags had a strong start.
An early break from winger Michael Manson led to the first try for Southland.
Prop Morgan Mitchell crashed over for the next and Byron Smith added the extras.
Otago hit back through an intercept.
Southland held a lot of early possession and loose forward Blair Ryall collected a clean offload in the midfield and burst his way under the sticks.
Otago again rallied.
Prop George Bower muscled his way over and Sam Gilbert nailed the conversion to level the score.
But Southland got the ball in the red zone again and drilled away before swinging it wide to winger Charlie Powell, who made a nice finish in the corner.
Both sides made changes for the second half as Southland led 19-14.
Jona Nareki made an immediate impact.
He drew a defender and got the ball to Lucas Casey, who rushed to dot down in the corner.
The Stags lineout did not function as well in the second half and Otago pounced on that.
Southland captain Sean Withy bagged a consolation try as he stepped his way through traffic to send the crowd home happy.
Otago’s try-scorers were Mackenzie Palmer (2), George Bower, Lucas Casey and Sam Gilbert.
