Clutha Valley turned their fourth-placed finish in the round robin into glory with two huge finals wins, including a last-minute 26-24 win over West Taieri in the Southern Region final at Outram last weekend.
The Valley side have had a hugely impressive back end to the season and would love to cap it off with a win in this game.
Valley’s forward pack is hard-working with hooker David Matsas and flanker Liam Turnbull being hugely effective this season.
The halves combination of halfback Jared Edwards and Southern Region player of the year Thomas Johnson has steered the Valley ship with aplomb this season. Both are deadly with ball in hand, but also have the ability to draw in defenders and create massive gaps for their outsides.
Clutha Valley have won the Countrywide final as recently as 2021, when they were victorious over Cromwell in their jubilee season.
Upper Clutha have steamrolled the Central Otago competition this season with a very impressive round robin which featured a single loss.
Their strong form continued into the semifinal, where they dispatched Maniototo and locked up a final against old foes Alexandra in a repeat of the 2023 final, which did not go their way.
The Rams got their revenge and were crowned Central Otago champions in a rather one-sided affair.
Upper Clutha’s forward pack has been a pillar of strength for them this season with prop Ben McKeich and lock Andrew Horne having exceptional seasons. Brady Kingan has run the cutter well and has been able to adapt to various positions throughout the season, while winger Tomas Jarman has been a try-scoring machine.
Upper Clutha last featured in the Countrywide final in 2018, when they were pipped on fulltime by Clutha.
A Central Otago side have not been successful in this clash since 2012, when Wakatipu were victorious over Clutha Valley. Can the home side carry on the Southern Region dominance?
- By Francis Parker
