East Coast was able to dictate and control the pace of the game and this served to frustrate North Otago which when it did gain possession was seldom able to  build up three plus phases before a pushed pass or mishandling turned the ball back over to East Coast. 

North Otago co coach Barry Matthews was philosophical after the game.

“East Coast thoroughly deserved its win. They had the self-belief and they played to their strengths and we probably never played to ours.”

North Otago whilst tight head Palenapa Mafi was on the field held its own in the scrums but when he left the field North Otago lost that control.

“Yes, Mafi did play well but we had to bring on Aisake Fonua who I thought played well in the front row against Mid Canterbury but to be fair we’ve had trouble at scrum time all year.  I think last week our scrum was under pressure to such an extent that Hamish McKenzie passed the ball from halfback on only three occasions such was the pressure on us.  It makes it very hard for the halfback when the scrum is twisting and turning to set a platform.”

North Otago needed to hold the ball for four or five phases to open up East Coast but through pushed passes or the taking of wrong options too often the opportunity was lost.

The bulky East Coast pack competed well in the lineouts through Willie Waitoa who picked up a couple against the throw while East Coasts mauling power and ability to hold onto the ball for long periods of time denied North Otago momentum.

Second five eighth Rua Tipoki was the organiser on attack and defence while in fullback Sikeli Vorenasu East Coast had a match winner with his blistering speed putting him in for two tries as well as setting up a third.

Luke Herden was again in outstanding form for North Otago setting up two tries as well as defending stoutly.

East Coast hit North Otago early. Herden found space on the ten metre line to break but his pass to centre Faaitu Tuamoheloa went astray as Tuamoheloa came infield and the voracious Vorenasu scooped up to race 40 metres to touch down  for an unconverted try.  Tidy first five eighth Clayton Kiwara added a penalty eight minutes later and two minutes later it was Vorenasu who slipped down the right flank after a Tipoki break.  On the North Otago 22 he centre kicked and hooker and captain Ngarimu Simpkins gathered in to score beside the posts for Kiwara to convert and give East Coast a 15-0 lead after 16 minutes.

North Otago strung together some phases and  a Hamish McKenzie kick into the box was gathered by Mafi and the supporting Herden sent Tuamoheloa in for a try which first five eighth Ben Patston converted.

Eleven minutes from halftime Ralph Darling took a tap penalty and a half break by Herden put the flying Whiria Meltzer into the clear on a 50 metre run to the line for Patston to convert giving the visitors a 15-14 lead at halftime.

In the 46^th minute Simpkins and Willie Waitoa were yellow carded by referee Grant Stuart after Patston had put North Otago in front 17-15 with a  penalty in the 44^th minute.

East Coast with only thirteen players controlled possession and held out North Otago.  Kiwara put East Coast back in front in the 57^th minute with penalty.

With 17 minutes remaining  a bit of Tipoki magic  created space for Vorenasu and the flying fullback raced 55 metres to chip ahead and outpace the defence to score his second try. East Coast shut up shop and ran down the clock to take the game 23-17.

North Otago finished its Heartland season with a record of seven wins, one draw and a loss. In the other Meads Cup semi-final Wanganui after trailing Mid Canterbury at halftime came away in the second half for a 32-22 win.

The Lochore Cup finalists were both found in the last few minutes of the second half. In Westport Poverty Bay kicked a late penalty to give it a 30-29 win while in Timaru South Canterbury’s Scott Norton kicked a 46 metre penalty in the last 60 seconds to give his side to a 30-27 win over Thames Valley.

East Coast lost only one other game, and that while Tipoki was absent when it went down to Buller in Westport, 8-34.  But since then East Coast has won its last four games, Wairarapa-Bush (33-13), Thames Valley (31-26), Poverty Bay (30-29) and lasat weekend  Horowhenua-Kapiti (35-16).

North Otago has fashioned a proud record in Heartland rugby since the semi-finals and finals were introduced in 1997. Over the past 14 years whether it was in the old third division or the second division North Otago has failed to make the semi-finals in only two seasons,1998 and 1999.

Of the semi-finals played North Otago won seven of those to go through to the final, a proud record  for a union which has only six senior rugby clubs.

North Otago arose from its rugby ashes in 1997 motivated by the guidance of Greg Shipton and Peter Cook. That season it started in positive fashion when it regained the Hanan Shield after a gap of 30 years when it beat South Canterbury, 20-17.  The team led by Barry Fox then went on to win its next six games before a North Otago side made up mainly of its bench players went down 8-40 to Horowhenua-Kapiti in Levin. Come semi-final day the following weekend North Otago trounced Horowhenua-Kapiti, 37-7 with Andrew Watherston. Aaron Johnston, Ross Skinner and John Taeiloa scoring tries and Chris Finch converting five of the tries and kicking three penalties.

The team that really broke the rugby ice for North Otago was Andrew Watherston, Aaron Johnston, Ross Skinner, Nathan Cunningham, Mike Mavor, Chris Finch, Justin Rawcliffe, Mark Cook, Finau Finefuaki, John Taeiloa, Gary Ford, Hunter Darry, Jeff Wilson, Billy Laing and Barry Fox.

1998 and 1999 saw North Otago miss out on making the semi-finals but in 2000 Glenn Moore took over the coaching reins and Poverty Bay was put to the sword in Oamaru, 53-32 with Ross Hay,Pila Fifita, Ali Fanene, Toetu Palamo and Nathan Archibald scoring tries with Simon Porter converting all of the tries and adding six penalties. That year North Otago in the lead up to the semi-finals lost to Wairarapa-Bush, 15-20 and drew with East Coast before winning its next six games.

The following season it was Poverty Bay again in Oamaru in the semi-finals after North Otago reached the playoffs unbeaten from its six games. Poverty Bay was accounted for 43-20 with  winger Pila Fifita scoring a quartet of tries  with Matt Saunders, Ross Hay and Hotili Asi getting into the act as well while  Porter converted three of the tries and Justin Rawcliffe, one.

2002 saw North Otago meet traditional rivals South Canterbury in the semi-final with North Otago storming to a 58-10 victory with centre Fepikou Tatafu, Pila Fifita and Tevita Asi scoring two tries each with Palamo and halfback Ryan McCarthy touching down as well. Porter converted five tries and kicked a penalty.

2003  saw North Otago promoted to second division and over the next three seasons made the semi-finals. 2003 saw Hawkes Bay  beat North Otago, 24-18 with Luke Herden and Hotili Asi scoring tries and Brett Williams  converting one of the tries and adding a penalty.

2004 saw North Otago travel to play Nelson Bays in its semi-final with Paddy O’Brien as referee and the home side ran out winners, 32-15 with Watisoni Lotawa and Pila Fifita scoring tries and Ryan Bambry adding a conversion and a penalty.

2005 saw North Otago almost cause a major upset before it went down,11-15 against Hawkes Bay. That day winger Scott Mayhew was denied an obvious try because of the lack of a TMO while North Otago’s defence saw Hawkes Bay kick five penalties to go through to the final.

 Heartland rugby as we know it today commenced in 2006 and in the semi-final Wairarapa-Bush knocked North Otago out of the running with a 25-19 win on a day which North Otago lacked an accurate goal kicker.

2007 in the semi-finals North Otago had its revenge when it defeated Wairarapa-Bush, 30-13 in Oamaru with winger Stephen Sasagi scoring two tries and Joe Mamea, one, with Glenn Dickson converting all three tries and kicking three penalties as well.

2008 saw North Otago ousted at the semi-final stage by Mid Canterbury, 24-38, with Mike Mavor, Jone Paumau, Pale Tuilagi and Mike Mullins scoring tries while Tuilagi converted two of the tries.

2009 saw North Otago relegated to the Lochore Cup semi-finals and it struggled home against King Country in Oamaru, 31-27 with Daniel Waenga scoring twice and Jason Forrest adding the third try while Waenga converted two of the tries and added four penalties.

2010 was another highlight year for North Otago rugby with the home side defeating Mid Canterbury, 40-24 with Lemi Masoe and Luke Herden scoring two tries each and Faaitu Tuamoheloa, one while Ben Patston converting three tries and kicking three penalties.

In the other semi-final top qualifier Wanganui hosts Mid Canterbury, the only team to have beaten Wanganui this season.  In the Lochore Cup semi-finals top qualifier Buller meets Poverty Bay in Westport and South Canterbury plays Thames Valley in Timaru with all four games starting at 1.00p.m.

Today’s game which will kick off at 5.15p.m. will be refereed by Bruce Rowland and is a lead up to the Waitaki Golden Oldies Rugby Festival being held in Oamaru from October 1-3.The after match function will be held across the road at the Oamaru club with official speeches and an auction at 7.15p.m.

The game harks back to the time when every village seemingly produced a rugby team. Gradually as transportation improved a form of centralisation occurred at a variety of stages.

In North Otago one of the biggest work forces was centred on Kurow and what was to be Lake Waitaki as the construction of the first dam on the river was built with labour in the depression. This large labour force naturally included rugby as one of its few pastimes.  The Awakino rugby club was established to meet the recreational needs of the over 1000 workers who built the Waitaki dam between 1928 and 1935.It was said that if you could play “a classy game of rugby you would get a job at the Waitaki Hydro scheme. In 1931 the club had nine players in the North Otago side and in all 12 players from the club represented North Otago between 1928 and 1933.  The Awakino team was usually too strong for other teams in the Waitaki sub union and thus was hardly surprising with players of the calibre of All Black Dib Vorrath and players of the calibre of Langbein, Lilburne, the Veitches, Barton and Butler.

1935 was a vintage year for the Maheno club. It won the Citizens Shield, the Clark Shield, the Mollison Cup and the Kelcher Cup.  The club was established in 1896 with its first game against Kakanui that same year with Kakanui claiming the win but the Maheno club was not allowed to enter a team in the North Otago competition until 1922.

By 1926 the club had developed to the stage that it won the Citizens shield and the Clark shield

Further down the Valley there were teams at Duntroon, Tokarahi, Ngapara, Windsor, Enfield, Weston and Maheno.  The Duntroon, Tokarahi, Ngapara and Duntroon clubs eventually combined in the midfifties to form the Union club which it then in the early 1990s amalgamated with Weston Pirates to form the Valley club.

Another feature of the century was the presence of a multiplicity of sub unions.  North Otago was a sub Union of Otago until  the current North Otago union was formed in 1927.But within North Otago there were sub unions. The Waitaki Sub Union eventually joined with the North Otago union in the mid-sixties while across the river there was a Waimate sub union and in the south the Eastern Districts sub union organised rugby in the Palmerston region.

Whilst the structure was different so were the rules of the game.  Today’s scrum was developed in the late 1930’3 from the two/three/two scrum which had a wing forward as its eighth member.

The All Blacks two/three/two scrum caused controversy the moment it was first seen in the Northern Hemisphere in 1905.Matters finally came to a head in 1930 with the Lions tour of New Zealand which, according to the tour agreement, was to be played under the International Board

Laws

The complaints by the Lions manager James Baxter against New Zealand’s habit of forming a two man front row and a wing forward deployed outside the confines of the scrum led ultimately to a change in the laws and the outlawing of this practice.

Baxter did this from a position of power as he was England’s representative on the International Board, a body which New Zealand had not been allowed to become a member.  Within a year new regulations were passed that required teams to field three men in the front row of a scrum and thus the old scrum and the wing forward was consigned to history.

In fact the last test match played using the old form of the scrum was played at Eden Park on 12 September, 1931 and the All Black scrum that day was A J Cottrell and E M Jessep (front row),G B Purdue, E R G Steere, D S Max(second row), T C Metcalfe, W Batty(back row) and F Solomon(wing forward).

That day New Zealand beat the Australians 20-13 after Australia had led 13-11 at halftime.

It is interesting to note that before 1930 there was no mention of the number of players in the front row. In 1931 there was indeed a change but it merely specified that the front row should be “no more than three”. In 1933 there was a suggestion that the RFU require precisely three players in the front row but the International Board decided not to make changes at that time. In fact it was not until 1950 that the law demanded a three man front row.

The rules for today’s game are:

1.         Three points for a try.

2.         Two points for a conversion.

3.         Three points for a penalty goal.

4.         Three points for a penalty.

5.         The ball could be kicked out on the full from any part of the paddock, but not in this game.

6.         A mark could be taken from anywhere in the field.

7.         The ball could not be played by hand in the ruck/maul.

8.         Wingers throw the ball into the lineouts.

9.         Numbering was normally from fullback, number 1, but it was up to each team how the team was to be  numbered.

Mid Canterbury is on a roll looking for its fifth win on end after losing two of its first three games but a surprise win over Wanganui saw the confidence return and since then it has beaten King Country, South Canterbury and Buller and it comes south with the knowledge that a win will take home the Hanan shield and give it a place in the Meads Cup.

The first encounter between the two unions occurred in 1928, the year after both became affiliated to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union. It was played in Ashburton and the newly formed Ashburton County union defeated North Otago, 24-9.  It was to remain known as Ashburton County until Mid-Canterbury came into being in 1952.

The North Otago team that day was I Campbell, A McKerrow, G Hacquoil, W Milmine, A Souness, L Hollow, R McIvor, W. D Cameron, J Simpson, R D Cameron, A Campbell, J Pringle, D Campbell, A Sim and L Ward.

Wins alternated, with Ashburton County winning the even numbered years and North Otago the odd numbers until 1935 when the two sides did not play. North Otago won 17-6 in Oamaru in 1936 but no games were played in 1937 and 1938 and contact between the two did not take place again until 1946 at the conclusion of World War Two 

North Otago lost both games that year, 9-14 at the Showgrounds with Arthur Hopley scoring a hat trick of tries while five weeks later Ashburton County repeated the dose in Ashburtron,11-12 with Stuart Lindsay Scoring a try and Viv Wright converting the try and kicking two penalties for North Otago.

North Otago scored its biggest win to date in 1947 at the Showgrounds in Oamaru with a 33-9 win with Mort Fountain scoring four tries and Lloyd Cameron, Pop Kilgour and John Gallagher a try each with Jack Halvorsen converting three of the tries and kicking a couple of penalties.  Tom Cahill(North Otago) was the referee.

The Hanan Shield was presented by Mr A E S Hanan, the Mayor of Timaru, for competition between Ashburton County, South Canterbury and North Otago in 1946.  The first holder decided by draw was Ashburton County but South Canterbury gained possession when it won the first game played in June of that year.

North Otago lost its first challenge in 1946, 6-9 against South Canterbury. 

North Otago made it a double against Mid Canterbury in 1948 with 8-6 and 27-9 victories scoring six tries in the final game and after its 27-9 win took the Hanan Shield for the first time, off South Canterbury,3-0 at the Showgrounds with Jack Halvorsen kicking a penalty goal.

North Otago defended the Hanan Shield with a 9-6 win over Ashburton County with Snow Ross and Chick Diver scoring tries and Halvorsen adding a penalty.  Three weeks later North Otago won by an identical score in Ashburton.

North Otago took the honours in both games in 1950,11-0 and 28-11 and successfully retained the Hanan Shield with a 13-0 win over South Canterbury.

North Otago won both games against Ashburton in 1951 but a name change seemed to work for the now Mid Canterbury as it won both games, 3-0 and 16-11 in 1952.

Honours were shared between the two unions up until 1960 but the next nine seasons saw Mid Canterbury win 14 of the 18 matches played.  The seventies were drought years for North Otago as Mid Canterbury won  ten of the 13 games played.

From 1980 until 1997 the drought reached its height when Mid Canterbury won 17 games in a row before the rugby rain began to fall in 1997 when the Greg Shipton/Peter Cook North Otago coached side regained the Hanan Shield with a 26-12 win, only to lose it to Mid Canterbury in 1998, 19-20.

Mid Canterbury won promotion to the second division in that year and as a result the two sides did not meet over the next three seasons.

2002 saw North Otago regain the Hanan Shield with a punishing 43-16 win and North Otago’s dominance over Mid Canterbury carried through the next five seasons until 2007.  North Otago guaranteed a semi-final berth in the Meads Cup dropped its final pool game to Mid Canterbury, 22-25 and although North Otago went on to beat Wanganui in the Meads Cup final, Mid Canterbury had the wood on North Otago winning the next five matches played over 2008,2009 and 2010. North Otago dropped its pool game to Mid Canterbury, 14-29 but the two sides met in Meads Cup semi-finals where North Otago marched into the final with a 40-24 victory.

North Otago made hard work of a game it should have controlled but lack of tactical leadership on the paddock and a determination to play to the oppositions strength almost brought about the visitors downfall before South Canterbury played into North Otago’s hands when it made a multitude of changes to its dominant pack in the final quarter and let North Otago back into the game.

For North Otago co coach Barry Matthews it was another frustrating effort.

“It was a shocking performance, absolutely terrible.  We decided at halftime to use numbers and get it wide and we finally got it wide in the 36^th minute of the second half and scored a try.  So many times we had numbers, we had overlaps and guys got greedy and tried to do it on their own.  After the game it was the biggest tongue lashing I’ve ever given a side I’ve coached.  Every team I’ve coached I’ve earnt the respect of the team and that game was there for the taking.  But on the paddock the players just didn’t do what they were supposed to do and this has happened all the way through.”

Rest assured there’ll be changes for the Mid Canterbury game.

North Otago’s Taua Limuloa dominated the lineout, number eight Tevita Fifita producing an outstanding display against the odds, so often having to take the ball from the base of a wayward scrum and on every occasion he was able to put his side back on the front foot while North Otago was unlucky to lose aggressive hooker Will Hurst at halftime.

In the backs Hamish McKenzie was under pressure at scrum time while Ben Patston whilst kicking four penalties contributed little else of a positive nature.  Luke Herden was the anchor in the backline and he always looked dangerous and his interception deep inside the North Otago 22 with only a couple of minutes remaining with the North Otago line wide open saw him send South Canterbury back 80 metres.

North Otago have match winners in the back three but opportunities were few.

South Canterbury dominated the forward exchanges with number eight Kali Latu, prop Matt Fetu and flanker Nick Strachan outstanding while diminutive halfback, Nick Annear was a superb distributer and his substitution late in the game saw his side losesome  momentum. At full back Jarred Trevathan was always eager to counter attack.

North Otago playing with the wind saw Patston kick penalties in the 15^th and the 30^th minutes to give North Otago a 3-0 lead but South Canterbury’s Scott Norton kicked two penalties in the last eight minutes of the spell to make it 6-6 at halftime.

Norton and Patston swapped penalties to make it 9-9 after 53 minutes and in the 61^st minute South Canterbury broke the deadlock when from a scrum on the North Otago 22, Latu broke to his right from number eight and as the North Otago defence drifted wide he sent Annear racing 20 metres to score for Norton to convert and put South Canterbury out to 16-9 lead.

Patston kicked his fourth penalty four minutes later and five minutes from fulltime North Otago burst down the left flank to drive to the opposition line.  North Otago threw quickly into the lineout and Herden in midfield slowed the cover defence before putting Faaitu Tuamoheloa through the gap and the big centre put  replacement winger Rowan McKenzie in for the winning try.

Wanganui moved to within a point of North Otago with a 67-10 win over West Coast in Greymouth. Mid Canterbury holds third place five points behind Wanganui after a 30-27 win over Buller which played the bulk of the game with only 14 players while Buller and East Coast are tied in fourth place with 22 points after East Coast beat Poverty Bay, 30-29 at Tolaga Bay.

Buller, which had suffered its first loss the previous Saturday at the hands of Thames Valley, were the front runners for 79 of the 80 minutes before North Otago first five eighth Ben Patston kicked the ugliest dropped goal one is ever likely to see to snatch the victory.

Buller could well afford to be disappointed with the outcome as this very good side took the game to North Otago and produced a resolute defence although at the tackle area they were given leniency on too many occasions by referee Matthew Muir.  Pene Nabainivalu and William Saukuru were a formidable pairing in midfield and the pair had a great contest with Luke Herden and Faaitu Tuamoheloa who lost nothing in comparison. Herden in fact had his best game of the season with powerhouse running and the ability to set up counterattacks.

North Otago’s pace out wide was nullified by Bullers relentless cover defence and although the North Otago back three of Lemi Masoe, Billy Guyton and Whiria Meltzer appeared to have the line open on occasions there was always one more Buller defender to beat.

North Otago half, Hamish McKenzie was often under a lot of pressure as the North Otago scrum on too many occasions succumbed to the opposition pressure and as a direct result big number eight, Tevita Fifita was too often called to tidy up as the scrum reversed.

Taua Limuloa and Eric Duff ensured that North Otago controlled the lineouts.

Buller produced the best pack North Otago has faced, Phil Rossiter and Luke Brownlee would have few if any peers in Heartland rugby while number eight Lee Nelmes although a relative apprentice when compared with the other two did his job well.  Such is Heartland rugby that Brownlee immediately after the game was on with the gumboots and off to milk his herd; this from a man who played his 131^st consecutive game for Buller on Saturday.

Buller decided to play with the advantage of the breeze in the first half but it was North Otago which scored first.  From a lineout on the Buller 22, North Otago set up a rolling maul and McKenzie swooped on the open side to catch Buller unawares to score beside the posts.  Patston’s conversion attempt was a shocker.

Five minutes later Buller scored from a well organised counter attack.  Patston kicked deep but Buller broke back to halfway with fullback Tema Faifua and Nabainivalu bringing the ball back and on the 10 metre line second five eighth Saukuru took an inside ball to race 30 metres to score but Buller which had been astray with four penalty attempts in the first half could not add the conversion. Finally ten minutes from halftime first five eighth Phil Gibson found the posts with a penalty to give the home side a 8-5 halftime lead.

Fifteen minutes into the second half Patston levelled the score with a penalty and then the two sides slogged it out for the next 24 minutes.  Finally North Otago resorting to pick and go drove inside the Buller 22 and although it appeared that North Otago had knocked on referee Muir gave the scrum to North Otago and from just outside the 22 Patston somehow got the ball to trickle over the bar.

In other Round six Heartland game Wanganui moved into second place two points behind North Otago with a 76-8 demolition of Horowhenua-Kapiti, West Coast after trailing 5-18 at halftime beat King Country,36-18, Mid Canterbury beat Hanan Shield neighbours South Canterbury,34-22, Poverty Bay got home against Wairarapa-Bush, 23-21 and East Coast beat Thames Valley, 31-26.

Whilst North Otago coach, Barry Matthews was not prepared to elaborate earlier in the week on the change of tactics, one must expect that North Otago counterattacking ability will not be put on the backburner for 80 minutes.

Matthews was not without respect for Buller.

“Buller has played very well in the games so far.  They’ve got a very good pack that works very hard and they’ve got a couple of finishers in the backline.  But for us it will be trying to turn more opportunities into points.  We have a tendency to score points and then let the opposition back into the game with some soft tries.  We’re getting there but we’re nowhere near what we are capable of producing but hopefully we’re starting to iron out little individual errors  but we’re still a long way off.”

Buller co coach Craig Neil stated that on Thursday morning that they were expecting heavy rain so much so that he would be having training indoors that evening.  Whether North Otago successfully adapts to the conditions is another matter.

North Otago has made two changes to the side that beat Horowhenua-Kapiti.  Tight head prop Rob Mafile’o replaces Palenapa Mafi who is being rested while Lemi Masoe replaces Chris Talanoa on the

right wing.

In other Heartland games Wanganui should pick up maximum points against Horowhenua-Kapiti, Thames Coast should beat East Coast, Poverty Bay should be too strong for Wairarapa-Bush and West  Coast should edge out King Country.  The other big game of the round sees South Canterbury (16pts) host Mid Canterbury (16pts) in what will be a defining game for both sides.

North Otago: Billy Guyton, Lemi Masoe, Faaitu Tuamoheloa, Luke Herden, Ben Patston, Whiria Meltzer, Hamish McKenzie. Tevita Fifita, Willie Tahitua, Josh Collier, Taua Limuloa, Eric Duff, Rob Mafile’o, Will Hurst, Ralph Darling (C).

Points Table After Week 4

Wairarapa-Bush had the better of the first half with its forward pack led by flankers John Van Vliet and James Goodger dominating the break down and inside backs Inia Katia at halfback and a very able Trent Vatselias at first five eight calling the tactical shots.

But North Otago co coach, Barry Matthews was full of praise for the North Otago scrum.                     

“I thought that Rob Mafile’o scrummed outstandingly well. He was called on this week after usual tight head Palenapa Mafi was side-lined because of sickness.  We knew that Wairarapa Bush had a very good scrum but you could almost say that we dominated the scrums for the first 60 minutes at least.”

Territory enabled Vatselias to kick four penalties in the first quarter with his opposite number Ben Patston kicking a couple for North Otago to give the visitors a 12-6 lead.

North Otago hit back in the 28^th minute when Patston put centre Faaitu Tuamoheloa through a gap. Winger Whiria Meltzer appeared in support and he sent halfback Hamish McKenzie in for a try which Patston converted to give North Otago a 13-12 lead.

Eight minutes from halftime Wairarapa-Bush won a scrum five metres out from the North Otago line. Patston came up on defence out of the line and Vatselias wafted through the space to score and convert and give his side a 19-13 halftime lead.

It was some hard talk at halftime from North Otago coaches Barry Matthews and Shane Carter that encouraged a resurgence.

 “Wairarapa-Bush played very well in the first half but we played into their hands by giving away silly penalties, not being direct and trying to go wide without doing the hard work up front and we got beat up at the breakdowns as well.  That was addressed at halftime with a few stern words.  It just goes to show that in this competition that if you’re not mentally in the right frame of mind any team can kick you. But we changed the game plan at halftime. I wanted them to be more direct, to build up the pick and go and use runners off our number nine.”

The words worked and it took only six minutes for North Otago to take a lead it was not to relinquish.

Billy Guyton punched a long kick downfield which  -Bush returned to Guyton who opened it up for hooker Will Hurst to score the first of his tries with Patston converting to give North Otago a 20-19 lead.

Six minutes later another Wairarapa-Bush clearing kick failed to find touch and replacement winger Lemi Masoe opened it up on halfway and Luke Herden and Tuamoheloa ripped the defence apart to send Hurst in for his second try which Patston duly converted.

Twelve minutes from fulltime from a lineout on the opposition 22 Herden drifted wide and then in passed to a flying Meltzer who  scorched across for a try which Patston converted to give North Otago a 34-19 lead.

Slack defence by North Otago saw a chip ahead by Wairarapa-Bush gathered in by fullback Nick Olson and he raced 40 metres to score for Vatselias to convert and reduce the deficit to ten points.

Vatselias had an opportunity to add a penalty a minute later but his kick from 40 metres out and in front was wide.

Eleven minutes from fulltime it was Masoe who sparked yet another counterattack from a Wairarapa-Bush kick ahead.  He linked with Herden and Guyton and Guyton with the line open looped a pass infield to Herden who touched down for Patston to convert.

North Otago with five points moved up to second place a point behind unbeaten Buller  after the fourth round courtesy of an upset, 26-23 win by Mid Canterbury over hitherto unbeaten Wanganui.

Wanganui remains three points behind North Otago with Thames Valley the early frontrunner dropping back to fourth 12 points after drawing 17 all with West Coast in Greymouth.  South Canterbury with a 42-31 win over Poverty Bay is in fifth place a point behind Thames Valley followed by Mid Canterbury also on 11 points, Poverty Bay and East Coast followed by the bottom four, West Coast (7), King Country (5), Horowhenua-Kapiti (5) and Wairarapa-Bush (2).

There was then a break on 17 years before the two sides met again in 1972 with the newly formed Wairarapa-Bush union taking the game 26-11 with Doug Hurst and Gary Ford scoring tries for North Otago and Norman McKenzie kicking a penalty goal.
There was then a 27 year break until in 1999 the two sides met in Oamaru with North Otago shutting Wairarapa-Bush out, 17-0 with Barry Fox and Wayne Miller scoring tries and Ray Gutsell converting both tries and kicking a penalty.

The following season Wairarapa-Bush spoilt Glenn Moore’s introduction to third division rugby with a 20-15 win with first five eighth Simon Porter kicking five penalties for the home side.

Two weeks later, in Masterton , North Otago avenged that early season defeat with a 19-14 win with Mike Mavor scoring a try and Porter converting the try and kicking four penalty goals.
2001 saw North Otago take the honours, 20-6 in Masterton and the following year again defeated Wairarapa-Bush in Masterton, 27-14 before going on to take the third division final.
 
With North Otago promoted to the second division in 2003 the two sides did not meet again until 2006 when on its home ground Wairarapa-Bush squeezed out a 19-18 win in pool play and then in the Meads cup semi-final in Masterton the home side knocked out North Otago with a 25-19 victory.
2007 was to be North Otago’s year taking the Meads Cup, but Wairarapa-Bush in Masterton ended North Otago’s seven game winning sequence with a 15-7 win just prior to the semi-finals.

The two sides met in the Meads Cup semi-final in Oamaru with the home side going through to the final with  30-13 win with winger Stephen Sasagi scoring two tries and Joe Mamea, one
2008 saw North Otago beat Wairarapa-Bush, 44-19 and last season recorded a 29-20 win with Greg Zampack (2), Luke Herden and Tevita Fifita scoring tries.  For the record of the 17 games played North Otago has won ten and Wairarapa-Bush, seven.
Wairarapa-Bush won the Meads Cup in 2006 with a 16-14 win over Wanganui but its efforts over the past five years have been varied.

2007 saw it lose to North Otago in the Meads Cup semi-final.  2008 saw it knocked out in the Lochore Cup semi-final by Horowhenua-Kapiti, 17-37. 2009 saw Wairarapa-Bush fail to make the play offs while last season it took the Lochore Cup with a 15-9 win over Buller.
Winners of the Meads Cup since its inception have been Wairarapa-Bush (2006), North Otago (2007), Wanganui (2008), Wanganui (2009) and North Otago (2010).

North Otago is currently lying third in the Heartland competition behind Buller(14), )Wanganui(13,+ 51 pts diff), North Otago (13, +45 pts diff), Thames Valley (10,+48 pts diff), Poverty Bay(8, -2 pts diff), East Coast 8, -28 pts diff), South Canterbury(6, +14 pts), Mid Canterbury (6, zero pts diff), West Coast (5, +4 pts diff), Horowhenua-Kapiti(5,+4 pts diff), Wairarapa-Bush (2,-46 pts diff), King Country(0, -73 pts diff).
Round 4 draw: North Otago v Wairarapa-Bush; Wanganui v Mid Canterbury; South Canterbury v Poverty Bay; Horowhenua-Kapiti v King Country; Buller v East Coast; West Coast v Thames Valley.