Latest news with #BattleoftheBasin
Otago Daily Times
27-06-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
‘Let's focus on Saturday first'
Arrowtown's Malcolm Sutherland brushes off Wakatipu Prems' Logan Beggs during last Saturday's bruising Battle of the Basin. PHOTO: SUPPLIED A White Horse Cup challenge against Upper Clutha next Saturday, then a likely home semifinal the following Saturday. Mouth-watering prospects, indeed, but the Wakatipu Premiers rugby coach just wants his team to focus first on this Saturday's home game against Cromwell. "We treat each game as if it's our last, that's the mindset we came into at the start of the year," Jordan Manihera says. His side beat Arrowtown 29-5 at Jack Reid Park last weekend, but had to defend their line for 30 to 35 minutes before scoring back-to-back tries. "It was good to see the attitude and the connection on defence working ... afterwards we said to them, 'that's the standard they have now set', it's up to them to be consistent with that, if not better. "The result was awesome, getting max [bonus] points, but the fact we left quite a few opportunities out there just goes to show we're almost ticking. "We're just pushing that last pass, and sort of once that lands I'm pretty excited to see where we head." Thanks to Maniototo upsetting Alexandra, Wakatipu have jumped to second on the table and look likely to host a semi. Manihera: "You can get pretty deep in the rabbit hole with sorting out who goes where and who plays who, but, you know, you sort of lose focus [on your next game] if you're worrying about that too much." Meanwhile, Arrowtown, who lie second last on the points table, one point behind Cromwell, have a bye this weekend. They close out their season with a home game against Maniototo next Saturday.
Otago Daily Times
19-06-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Arrowtown's timely return to form
Wakatipu Premiers hooker Thomas Hulsman, pictured in action against Matakanui Combined recently, is among a group of young players the team's successfully blooded this season. PHOTO: SUPPLIED Following a convincing away win over Cromwell last weekend, the Arrowtown rugby side's fizzing for this Saturday's home-ground 'Battle of the Basin' game against Wakatipu. Arrowtown beat Cromwell 29-7 to clinch just their second win of the year after their season-opening thrashing of Matakanui Combined in March. It also came after the teams had drawn their first-round fixture. "The boys showed a bit of grit on Saturday," says captain Ryan Egerton, who didn't play due to a "buggered" knee. "She was one of the better 23-man performances I've seen from the Arrowtown Bulls. "Everyone that came on from the bench played a good role and, yeah, we scored some pretty good meat pies, to be fair." Coming after a deflating loss to Alexandra, "it's definitely given the boys a bit of confidence," Egerton adds. "We definitely needed it for morale, because, yeah, the boys were hurting after loss after loss." He was also expecting the prospect of a Battle of the Basin game to provide "a bit of fizz" at training this week. "I'm sure we'll be up for it, and hopefully we can get a heap of people down at the Jack Reid and put on a good show." Wakatipu Premiers coach Jordan Manihera, whose team touched up Arrowtown 48-19 in the first round, says he's pleased to hear of Arrowtown's good result "through the gorge", and certainly won't be taking them for granted despite their 7-2 win-loss record this season. "It's a great rivalry to have, and how the comp's been this year, anything can happen if one team turns up and plays better than their opposite number on the day. "So we're treating this game, as we do every week, with some good preparation. "We're back to a full contingent, so back to getting the old migraine with selections, but, you know, it's a good problem to have, so we're really looking forward to ripping into it." Manihera's also hoping for good ground conditions after playing on a heavy track at the Queenstown Rec Ground these past two Saturdays — Waka last weekend beat Maniototo 29-13, but only after upping their intensity over the final 20 minutes. They're deliberately bringing some experienced players like Don Lolo and Paulie Tuala off the bench, the coach says. "We've kind of found we were staying in the fight for a good 50 to 60 minutes every game, but then we're just sort of losing a bit of composure and experience towards the end." With Wakatipu third on the table, one point behind Alexandra, and with just two rounds to go after this weekend, expect them to be chasing a bonus point win this Saturday to try to nail down a home semifinal.
