Steve Hepburn

The Highlanders returned to business yesterday and it seems none of them over-indulged at the Christmas table.

It was a weekend to forget for the Otago Sparks as they fell to Wellington in two games in the capital.

It seemed like a much simpler time. There were no iPods, internet or the E! channel. In Dunedin in the early 1990s, rugby was king and Marc Ellis was part of the show. Steve Hepburn catches up with Ellis to discuss what it meant to play for Otago.

Marc Ellis played in one World Cup and wants to be part of the event this year, but has real concerns over whether New Zealand is going the right way about the event.

Michael Bracewell emphatically answered the call set by the Otago selectors and has won a place in the Otago one-day side to play Wellington on Sunday.

Otago's Alanah Davidson braves the conditions during Otago's match against Canterbury at the national under-19 softball championships at Ellis Park yesterday.

Organisers of the Queenstown Sevens want to hold on to the event for at least another two years, and say it is only huge financial support from many sponsors that makes the tournament feasible.

The Otago Sparks could not quite mark Sarah Tsukigawa's 100th one-day game for the province with a win against Auckland yesterday.

Otago Rugby Football Union chairman Wayne Graham says the Otago union is working "bloody hard" on its finances but believes the business model around the provincial game is badly flawed.

Tasman outside back Kade Poki has been added to the Highlanders and will join the squad when it assembles in 10 days.

As another All Black season comes to an end, rugby writer STEVE HEPBURN looks back on the year and asks if the side is ready for the big one that lies around the corner.

A tournament in Timaru this weekend will decide which teams from the South Island will appear at next month's national competition in Queenstown, but Otago is a certain starter.

A new metropolitan rugby committee will be introduced next year to oversee amateur rugby in Otago.

It was the ideal weather for golf yesterday and about 60 Dunedin youngsters got out of the class room and got a club in their hand at Belleknowes Golf Club.

The review looking into what went wrong with the Otago team this year is still continuing and no date has been set for its completion.

Otago has taken off the whites and now gets down to the serious business of twenty/20 matches.