For the first time in a 100 years, the White Horse Cup — Central’s equivalent to the Ranfurly Shield — will go on tour on Saturday, travelling to Queenstown for the Forsyth Barr White Horse Cup Centenary.
Every team in the Central Premier competition will play at the Queenstown Events Centre, on side-by-side fields, starting with a tantalising Battle of the Basin, between Wakatipu and Arrowtown, at noon.
At 12.45pm Cromwell will kick off against Alexandra, then at 1.30pm Matakanui — who have held the cup a record 33 times, but have not won it since 1998 — will play a White Horse Invitational side, comprising some ‘‘golden oldies’’, colts players and some who do not make their respective teams on the day.
In the main event, which kicks off at 2.30pm, current cup holders Upper Clutha go up against Maniototo.
Upper Clutha Rugby Club past-president Nathan ‘‘Blue’’ Simon said shortly after the final whistle in that game the ‘‘aftermatch of the century’’ would begin at the Events Centre. More than 400 people are expected.
The banter would be on point and there would be yarns for days, he said.
MC would be Paul Ellison and it would feature a panel of rugby characters from the past, such as former Wakatipu player Henry Youngman, Maniototo’s Paul Dougherty, referee Roger Hill and Queenstown stalwart Brian Dagg. There was also a special video in the works, including some faces from yesteryear and messages from a few household rugby names.
There would be a fundraising auction which would include specially-made White Horse Cup Invitational jerseys.
Proceeds from the event would go to the newly-established White Horse Charitable Trust, to support future initiatives and strengthen Central Otago rugby.
‘‘It’s creating a bit of a legacy fund ... that might be beneficial for junior rugby in the areas, it could be to support our referees and help get more referees into our game, it could be some big-picture stuff for Central Otago to break away and go into a Heartland New Zealand competition,’’ Simon said.
The event had been about three years in the making, dreamed up by Peter Breen, of Alexandra, and Simon as a way to celebrate Central Otago rugby, as much as the White Horse Cup but there were already plans to do it more regularly.
‘‘Maybe every five years from now on we do a super round, because what it does is bring the whole Central rugby community together.’’
Separately, renowned rugby writer Bob Howitt, of Arrowtown, has updated a 2015 book of the history of the White Horse with happenings over the past decade.
The charitable trust might look to use some of the money raised from the centenary celebrations to update that again at the end of this season, capturing its 100th year, Simon said.
The trust was particularly grateful for the support of ‘‘legacy sponsor’’ Forsyth Barr’s Central Otago and Queenstown offices, as well as the host of gold and silver sponsors who made the event possible.
‘‘It’s going to be quite cool.’’
