The coveted White Horse Cup is the local equivalent of the Ranfurly Shield and it has been the symbol of Central Otago rugby supremacy since 1926.
Upper Clutha defeated defending Central Otago club champions Arrowtown at Jack Reid Park last Saturday to win the White Horse Cup for the first time in 15 years.
The team needs to hold the cup until the end of the season to have the Upper Clutha name engraved on the trophy - for just the third time in the White Horse Cup's 84-year history.
To add to the historic sense of occasion, when Upper Clutha lines up to face Clyde-Earnscleugh at the Tarras Domain this afternoon, the premiers team will also be fighting to win the Neil Purvis Shield for the first time.
Established last year in memory of Tarras rugby player Neil Purvis, the Upper Clutha rugby club's sole All Black representative, who died in 2008, the shield is contested once a year between Upper Clutha and a visiting club.
Alexandra has its name engraved on the shield as inaugural winner of the memorial trophy, which will always be played for, and remain, at the Tarras Domain.
Upper Clutha captain Nick Thompson said his team was fired up to hold on to the cup and win the shield.
The team had received a great reception from supporters and a host of former club players when it brought the cup back to Wanaka last weekend.
"We had heaps of club players, who came down to see it and talk about it - the times they'd played for it, never won it, and even a few who had won it but then lost it," he said.
Thompson has played for Upper Clutha for the past nine years and the victory over Arrowtown is his maiden win of the cherished silverware.
"We've come close, but I've never got my hands on it 'til now."
There was always pressure when a team played for silverware - regardless of whether it was for the first time, or a cup-holder's defence, Thompson said.
"Trophies come with a win. You've got to play the game first," he said.
