About 60 people attended the reunion, which brought together players and administrators involved with the club in the early 1970s, when the club dominated country rugby.
In 1971-72, the club won the country competition and the White Horse Cup, considered the symbol of supremacy in country rugby.
Winning the trophy was a first for the club and has not been repeated since.
While the current Upper Clutha team beat Arrowtown last year and won the cup, it was unable to retain it for the rest of the season like the 1970s outfit.
But while the earlier team toasted their feat in Wanaka yesterday, several of their wives were keen to talk about their own rugby recollections of the early 1970s, when women would wait for up to two hours outside the clubrooms drinking brandy and ginger ale because they were not allowed inside for after-match functions.
"We used to sit in the car in the freezing cold in the middle of winter. Some had six children sitting in the car," Vicki McRae said.
Club patron, 1971 team coach and reunion organiser Peter "PL" Anderson said Upper Clutha became the first rugby club in New Zealand to allow women entry to the clubrooms, primarily because 13 of the 22-strong squad at the time were married men and the club did not want to lose them.
