Call pays off as town confirmed as rugby trophy stop

Greg O'Brien.
Greg O'Brien.
Heads up, Balclutha - party at Tony Brown's. Or at least at the Clutha Rugby Football Club when Lee Allan brings the Super rugby trophy to Balclutha after Clutha plays its home semifinal on July 18.

Balclutha was skipped in the nine-date trophy tour through the Highlanders' region announced on Wednesday, but the franchise's high performance manager, Greg O'Brien, confirmed yesterday Clutha district would not be missed on the tour after all.

Mr Allan, a former captain of the South Otago High School squad, had offered to accompany the cup to the rugby club from 5pm to 7pm on the Saturday after it left Alexandra on the last day of its tour.

Clutha Mayor Bryan Cadogan saw the announcement on Wednesday that the 28kg trophy would tour the Highlanders community partner PlaceMakers' outlets in nine towns around the south, and called the Highlanders to register his concern that because there was no outlet in Clutha, the district would miss out.

''He just pointed out something that we already knew, that there are strong supporters down there and we certainly want to share it with them because they've supported us,'' Mr O'Brien said yesterday afternoon.

The trophy tour was arranged with the retailer, which had ''pretty good distribution around our region'', as a means to get the trophy out for fans to see as quickly as possible, Mr O'Brien said.

He said he told the mayor on Wednesday that it was ''not a matter of ''if'', but ''when'' the trophy would be in Clutha.

At 1pm yesterday he could not confirm when the trophy would be in Balclutha. At 2.21pm he confirmed the July 18 date.

''Nothing changed our mind - it just happened that I saw Lee [Allan] after our phone call,'' Mr O'Brien said.

''The good folks of Balclutha will see it. It's the last stop on its tour.''

Mr Cadogan said he made the phone call on Wednesday when he saw the trophy would be ''criss-crossing our district and never quite stopping along the way''.

He said that it was ''excellent'' the team had ''stuck to their word'' when he was informed yesterday afternoon of the plans to bring the trophy to Balclutha, and was pleased that unlike other stops in the tour there would be a player present.

''Who better than Lee?''I appreciated the fact that they have to give the sponsors the profile, but they've also remembered their supporters.''

Otago rugby stalwart David Latta, a Balclutha businessman, played for the Highlanders in 1996.

Yesterday morning, he said he believed the team would want to bring the trophy to Clutha ''whether we've got a PlaceMakers or not''.

''I'd say if they could do it, they'd do it.''

He was right.

Yesterday afternoon, he said it ''definitely'' showed the Highlanders as a classy organisation that could make something happen for fans.

''I think it's great when you look at a home boy, a Kaitangata boy, bringing it down to Balclutha, that means something.''

hamish.maclean@odt.co.nz

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