On a rainy Thursday night in Invercargill, the 125th great southern derby took place.
Both Southland and Otago were coming off heavy defeats and looked eager to make amends for their shortcomings in the previous week.
Southland had a reason to celebrate; everyone's favourite hooker, Jason ‘Cabbage' Rutledge, was to become the most capped Stag in Southland Rugby history, a momentous occasion.
It was not to be for the mighty Stags, however. Otago rained on their parade and took home the Donald Stuart Memorial Trophy for the first time since 2008.
It was by no means a spectacle. Right from the first whistle, referee Bryce Lawrence never seemed to take his whistle out of his mouth, making the game very frustrating to watch and I am sure the players were feeling the same. Lawrence made his frustrations very clear to the players; he has
never, and will never been a man to let things slide.
It took a long time for the game to get going, but when it did, Southland appeared to have the upper hand. They scored the first and only try to Nathan Hohaia and came agonisingly close to turning opportunities into points.
Although Otago's attack took a while to gain momentum, their resolute defence paid dividends in this game, holding out the Southlanders' attack and even denying two certain tries to Kade Poki and Jimmy Cowan.
Once Hayden Parker slotted the first points to the visitors, it appeared that the momentum changed. Otago now held the upper hand and a desperate Southland side looked out of options, making repeat infringements which ultimately led to more opportunities for Hayden Parker to add more points.
Although both sides entered the changing sheds at 9-7, the two point margin was not reflective of the advantage that Otago held as they headed into the break.
This continued into the second half; Otago's defence holding firm as Southland pounded away at them, with referee Lawrence close at hand to point out every infringement. Both sides took the points on offer as a result of these infringements as they managed to grind out a 15-10 scoreline.
A lot of people seemed disappointed in the performance of both sides; however, there were a few positives that Otago could take away from this game.
Defence - Their attack was nowhere near the standard we all witnessed in their game against Northland, but they managed to show their ability to grind out a victory in an ugly, penalty-riddled affair. Not every game can be filled with fast and flowing rugby and it happens even less frequently
when pride is on the line in a derby match.
Hayden Parker - The young first five is taking leaps and strides towards becoming a great addition to Tony Brown's new look Otago side. His goal kicking is razor sharp and he is taking real control of a game. If he continues at this rate he looks likely to gain a Super 15 role or even higher honours.
Watch this space.