The NPC turns 50 this year. To mark the occasion, Adrian Seconi revisits 10 memorable Otago games. 1976 Otago 0, Manawatū 0 Otago’s NPC journey began with a goal-less draw, er, a 0-0 draw against Manawatū at Carisbrook on July 20, 1976. Sounds like a doozy. It was a wet Tuesday at Carisbrook and the late Otago Daily Times sports editor Brent Edwards was there to record the game for posterity. “It was a tense, absorbing contest between two good sides,’’ he began. The game was played in steady rain “on a slippery, treacherous surface’’. Not sure the replay would get many clicks on TikTok these days. But Edwards, who kept meticulous statistics, did get some numbers into the match report. Otago won 23 rucks to Manawatū’s 17. Take that, Manawatū. 1991 Otago 17, Auckland 6 No-one beat Auckland. No-one. They reigned supreme during the late 1980s and early 1990s. But their 54-game winning streak was halted at Carisbrook on September 21, 1991. A young man called Jamie Joseph came of age that day. He had a crook back the previous year but impressed in the 17-6 win that proved crucial in Otago capturing the title that season. The game attracted 28,000 spectators and they got what they paid for — a great Otago victory. OTAGO DAILY TIMES/OTAGO IMAGESOtago flanker Josh Kronfeld leaves the paddock on the shoulders of supporters following a memorable win over Waikato at Carisbrook in 1993. Photo: ODT files 1993 Otago 36, Waikato 22 Josh Kronfeld left the paddock on the shoulders of Otago supporters in a scene you will never see again in rugby at that level. These days the spectators would be swatted back by security guards and the player mobbed only by anxious media minders. But the crowd at Carisbrook could not contain themselves the day they witnessed an All Blacks great in the making turn in an outstanding effort to help Otago win the NPC semifinal in style. 1994 Otago 20, Canterbury 22 We said memorable, not memorable victories. This was arguably Otago’s most memorable Ranfurly Shield defeat. They had crushed Canterbury 56-25 in a friendly earlier that season and headed north with expectations of returning with the Log o’ Wood. It did not happen. The final moments of this game have arguably been revisited more than any other Otago game. You know what happened. Referee Colin Hawke ruled David Latta was offside at a ruck. Andrew Mehrtens stepped up and slotted the penalty to the endless frustration of the Otago faithful. 1998 Otago 49, Waikato 20 “Otago sport may never know another day, another occasion like this after its rugby team became the undisputed national champion with a resounding 49-20 win over Waikato at Carisbrook yesterday.’’ The prophetic words of Edwards. He served as the Otago Daily Times rugby writer from 1975 until 2004. He never got to cover a Ranfurly Shield win but was in the press box the day Otago shredded Waikato in front of 40,000 fans at Carisbrook. “Never has an Otago side faced such pressure to perform from its own public; never has it delivered so emphatically.” Otago piled on the points in the second half to run away with the final. 1999 Otago 39, North Harbour 37 The game that will forever be known as the Honiss Bonus. Referee Paul Honiss awarded three penalty tries within 15 minutes — two of them to Otago. Those decisions overshadowed Otago’s remarkable 39-37 comeback win. Brendan Laney nailed a late penalty from 47m to seal the win in the final act of the game. Honiss defended his decision to award the penalty tries. “As a referee you know when a penalty try should be awarded,’’ he told the Otago Daily Times. “You know when a try is going to be scored and a player has prevented that from happening. When a try would probably have been scored, you must award a penalty try. You have an obligation.” 2005 Otago 37, Canterbury 22 Any win over Canterbury deserves a spot in this list. But this was in a semifinal in Christchurch. Otago produced a storming finish to turn a two-point deficit into a commanding victory in the final 25 minutes of the match. Heroic performances from Tom Donnelly, Chris Smylie and Josh Blackie turned the tide. Rugby writer Hayden Meikle was rather impressed that day. “The men in blue played out of their skins, and made one of New Zealand rugby’s great provincial sides look very ordinary,” he wrote. We like that. We like that a lot. Getty ImagesOtago captain Paul Grant hoists the Ranfurly Shield after the NPC win over Waikato in Hamilton in August 2013. Photo: Getty Images 2013 Otago 26, Waikato 19 YES! The easiest headline ever written. Otago’s long and torturous Ranfurly Shield drought came to a surprise ending on a Friday night in Hamilton. It had been 56 years since the province had last held the Log o’ Wood aloft. The win was achieved off the back of some tenacious defence and accurate goalkicking from Hayden Parker. Rugby writer Steve Hepburn had a view from the sideline. “That was massive. All those years of hurt, that pain caused by those close losses. Well, those wounds have healed. They have been cleared,’’ he wrote in the ODT. 2015 Otago 61, Southland 7 Yes, we include this one partly to taunt our neighbours ahead of the team’s 250th match this weekend. But also because former rugby writer Hepburn insisted. Peter Breen notched 26 points in what is the biggest winning margin between the two teams. 2025 Otago 36, Canterbury 36 “Holy Lucas Casey” screamed the first paragraph. The classy Otago flanker scored two wonderful tries to set up a dramatic Ranfurly Shield win over Canterbury last season. The home side had scored four tries in the opening half and led 24-14 at the break. And they scored two more in the second half to pull further ahead. The 36-21 lead looked unassailable. But Otago stayed in the battle. Josh Whaanga got a miraculous offload to Jae Broomfield, who dived over in the corner. Casey, who had scored earlier in the half, busted the defensive line then evaded a tackle from Tom Christie before wrong-footing James White on a stunning 40m run to the line. Seasoned hooker Liam Coltman rumbled over for the winner from a lineout drive. adrian.seconi@odt.co.nz
