The Upper Clutha Premier rugby team celebrate after beating Maniototo 31-7 at the Queenstown Events Centre on Saturday to retain the White Horse Cup during a special ‘‘super round’’ to celebrate the cup’s centenary. Queenstown provided the perfect backdrop for the biggest-ever celebration of Central Otago rugby on Saturday, at which the 100-year-old White Horse Cup was the centrepiece. The cup, Central Otago’s equivalent to the Ranfurly Shield, was donated to the Vincent sub-union that administered Central Otago rugby at the time by White Horse Distillers through its Dunedin agent R. Wilson and Co in 1926. The first 15 of the specially-made White Horse Invitational jerseys went under the hammer — they raised $29,000, with the most sought-after jerseys being 15 ($3800), 7 ($3300) and 1 ($2200) — while two ‘‘White Horse 100’’ jerseys fetched a total of $4600. ‘‘We had all the dignitaries from Otago Rugby there ... and they couldn’t believe that we’d put this event on ourselves ...‘‘It was just a great celebration of Central Otago footy, really.’’tracey.roxburgh@odt.co.nz

Source: Otago Daily Times April 12, 2026 17:58 UTC