'Emotional win': Wakatipu captain Regan Pearce

The Wakatipu Premiers rugby team now heads the Central Otago table after a rare away win over Arrowtown on Saturday.

Wakatipu beat Arrowtown 14-11 in atrocious conditions at Jack Reid Park with the ground lights turned on during the second half despite an earlier start time.

Wakatipu captain Regan Pearce summed up the scrappy arm-wrestle in the wet thus: “It was like pigs fighting over a bit of cabbage.”

It was Wakatipu’s first win in Arrowtown in seven years and reversed a 32-15 drubbing in Queenstown in the first round.

The visitors led 9-6 at half-time after both sides traded penalties.

Wakatipu winger Tony Farley dotted down in the second half.

Arrowtown replied with a try to their player of the day, veteran hooker Nathan Pullar, but couldn’t pull back Wakatipu’s slender lead.

Pearce says Wakatipu had to defend well to keep Arrowtown out late in the game but hung tough.

“It was quite emotional in the dressing room afterwards.”

Wakatipu’s player of the day was number 8 Aaron Redaelli, a policeman who’d been in the news just two days earlier after he rescued a Puerto Rican floundering in Lake Wakatipu at 2.20am.

Wakatipu head the points table with 47 points with only two losses in 12 games.

Arrowtown hang onto second place, on 45 points, only because third-placed Clyde-Earnscleugh were very unexpectedly thrashed by Upper Clutha on Saturday.