The Upper Clutha premier rugby side (the Rams) stormed into the grand final of the Central Otago Premier Rugby Competition with a convincing 20-5 win over Wakatipu on Saturday (July 3).

It was a remarkable form reversal after the Rams lost twice to the Queenstown side in recent weeks and went into the match as underdogs. Such was the dominance by the Rams, Wakatipu had to wait 53 minutes before they played any rugby in the Rams 22.

“It wasn’t a surprise to me,” Rams head coach Garry-John Hape said after the match. “We put the onus on ourselves and our front row, it was about the character of the boys.”

The Rams enjoyed a wealth of possession and territory in the first half, leading to two converted tries: One a penalty try after successive scrum push-over attempts.

The Rams’ scrum, which has struggled against the competition’s top sides, consistently put Wakatipu under pressure, providing front foot ball on which to attack and thwarting Wakatipu’s set piece play.

The Rams forwards put on a dominant display.

The Rams led 14-0 at halftime and two Brady Kingan penalties in the second half pushed the score to 20-0. Wakatipu threw everything into the second half of the match, keeping the ball in hand and taking quick taps from penalties. They were rewarded with a try in the 76th minute.

The Rams’ forward pack were outstanding, especially uncompromising loose forward Jackson Campbell who imposed himself on the Wakatipu forward pack. He was well supported by locks Lachie Garrick and Matt Ward. Open side flanker Jaiden McDonald was prominent in attack and on defence.

Halfback Brady Kingan enjoyed a dream ride behind his forwards and never put a foot wrong all day.

Perhaps the player who epitomised the Rams effort and character was left wing Hamish Brown. Brown was courageous under the high ball and displayed an uncanny ability to beat the first defender, turning defence into attack.

This Saturday the Rams will play in the grand final against the unbeaten Cromwell Goats who defeated Arrowtown in the other preliminary final 20-15. The Rams played Cromwell once this season, going down by one solitary point (24-23).

The last time the Rams won the Central Otago Premier Rugby Competition was 2018 when they defeated Cromwell in Wanaka.

The grand final will be played in Cromwell this Saturday (July 10), kick off 2.30pm.

Tries: Matt Ward, Penalty Try

Conversions: Brady Kingan

Penalties: Brady Kingan (2)

PHOTOS: Wanaka App