Photo above after the 21-17 win over Otago Boys' High School.

King’s finished the round-robin play as first on the table, which gave them the opportunity to host a home semifinal against South Otago the previous weekend with King’s running out winners 38-5.

Otago Boys' won their semifinal 12-5 against Wakatipu which set up a huge final between the two arch-rivals who would meet for a third time this season to decide who the best U15 team in Otago would be.

With a hurricane behind them, King’s made an average start to the game and Otago Boys' applied a lot of pressure. By halftime, King’s could only manage six points through the boot of the first five and the competition leading goal kicker Jack Soal.

King’s were going to have to pull out an all mighty second-half performance to win this final. The second half did not start well and within the first seven minutes, Otago Boys' scored two unconverted tries to lead the game 10-6.

Playing on their home patch “THE DEN” King’s were spurred into action. The forward pack, spearheaded by Alex Harold and controlled by halfback Isaac Kramers saw the Panthers get the mahi done to score a converted try and a penalty goal going into the wind to take a 16-10 lead with seven minutes to go.

Otago Boys' produced a brilliant individual effort to score in the left-hand corner to claw back to 15-16, the try was then converted to give them a one-point lead, 17-16, with four minutes to play. The prospects for the Panthers seemed slightly bleak but they weren’t finished yet.

After winning the ball back from the following kick-off, King’s went 12 phases before being awarded a scrum 5m out. Jake Palmer made a courageous carry from number 8 and four phases later, loosehead prop Riley Boylan picked and went to score the match-winning try which sent “THE DEN” crowd into hysterics and take a 21-17 lead.

The Panthers then collected the kickoff through Jeremiah Tuhega-Vaitupu who kicked the ball into touch and sealed the Otago 15 Cup final for King’s.

This team were the fifth-best U14 Team in the province in 2020. After 12 months of hard work, they have now progressed to being the best U15 Rugby Team in Otago. 

A huge amount of credit must go to the coaching and management team of Tony Kramers, Daniel Harvey, Daniel Johnson and Nick Kyle.

We now wait with bated breath to see if the South Island U15 Tournament will go ahead where King’s will play host here at "THE DEN".