The Bill Osborne Taonga is heading to the South Island for whitebait season.
Buller sprung an upset in the opening weekend of the Heartland Championship, defeating Ngati Porou East Coast 13-11 at Ruatoria's Whakarua Park on Saturday to prize away the competition's challenge trophy.
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First-five Andrew Wells booted the match-winning penalty from 35m out well into added-time to stun the Ruatoria crowd and see Buller claim the Taonga, which was introduced in 2022, for the first time.
Minutes earlier, it appeared as if East Coast would escape with the Taonga and four competition points. After a Buller turnover at midfield and a breakout, East Coast earned a penalty right in front, going ahead 11-10 in the 79th minute.
However, Buller secured the restart and maintained possession through 20 exhausting phases, before earning the penalty, which Wells slotted to spark jubilant scenes for the men in blue and red hoops.
In a rugged contest, scoring chances were hard to come by in the first half, with the teams trading early penalties.
East Coast came out of the sheds firing, butchering a try out wide before first-five Rangi Fraser collected the ball and evaded two tacklers on a run down the left sideline to score in the 46th minute, putting the home side up 8-3.
Buller were finally rewarded for their constant attacks in the 70th minute when hooker Sione Lonitenisi charged over after a sustained period of pressure, with Wells adding the extras for a 10-8 lead.
The Taonga will be up for grabs immediately as Buller host King Country at Westport's Victoria Square on Saturday (kick-off 2.30pm).
Elsewhere in the Heartland Championship, it was a good weekend for the visiting teams, with five of six winning.
In a replay of the 2023 Meads Cup final, champions South Canterbury escaped Cooks Garden with a 37-36 win over Whanganui, with a last minute penalty from reserve halfback Faalele Iosua getting them over the line.
Meads Cup semifinalists Thames Valley got up over Wairarapa Bush 37-24 at Masterton's Memorial Park, Horowhenua Kapiti handed a rare home loss to North Otago 16-14 at Oamaru's Whitestone Stadium and Mid Canterbury defeated King Country 30-27 in Taumarunui after trailing 19-13 at the break.
The lone home team to win was Lochore Cup champions West Coast, who came from 19-17 down at halftime to beat Poverty Bay 38-29 at Greymouth's John Sturgeon Park.
HEARTLAND CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS - ROUND 1
Buller 13 Ngati Porou East Coast 11
West Coast 38 Poverty Bay 29
South Canterbury 37 Whanganui 36
Mid Canterbury 30 King Country 27
Horowhenua Kapiti 16 North Otago 14
Thames Valley 37 Wairarapa Bush 24
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