Editor’s Note: LWOS is always open to guest posts, and today we bring you a fantastic one from long-time rugby fan and Canadian transplant to New Zealand, Ian Mailloux. If you are interested in submitting a guest article, please email: [email protected].
After a few years of relative stability, the Ranfurly Shield is changing hands faster than an All Blacks offload party at the try line.
We’re only four rounds into this year’s ITM Cup and already the most prized trophy in provincial rugby has changed hands three times. If you haven’t been tuning in, let’s recap:
Over two weeks ago, Otago claimed the Shield for the first time in 56 years with a thrilling 26-19 victory over Waikato. It was the Hayden Parker show as Razorbacks’ first five-eight scored 21 points between a try, four penalties and two conversions, and Otago held on several minutes past the end-of-game hooter to clinch the win.
To Otago, the Shield win was a very big deal, especially to a union that was nearly liquidated just over a year ago. As is the case when a long Shield drought is ended, the team photograph was plastered everywhere in the region and nightly coverage on the evening news detailed its various appearances.
Nine days later, in Otago’s first defence in front of myself and 22,000 others at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin, Hawke’s Bay snuck away with a 20-19 win that wasn’t so much their win as it was Otago’s loss. Hayden Parker could not repeat his heroics from Hamilton and missed two late conversions and had a last-second drop goal attempt blocked. Any one of those succeeding would have secured the Log o’ Wood in Dunedin for another day. It was the first Ranfurly Shield win for Hawke’s Bay in 44 years.
One week later and it was Hawke’s Bay’s turn to defend, with Counties Manukau taking the first crack at them. Counties had just come off a very narrow 22-20 defeat to Auckland only three days earlier and their results so far had been inconsistent. Just like the previous two weeks, it was a close win by the visitors, as Counties topped Hawke’s Bay 27-24. Sikeli Nabou’s late try and Baden Kerr’s four penalties contributed to Counties’ first Shield win in its 58-year history. To add insult to injury, Hawke’s Bay’s five-day reign with the Shield is the shortest ever recorded.
With all the changing of hands the Shield has been doing lately, there is no reason to believe this pace will slow down. Next week, Counties defends against Taranaki, who just came off a 51-15 drubbing to Auckland and are sitting at the bottom of the Premiership with four points in four matches. Should they retain, we come full circle and Waikato comes knocking, potentially looking to take back the trophy they lost just weeks prior.
However, should Taranaki take it back to New Plymouth, they would defend against Bay of Plenty the following week and, results permitting, Tasman weeks later. If Bay of Plenty takes it, they’d defend against Counties Manukau, and, once again results permitting, Waikato.
Without diving too deep into the speculation pool, it appears that in this year of history-making firsts, we could very well have the first team to win the Shield back in under a year since Auckland did it with two days to spare in 1972. And unless Counties retains the Shield the rest of the year, we could see 2013 be the first year since 1950 where four different teams have won the Shield at various points. All this history being made and we still have half the season to go.
Thanks to Ian Mailloux for the article and thanks for reading. You can follow our Rugby Department on Twitter – @Daniel_Ford_1, @recaffeinated99 and @richfergie. Give the site a follow while you’re at it – @lastwordonsport.
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