Ranfurly Shield
Encyclopedia
The Ranfurly Shield, colloquially known as the Log o' Wood, is a trophy in New Zealand
's domestic rugby union
competition. First played for in 1904, the Ranfurly Shield is based on a challenge system, rather than a league or knockout competition as with most football trophies. The holding union must defend the Shield in challenge matches, and if a challenger defeats them, they become the new holder of the Shield.
The Shield is currently held by Taranaki, who won it from Southland in Round 12 of the Round Robin in the 2011 ITM Cup
.
Although the professional era of rugby has seen competitions such as the National Provincial Championship
and its successor, the ITM Cup, and Super Rugby
detracting from the pre-eminence of the Ranfurly Shield, many still regard it as the greatest prize in New Zealand provincial rugby, thanks to its long history, the fact that every challenge is a sudden-death defence of the Shield, and that any team, no matter how lowly, has a chance to win.
, the Earl of Ranfurly
, announced that he would present a cup to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, to be used as the prize in a competition of their choosing. When the trophy, which actually turned out to be a shield, arrived, the NZRFU decided that it would be awarded to the union with the best record in the 1902 season, and thenceforth be the subject of a challenge system. Auckland, unbeaten in 1902, were presented with the shield. The shield was also designed as a trophy for football, not rugby. This was because the picture in the centrepiece was a football one. The picture was modified by adding goal posts on the football goal that comprised the picture, to create a rugby scene.
Auckland were on tour in 1903 and did not play any home games, and thus did not have to defend the Shield. Their first defence was against Wellington
in 1904, and was unsuccessful.
Since the introduction of the National Provincial Championship in 1976, all home games a Shield-holder plays in the NPC or its successors, the ITM Cup and Heartland Championship
, are automatically challenge matches.
Auckland hold the record for the greatest number of consecutive Shield defences which stands at 61 matches between 14 September 1985 and 18 September 1993. During this period Auckland took the Shield on tour to provincial unions that, mainly for financial reasons, would be unlikely to be able to mount a challenge for the trophy. While dismissed by some critics, usually because of the one-sided scores, it was widely regarded as a success by those involved.
In 1994 when Canterbury wrestled the Shield from Waikato, the shield was in battered condition, with large cracks, chips and peeled varnish. Nearly a century of use had taken its toll. Canterbury player Chris England, skilled in woodwork, fully renovated the Shield, bringing it back once again into pristine condition.
are automatic challenges. The remaining shield defences must be made up of challenges from unions in the other domestic competition. For example, since North Harbour, an Air New Zealand Cup (now ITM Cup) team, held the Shield at the end of the 2006 Cup season despite losing their home quarter-final to Otago, they were forced to defend the Shield against Heartland Championship teams during the 2007 pre-season. Having successfully done so, all their home fixtures in the round-robin phase were Shield defences until they lost the shield to Waikato.
The Shield-holder is never forced to defend the Shield in an away match, although they may choose to, as Auckland, for example, did on a number of occasions during their record tenure as Shield-holder between 1985 and 1993. More recently, Auckland played both their mandatory defences against Heartland teams in 2008 on the road.
If a challenger successfully takes the Shield, all of their home matches for the rest of the season are defences of it.
The changes were not implemented, but did receive support from Auckland, which held the Shield when the NZRU released its report.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
's domestic rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
competition. First played for in 1904, the Ranfurly Shield is based on a challenge system, rather than a league or knockout competition as with most football trophies. The holding union must defend the Shield in challenge matches, and if a challenger defeats them, they become the new holder of the Shield.
The Shield is currently held by Taranaki, who won it from Southland in Round 12 of the Round Robin in the 2011 ITM Cup
2011 ITM Cup
The 2011 ITM Cup is the 35th provincial rugby union competition in New Zealand, the sixth since the competition reconstruction in 2006 and the second under the new sponsor of ITM ....
.
Although the professional era of rugby has seen competitions such as the National Provincial Championship
National Provincial Championship
The National Provincial Championship, or NPC, is the major domestic rugby competition in New Zealand. The NPC has seen many alterations to its format and brand. Since 2006 the National Championship has been split into 2 competitions, the ITM Cup and the Heartland Championship...
and its successor, the ITM Cup, and Super Rugby
Super 14
Super Rugby is the largest and pre-eminent professional Rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere...
detracting from the pre-eminence of the Ranfurly Shield, many still regard it as the greatest prize in New Zealand provincial rugby, thanks to its long history, the fact that every challenge is a sudden-death defence of the Shield, and that any team, no matter how lowly, has a chance to win.
History
In 1901 the Governor of New ZealandGovernor-General of New Zealand
The Governor-General of New Zealand is the representative of the monarch of New Zealand . The Governor-General acts as the Queen's vice-regal representative in New Zealand and is often viewed as the de facto head of state....
, the Earl of Ranfurly
Uchter Knox, 5th Earl of Ranfurly
Uchter John Mark Knox, 5th Earl of Ranfurly GCMG, PC was a British politician and colonial governor. He was Governor-General of New Zealand from 1897 to 1904.-Early life:...
, announced that he would present a cup to the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, to be used as the prize in a competition of their choosing. When the trophy, which actually turned out to be a shield, arrived, the NZRFU decided that it would be awarded to the union with the best record in the 1902 season, and thenceforth be the subject of a challenge system. Auckland, unbeaten in 1902, were presented with the shield. The shield was also designed as a trophy for football, not rugby. This was because the picture in the centrepiece was a football one. The picture was modified by adding goal posts on the football goal that comprised the picture, to create a rugby scene.
Auckland were on tour in 1903 and did not play any home games, and thus did not have to defend the Shield. Their first defence was against Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
in 1904, and was unsuccessful.
Since the introduction of the National Provincial Championship in 1976, all home games a Shield-holder plays in the NPC or its successors, the ITM Cup and Heartland Championship
Heartland Championship
The Heartland Championship New Zealand Division One competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the AA Rewards Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two successor competitions to the country's former domestic competition,...
, are automatically challenge matches.
Auckland hold the record for the greatest number of consecutive Shield defences which stands at 61 matches between 14 September 1985 and 18 September 1993. During this period Auckland took the Shield on tour to provincial unions that, mainly for financial reasons, would be unlikely to be able to mount a challenge for the trophy. While dismissed by some critics, usually because of the one-sided scores, it was widely regarded as a success by those involved.
In 1994 when Canterbury wrestled the Shield from Waikato, the shield was in battered condition, with large cracks, chips and peeled varnish. Nearly a century of use had taken its toll. Canterbury player Chris England, skilled in woodwork, fully renovated the Shield, bringing it back once again into pristine condition.
Challenges
The Shield holder at the end of each season is required to accept at least seven challenges for the following year. All home games during league play, but not during knockout playoffs, in the ITM Cup or Heartland ChampionshipHeartland Championship
The Heartland Championship New Zealand Division One competition, known for sponsorship reasons as the AA Rewards Heartland Championship, is a domestic rugby union competition in New Zealand. It was founded in 2006 as one of two successor competitions to the country's former domestic competition,...
are automatic challenges. The remaining shield defences must be made up of challenges from unions in the other domestic competition. For example, since North Harbour, an Air New Zealand Cup (now ITM Cup) team, held the Shield at the end of the 2006 Cup season despite losing their home quarter-final to Otago, they were forced to defend the Shield against Heartland Championship teams during the 2007 pre-season. Having successfully done so, all their home fixtures in the round-robin phase were Shield defences until they lost the shield to Waikato.
The Shield-holder is never forced to defend the Shield in an away match, although they may choose to, as Auckland, for example, did on a number of occasions during their record tenure as Shield-holder between 1985 and 1993. More recently, Auckland played both their mandatory defences against Heartland teams in 2008 on the road.
If a challenger successfully takes the Shield, all of their home matches for the rest of the season are defences of it.
Proposed rules changes
In August 2008, the New Zealand Rugby Union released a competitions review that proposed dramatic changes to the Ranfurly Shield rules:- Once a team has successfully defended the Shield four times, all of the holder's subsequent matches in league play would be mandatory defences, whether home or away. The Shield, however, will not be at stake in semifinals or finals.
- If an Air New Zealand Cup team holds the Shield at the end of the league season, that season's winners of the Meads Cup and Lochore Cup, the two trophies contested in the second-level Heartland Championship, will receive automatic challenges in the following year.
The changes were not implemented, but did receive support from Auckland, which held the Shield when the NZRU released its report.
Past shield-holders
| Union | Won | Successful Defences |
|---|---|---|
| Wellington | 1904 | 4 |
| Auckland | 1905 | 23 |
| Taranaki | 1913 | 6 |
| Wellington | 1914 | 15 |
| Southland | 1920 | 1 |
| Wellington | 1921 | 2 |
| Hawke's Bay | 1922 | 24 |
| Wairarapa | 1927 | 2 |
| Manawhenua | 1927 | 2 |
| Canterbury | 1927 | 1 |
| Wairarapa | 1928 | 8 |
| Southland | 1929 | 3 |
| Wellington | 1930 | 1 |
| Canterbury | 1931 | 15 |
| Hawke's Bay | 1934 | 2 |
| Auckland | 1934 | 1 |
| Canterbury | 1935 | 4 |
| Otago | 1935 | 8 |
| Southland | 1937 | 0 |
| Otago | 1938 | 5 |
| Southland | 1938 | 11 |
| Otago | 1947 | 18 |
| Canterbury | 1950 | 0 |
| Wairarapa | September 2, 1950 | 0 |
| South Canterbury | 1950 | 0 |
| North Auckland | 1950 | 2 |
| Waikato | 1951 | 6 |
| Auckland | 1952 | 0 |
| Waikato | August 23, 1952 | 6 |
| Wellington | August 1, 1953 | 5 |
| Canterbury | 1953 | 23 |
| Wellington | September 22, 1956 | 4 |
| Otago | August 24, 1957 | 1 |
| Taranaki | September 28, 1957 | 13 |
| Southland | 1959 | 0 |
| Auckland | 1959 | 2 |
| North Auckland | 1960 | 1 |
| Auckland | 1960 | 25 |
| Wellington | 1963 | 0 |
| Taranaki | September 7, 1963 | 15 |
| Auckland | 1965 | 3 |
| Waikato | August 27, 1966 | 0 |
| Hawke's Bay | September 24, 1966 | 21 |
| Canterbury | September 27, 1969 | 9 |
| Auckland | August 28, 1971 | 1 |
| North Auckland | September 18, 1971 | 6 |
| Auckland | August 26, 1972 | 0 |
| Canterbury | September 5, 1972 | 2 |
| Marlborough | July 28, 1973 | 6 |
| South Canterbury | August 17, 1974 | 1 |
| Wellington | September 3, 1974 | 1 |
| Auckland | September 21, 1974 | 10 |
| Manawatu | August 21, 1976 | 13 |
| North Auckland | 1978 | 5 |
| Auckland | 1979 | 6 |
| Waikato | September 7, 1980 | 8 |
| Wellington | August 1, 1981 | 4 |
| Canterbury | September 18, 1982 | 25 |
| Auckland | September 14, 1985 | 61 |
| Waikato | September 18, 1993 | 5 |
| Canterbury | September 3, 1994 | 8 |
| Auckland | September 23, 1995 | 3 |
| Taranaki | August 24, 1996 | 1 |
| Waikato | September 8, 1996 | 1 |
| Auckland | October 4, 1996 | 6 |
| Waikato | October 5, 1997 | 21 |
| Canterbury | September 23, 2000 | 23 |
| Auckland | October 11, 2003 | 2 |
| Bay of Plenty | August 15, 2004 | 1 |
| Canterbury | September 5, 2004 | 14 |
| North Harbour | September 24, 2006 | 3 |
| Waikato | August 25, 2007 | 0 |
| Canterbury | September 1, 2007 | 1 |
| Auckland | September 29, 2007 | 5 |
| Wellington | September 20, 2008 | 6 |
| Canterbury | August 29, 2009 | 4 |
| Southland | October 22, 2009 | 6 |
| Canterbury | October 09, 2010 | 2 |
| Southland | July 23, 2011 | 2 |
| Taranaki | August 24, 2011 | 1 |
Total number of successful defences
| Team | Successful Defences |
|---|---|
| Auckland | 148 |
| Canterbury | 129 |
| Hawke's Bay | 47 |
| Waikato | 47 |
| Wellington | 42 |
| Taranaki | 36 |
| Otago | 32 |
| Southland | 22 |
| North Auckland | 14 |
| Manawatu | 13 |
| Wairarapa | 10 |
| Marlborough | 6 |
| North Harbour | 3 |
| Manawhenua | 2 |
| Bay of Plenty | 1 |
| South Canterbury | 1 |
Number of times the Shield has been Won
| Team | Shield Wins | AverageSuccessfulDefences |
|---|---|---|
| Auckland | 16 | 9.25 |
| Canterbury | 14 | 9.21 |
| Wellington | 10 | 4.2 |
| Waikato | 8 | 5.88 |
| Southland | 7 | 3.14 |
| Taranaki | 5 | 8.75 |
| Otago | 4 | 8 |
| North Auckland | 4 | 3.5 |
| Hawke's Bay | 3 | 15.67 |
| Wairarapa | 3 | 3.33 |
| South Canterbury | 2 | 0.5 |
| Manawatu | 1 | 13 |
| Marlborough | 1 | 6 |
| North Harbour | 1 | 3 |
| Manawhenua | 1 | 2 |
| Bay of Plenty | 1 | 1 |
External links
- Rampant Aucks take the 2007 shield
- Ranfurly Shield at nzrugby.com (history, stories, audio highlights, trivia)