Ranfurly Shield

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use New Zealand English {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template other 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 Shield is based on a challenge system. The holding union must defend the shield in challenge matches, which are usually played at the shield holder's home venue, and if the challenger is successful in their challenge they will become the new holder of the Shield. There is a tradition for the first challenges of a new rugby season to be played against smaller associations from the Heartland Championship.

Although the professional era of rugby has seen other competitions, such as the NPC and Super Rugby, detracting from the pre-eminence of the Ranfurly Shield, many regard it as the greatest prize in New Zealand domestic rugby.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This is mainly due to its long history, the fact that every challenge is a sudden-death defence of the Shield, and that any team has a chance to win.

Template:Rut won the Shield from Template:Rut on 6 October 2024.<ref name="Taranaki wrestle Ranfurly Shield off Tasman">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

In 1901 the Governor of New Zealand, The 5th 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, 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, was presented with the shield. The shield was designed as a trophy for association football, not rugby.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The picture in the centrepiece was a soccer one, and was modified by adding goal posts on the soccer goal in the picture to create a rugby scene. The alterations to the centrepiece are still apparent.<ref>According to Dunedin engraver Brian Swan, who noted the "very low" crossbar in the centrepiece scene, quoted in "Shield victory recalls origins of famous rugby trophy" by anonymous columnist 'Prester John' in Otago Daily Times, 31 August 2013, p.35 (not published online).</ref>

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.Template:Citation needed

Since the introduction of the National Provincial Championship in 1976, all home games a Shield-holder plays in the NPC or Heartland Championship, during league play are automatically challenge matches.<ref name="2023 NZR Competitions Regulations Handbook">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:Ranfurly Shield Visit to Shannon 1927.jpg

Ranfurly Shield Visit to Shannon 1927

Auckland holds the record for the greatest number of consecutive Shield defences, 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 mostly regarded as a success by those involved.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1994 when Canterbury wrested the Shield from Waikato, it 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 it, bringing it back into pristine condition.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2023 the Shield was restored over nine months by Tri Peek in Waikanae, Wellington, who had been repairing the trophy for several years before the full restoration decision. The original Oak shield was replaced with English Oak from the Hutt Valley in New Zealand, seasoned for 5 years. The badges, already recently replaced in 2012 were moved to the new shield.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The old Shield, which had gradually become worn down by 118 years of handling and an untold number of celebrations, has been blessed and decommissioned by NZ Rugby Māori cultural adviser Luke Crawford, recognising its status as a taonga in rugby. The replacement shield was accidentally broken after being dropped on a concrete floor in September 2023 just after Hawke's Bay had won it from Wellington.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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 NPC or Heartland Championship are automatic challenges. The remaining shield defences must be made up of challenges from unions in the other domestic competition.<ref name="2023 NZR Competitions Regulations Handbook"/> For example, since North Harbour, an Air New Zealand Cup (now NPC) 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 between 1985 and 1993. In 2008, Auckland played both their mandatory defences against Heartland teams on the road.<ref name="Auckland on the road">Template:Cite news</ref>

If a challenger successfully takes the Shield, all of their home matches for the rest of the season are defences of it.

Proposed rule changes

In August 2008, the New Zealand Rugby Union released a competitions review that proposed dramatic changes to the Shield rules:<ref name="2008 report">Template:Cite news</ref>

• 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 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.<ref name="2008 report"/>

Current teams

Just under half of the unions that can contest for the Ranfurly Shield do not have an alias. South Canterbury's emblem is their own Coat of Arms. But a soldier represents their green and black colour and current mascot, Tim and Ru. The mascots were originally used during wartime and were created by Ronald Murray.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Many of the unions below have this situation, like Poverty Bay's Weka, it resembles their mascot after the 2011 squads post-match photo after the Lochore Cup final.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Team	EstabTemplate:Shylished	Alias	Area	Stadia	First held
Auckland Template:Tooltip	1883	Template:HMS	Auckland, Auckland	Eden Park	1905
Buller Template:Tooltip	1894	Lion	Westport, West Coast	Victoria Square	—
Bay of Plenty Template:Tooltip	1911	Pohutu Geyser	Mount Maunganui, Bay of Plenty	Rotorua International Stadium	2004
Canterbury Template:Tooltip	1879	Lamb	Christchurch, Canterbury	Rugby League Park	1927
Counties Manukau Template:Tooltip	1955	Glenbrook Steel Mill	Pukekohe, Auckland	Growers Stadium	2013
East Coast Template:Tooltip	1922	Pohutukawa	Ruatoria, Gisborne	Whakarua Park	—
Hawke's Bay Template:Tooltip	1884	Magpie	Napier, Hawke's Bay	McLean Park	1922
Horowhenua Kapiti Template:Tooltip	1893	Rugby football	Levin, Manawatū-Whanganui	Levin Domain	1927 (as Manawhenua)
King Country Template:Tooltip	1922	Ram	Te Kūiti, King Country	Owen Delany Park	—
Manawatu Template:Tooltip	1886	Wind turbine	Palmerston North, Manawatū-Whanganui	Central Energy Trust Arena	1927 (as Manawhenua)
Mid Canterbury Template:Tooltip	1904	Hammer	Ashburton, Canterbury	Ashburton Showgrounds	—
Northland Template:Tooltip	1920	Taniwha	Whangārei, Northland	Okara Park	1950 (as North Auckland)
North Harbour Template:Tooltip	1985	Hibiscus	Albany, Auckland	North Harbour Stadium	2006
North Otago Template:Tooltip	1904	Gold	Oamaru, Otago	Centennial Park	—
Otago Template:Tooltip	1881	Razorback	Dunedin, Otago	Forsyth Barr Stadium	1935
Poverty Bay Template:Tooltip	1890	Weka	Gisborne, Gisborne	Rugby Park	—
Southland Template:Tooltip	1887	Stag	Invercargill, Southland	Rugby Park Stadium	1920
South Canterbury Template:Tooltip	1888	Soldier*	Timaru, Canterbury	Fraser Park	1950
Taranaki Template:Tooltip	1889	Bull	New Plymouth, Taranaki	Yarrow Stadium	1913
Tasman Template:Tooltip	2006	Shortfin mako shark	Nelson, Nelson	Trafalgar Park	1973 (as Marlborough)
Thames Valley Template:Tooltip	1922	Swamp Fox	Paeroa, Waikato	Paeroa Domain	—
Waikato Template:Tooltip	1921	Mooloo	Hamilton, Waikato	Waikato Stadium	1951
Wairarapa Bush Template:Tooltip	1971	Castle Rock	Masterton, Wellington	Memorial Park	1927 (as Wairarapa)
Whanganui Template:Tooltip	1888	Butcher	Whanganui, Manawatū-Whanganui	Cooks Gardens	—
Wellington Template:Tooltip	1879	Lion	Wellington, Wellington	Sky Stadium	1904
West Coast Template:Tooltip	1890	Swan	Greymouth, West Coast	Rugby Park	—

Results

Match	Date	Holder	Score	Challenger	Venue	Defences
1	6 August 1904	Template:Rut	3–6	Template:Rut	Alexandra Park	0
6	26 August 1905	Template:Rut	6–10	Template:Rut	Athletic Park	4
30	16 August 1913	Template:Rut	11–14	Template:Rut	Alexandra Park	23
37	10 September 1914	Template:Rut	6–12	Template:Rut	Victoria Park	6
53	15 September 1920	Template:Rut	6–17	Template:Rut	Rugby Park	15
55	10 September 1921	Template:Rut	13–28	Template:Rut	Athletic Park	1
58	9 August 1922	Template:Rut	9–19	Template:Rut	Athletic Park	2
83	3 June 1927	Template:Rut	11–15	Template:Rut	McLean Park	24
86	6 August 1927	Template:Rut	16–18	Template:Rut	Showgrounds Oval	2*
89	7 September 1927	Template:Rut	6–17	Template:Rut	Showgrounds Oval	2
91	18 July 1928	Template:Rut	7–8	Template:Rut	Lancaster Park Oval	1
100	31 August 1929	Template:Rut	16–19	Template:Rut	Showgrounds Oval	8
104	3 September 1930	Template:Rut	3–12	Template:Rut	Rugby Park	3
106	22 August 1931	Template:Rut	6–8	Template:Rut	Athletic Park	1
122	21 July 1934	Template:Rut	0–9	Template:Rut	Lancaster Park Oval	15
125	8 September 1934	Template:Rut	14–18	Template:Rut	McLean Park	2
127	10 August 1935	Template:Rut	13–16	Template:Rut	Eden Park	1
132	21 September 1935	Template:Rut	6–15	Template:Rut	Lancaster Park Oval	4
141	31 July 1937	Template:Rut	7–12	Template:Rut	Carisbrook Ground	8
142	30 July 1938	Template:Rut	6–7	Template:Rut	Rugby Park	0
148	10 September 1938	Template:Rut	5–10	Template:Rut	Carisbrook Ground	5
160	2 August 1947	Template:Rut	11–17	Template:Rut	Rugby Park	11
179	16 August 1950	Template:Rut	0–8	Template:Rut	Carisbrook Ground	18
180	2 September 1950	Template:Rut	0–3	Template:Rut	Lancaster Park Oval	0
181	16 September 1950	Template:Rut	14–17	Template:Rut	Solway Showgrounds Oval	0
182	30 September 1950	Template:Rut	9–20	Template:Rut	Fraser Park	0
185	18 August 1951	Template:Rut	3–6	Template:Rut	Rugby Park	2
192	9 August 1952	Template:Rut	0–9	Template:Rut	Rugby Park	6
193	23 August 1952	Template:Rut	3–6	Template:Rut	Eden Park	0
200	1 August 1953	Template:Rut	6–9	Template:Rut	Rugby Park	6
206	19 September 1953	Template:Rut	3–24	Template:Rut	Athletic Park	5
230	22 September 1956	Template:Rut	0–8	Template:Rut	Lancaster Park Oval	23
235	24 August 1957	Template:Rut	11–19	Template:Rut	Athletic Park	4
237	28 September 1957	Template:Rut	9–11	Template:Rut	Carisbrook	1
251	5 September 1959	Template:Rut	6–23	Template:Rut	Rugby Park	13

• Wairarapa's 1927-era saw them lose to Hawke's Bay 21–10 at Solway Showgrounds Oval, but was subsequently awarded the shield back on a residential breach.

Ranfurly Shield holders
Union	Won	Successful defences
Template:Rut	5 September 1959	0
Template:Rut	23 September 1959	2
Template:Rut	20 August 1960	1
Template:Rut	31 August 1960	25
Template:Rut	31 August 1963	0
Template:Rut	7 September 1963	15
Template:Rut	11 September 1965	3
Template:Rut	27 August 1966	0
Template:Rut	24 September 1966	21
Template:Rut	27 September 1969	9
Template:Rut	28 August 1971	1
Template:Rut	18 September 1971	6
Template:Rut	26 August 1972	0
Template:Rut	5 September 1972	2
Template:Rut	28 July 1973	6
Template:Rut	17 August 1974	1
Template:Rut	3 September 1974	1
Template:Rut	21 September 1974	10
Template:Rut	21 August 1976	13
Template:Rut	12 September 1978	5
Template:Rut	21 September 1979	6
Template:Rut	7 September 1980	8
Template:Rut	1 August 1981	4
Template:Rut	18 September 1982	25
Template:Rut	14 September 1985	61
Template:Rut	18 September 1993	5
Template:Rut	3 September 1994	9
Template:Rut	23 September 1995	3
Template:Rut	24 August 1996	1
Template:Rut	8 September 1996	1
Template:Rut	4 October 1996	6
Template:Rut	5 October 1997	21
Template:Rut	23 September 2000	23
Template:Rut	11 October 2003	2
Template:Rut	15 August 2004	1
Template:Rut	5 September 2004	14
Template:Rut	24 September 2006	3
Template:Rut	24 August 2007	0
Template:Rut	1 September 2007	1
Template:Rut	29 September 2007	5
Template:Rut	20 September 2008	4
Template:Rut	29 August 2009	4
Template:Rut	22 October 2009	6
Template:Rut	9 October 2010	2
Template:Rut	23 July 2011	2
Template:Rut	24 August 2011	7
Template:Rut	3 October 2012	4
Template:Rut	23 August 2013	0
Template:Rut	1 September 2013	0
Template:Rut	7 September 2013	6
Template:Rut	30 August 2014	11
Template:Rut	9 October 2015	6
Template:Rut	28 September 2016	6
Template:Rut	6 October 2017	5
Template:Rut	9 September 2018	2
Template:Rut	13 October 2018	6
Template:Rut	28 September 2019	2
Template:Rut	19 September 2020	0
Template:Rut	27 September 2020	0
Template:Rut	4 October 2020	14
Template:Rut	17 September 2022	7
Template:Rut	30 September 2023	4
Template:Rut	7 September 2024	2
Template:Rut	6 October 2024	0

Overall records

Team	Wins	Successful defences	Average defences
Template:Rut	16	148	9.25
Template:Rut	16	139	8.69
Template:Rut	13	60	4.62
Template:Rut	11	46	4.18
Template:Rut	8	48	6.00
Template:Rut	7	76	10.86
Template:Rut	7	38	5.43
Template:Rut	7	25	3.57
Template:Rut	4	14	3.50
Template:Rut	3	10	3.33
Template:Rut	2	1	0.5
Template:Rut	1	13	13
Template:Rut	1	6	6
Template:Rut	1	6	6
Template:Rut	1	3	3
Template:Rut	1	2	2
Template:Rut	1	2	2
Template:Rut	1	1	1

Last updated: after Taranaki won the Shield on 6 October 2024

See also

• Ranfurly Shield 1904–1909
• Ranfurly Shield 1910–1919
• Ranfurly Shield 1920–1929
• Ranfurly Shield 1930–1939
• Ranfurly Shield 1960–1969
• Ranfurly Shield 1970–1979
• Ranfurly Shield 1980–1989
• Ranfurly Shield 1990–1999
• Ranfurly Shield 2000–2009
  • Ranfurly Shield in 2009
• Ranfurly Shield 2010–2019
• Ranfurly Shield 2020–2029
• Hanan Shield
• Rundle Cup

External links

• Rampant Aucks take the 2007 shield
• Ranfurly Shield at nzrugby.com (history, stories, audio highlights, trivia)