What a pleasure to see Taranaki bruise their way to a 15-12 victory over Southland which meant they could take the Log of Wood back with them to New Plymouth.
One of the peculiarities of this compact NPC season has been a few mid-week Shield Challenges which we haven't really witnessed in the last 30 years (apart from some divisional miss-matches). The 5 penalties to 4 penalties scoreline also harked back to the days of mud, high cut boots & pigskins (not to mention the after-match function).
I know I said it last year but once again Counties travel to Invercargill with chance to alleviate years of hurt for their fans (think '77, '70, '81, '82 & '85) & finally lift the Log of Wood.
With NPC games being played every couple of hours its not hard to miss the glory of Southland's win last week in Christchurch after sandbagging their way through their first two games. It has set up an unexpected chance for the Spud farmers this week.
They tell it like it is down south & finally a journalist has had the guts to say in print what I have been saying for a long time - as a grassroots rugby supporter the NPC is a far superior competition to the Super However Many competition.
I especially liked his points on no arranged marriages, not being played when there is test cricket on & the Ranfurly Shield.
Tana is back but can he lead Counties to the ultimate glory - the capture of the Ranfurly Shield? Forget the talk of playing for NPC points this is all about the Shield as any Counties supporter will tell you.
For those of us who had to endure the heartache of Palmerston North in '77, Eden Park in '79, Waikato in '81, robbery at Lancaster Park in '82 & then Eden Park again in '85, a Counties shield challenge often brings back bitter memories.
A feisty capacity crowd of 18,000 will be packed into Rugby Park, Invercargill this weekend for a reminder of the glory days of NZ provincial rugby when the Ranfurly Shield challenge & local rivalries meant everything.
Otago haven't held the Shield since 1957 & were unsuccessful in 2 challenges last year. Meanwhile Southland get the chance to play in front of a packed crowd in what will be the biggest game of their lives for many of the team (especially compared to playing for the Highlanders).
With the Tri-Nations in full swing the Ranfurly Shield campaign of Southland probably needed as much publicity as it could get. But what it didn't need was old Big Mouth himself (Michael Laws) labelling Southland a bunch of poofs. I'd like to see him say that in a Bluff local.
