Woodworker says Ranfurly Shield should have been reinforced to prevent break

The Ranfurly Shield was broken during celebrations less than 24 hours after the Magpies beat Wellington 20-18 on Saturday to regain the famous trophy.

A man with decades of woodwork experience says the Ranfurly Shield should have been reinforced during its restoration to prevent it from breaking.

The famous rugby trophy was broken during celebrations less than 24 hours after the Hawke’s Bay Magpies beat the Wellington Lions 20-18 on Saturday to regain the shield.

Pictures and videos shared through social media show the broken shield and an unknown white powder.

James Dwan, who has been involved with repairing the shield for years, told RNZ the white powder could be plaster he had put behind the metal centrepiece to strengthen it a few years ago.

Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union chief executive Jay Campbell said the damage was caused when a player dropped the shield on a concrete kitchen floor, which he described as a “genuine accident”.

Dwan was critical of its treatment in the hands of players and said it would have taken “one hell of a drop” to break it.

Hawke’s Bay Today understands that the old shield was broken in a similar manner on at least one occasion after it was dropped on a concrete floor while in the possession of another union.

John Wilkinson, a semi-retiree with decades of experience working with wood, said he believed Dwan should have reinforced the shield during the restoration to prevent the break.

“If I were making the timber part of the shield and had known it would be manhandled and not put in a cabinet for display only, then I would have routed channels at right angles to the grain on the back and glued in lengths of timber to reinforce it,” Wilkinson said.

“Alternatively, I would have routed out most of the back and glued in a 12mm sheet of plywood.”

He said he didn’t think the shield should be a piece of silverware that just sat in a case and believed it should be designed to be carried around.

“Let the guys hold it and enjoy it. They’ve earned it.”

Dwan said he would be able to see the broken shield for himself on Thursday to judge the damage and see where it had broken.

“The grain on oak sort of crosses, it’s not a normal sort of timbered grain, it is more meshed together, which is why it is such a durable timber. Why it has gone like it has, no idea. But like anything, if you hit it in the right place, it will break.”

Wilkinson said he would like to view the split closer to see if there was a weave in the grain as Dwan said, as he believed it was highly likely the wood had straight grain and was “quarter cut”.

“The pictures of the broken shield show a clean, straight break. That indicates there was no weave in the grain,” he said.

“Quarter cut is where the grain of the timber is at around a right angle to the flat surface of the piece of timber.

“With the heavy shield dropping to the floor, and the point of the shield being struck at the right place, it would split along the grain.”

Dwan said he had considered options for reinforcing the shield with metal and wood during the restoration but had been advised by friends experienced with woodwork that it would only harm the integrity of the wood.

He said commenters on social media who had been critical of the quality of the wood or make of the shield “do not know what they were talking about”.

“It is not the timbers and things like that, it is the attitude of the people that are handling it because they don’t have any respect for anything these days.”

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz