The Magpies had a great week of preparation according to coach Mark Ozich Photo / Paul Taylor
The Magpies had a great week of preparation according to coach Mark Ozich Photo / Paul Taylor
When Hawke's Bay Magpies captain Ash Dixon and his teammates took the Ranfurly Shield from Otago more than seven years ago, they didn't know how to handle it.
"We didn't really know what to do once we had it," he laughed, reminiscing on the good memories of a 20-19 win at Forsyth Barr Stadium in 2013.
"We were quite a young side and didn't quite understand it."
That's just another reason why Dixon and his side want to repeat history with another successful Ranfurly Shield challenge against Otago on Sunday evening.
It had been amazing to see what that win, which broke a 44-year Log O' Wood drought for the province, meant to the region.
Dixon remembered veteran players from Hawke's Bay's dominant Shield run in the 1960s bringing in their photos from that era to show the 2013 side.
"I think it kinda shocked everyone just to understand the magnitude, that it was felt by everyone ... here," the 32-year-old said.
Magpies captain Ash Dixon wants a repeat of the good times Hawke's Bay had after taking the Shield off Otago in 2013. Photo / Paul Taylor
While recognising the importance of that, Dixon said winning the Ranfurly Shield is not the team's primary motivator ahead of Sunday's game, which is also the hooker's 100th for Hawke's Bay.
"We just wanna go out there and perform to the best of our ability the way we have so far this season."
That sentiment was echoed by Magpies coach Mark Ozich, who said the Shield challenge is peripheral to what would be a massive fourth game in the 10-week Mitre 10 Cup season regardless.
"The four points or five points, that's the priority, because it gives us a really good launching platform," he said.
The team spoke about the Shield once at the start of their week's preparation, and it hasn't come up since.
Ozich is confident his team are emotionally and physically ready for Otago, they just need to meet the unique challenge posed by Forsyth Barr Stadium and its roof, which creates better conditions for handling.
"It'll be noisy, the ball's in play a lot longer, the game is a lot more intense in terms of tempo," he said.
A Forsyth Barr Stadium veteran, Ash Dixon knows what it will take to win under the roof. Photo / Paul Taylor
Dixon added that with the ball in play longer, his team would have to be ready to chance their arm.
The skipper is one player who will feel right at home under the roof, given he has played Super Rugby there for the Highlanders since 2015 and lives in Dunedin for about three-quarters of the year.
Marino Mikaele-Tu'u (from 2018) and Folau Fakatava (from 2019) are both on the Highlanders' books as well, while Kurt Baker also played for them between stints in the All Blacks Sevens.
Loose forward Gareth Evans spent four years with the Highlanders before joining the Hurricanes in 2018, and also played for Otago during that loss to Dixon's Magpies in 2013, before returning to his home province the next season.
Magpies loose forward Gareth Evans was on the other side when Hawke's Bay challenged Otago for the Shield seven years ago. Photo / Paul Taylor
Openside flanker Brendon O'Connor is the only other Magpies player from 2013 who will take the field on Sunday in a side that is almost entirely the same as last Saturday's 23 that defeated Canterbury.
Vice-captain Kianu Kereru-Symes is returning from a shoulder niggle to replace hooker Jacob Devery on the bench.
Hawke's Bay last held the Ranfurly Shield in 2015, when they lost it to Waikato after 11 successful defences.
The Magpies have had just one challenge since then – another loss to the Mooloos in 2018.
Sunday will see them play their 97th Ranfurly Shield match overall since their first, against Wellington, in 1905.
The matches include five against Otago, of which the Bay has won four. It won a defence 34-14 in 1934, lost a challenge 0-4 in 1938, won a defence 9-8 in 1967, the 2013 challenge 20-19, and, having lost and regained the Shield, won a 2014 defence 41-0.
