Ranfurly Shield: Alleged drug use isn’t biggest issue, it’s the disrespect shown towards it

OPINION

Don’t be distracted by social media idiocy and allegations of drug use, the real issue with Sunday’s Ranfurly Shield revelations is the damage done to the Log o’ Wood.

Yes, you have to be pretty dumb to share this stuff on social media.

Who took the video and the photos? And why would they then think it’d be a good idea to put them online? It’s difficult to understand why anyone would think that’s a good idea.

The alleged drug-taking doesn’t actually bother me that much. There are plenty of stories about what’s allegedly been done on and around the Ranfurly Shield over the years.

Many of those things happened in the days well before social media, before we got cameras on every phone.

If someone did decide to do drugs – regardless of whether they did it on the Ranfurly Shield – that is perhaps worthy of wider discussion, but it’s not the big issue here for me.

The main issue is the damage to the Shield.

The Shield has suffered minor damage in the past and needed some significant restoration over the past 12 months to repair a few things.

But it has never been broken in half.

We’ve all seen the Ranfurly Shield; many of us have held it up for a photo at promotional events or when it’s on tour around the country.

The Shield is a decent hunk of wood. It feels to me like you’d have to try really hard to snap it in half.

In fact, James Dwan – whose company Tri-Peek helped replace the original piece of wood with a new solid piece of oak this year – says the new version of the Shield is three to four times thicker than the original, meaning it would require a lot of force to break it.

When this all came to light on Sunday, those at Hawke’s Bay Rugby insisted it was an accident; they said the Shield had been dropped on a concrete floor by mistake. They’re sticking to their story, and we probably have to believe it.

But accidents tend to happen more often when people have had a bit to drink, or (allegedly) had a bit of the other stuff.

I’m all for celebrating success and winning the Ranfurly Shield is still a big deal for provincial rugby players – it’s an achievement worthy of celebration.

But before you get started on the celebrations, make a plan.

And at the very least, keep the Ranfurly Shield out of harm’s way.

Give the Shield a minder; someone who doesn’t drink, for example, or a younger squad member who has to earn his stripes; someone who’s put in charge of keeping it away from those who are celebrating the hardest, so accidents like this don’t happen.

It’s like having a sober driver, just some sort of plan to make sure when everyone wakes up in the morning the Shield looks the same as when it was handed over.

The biggest thing for me though is the underlying disrespect that led to this happening.

The Ranfurly Shield should – and does – mean something significant. Generations of rugby players have tried – successfully and unsuccessfully – to win it and to keep it.

It’s without doubt the most famous trophy in New Zealand sport. And whoever was around it on Saturday night and Sunday morning treated the Shield like it was nothing more than a piece of wood, and with utter contempt.

They were laughing.

That completely disrespects the Shield’s history and everyone who has been part of its legacy.

Jason Pine is the host of Weekend Sport on Newstalk ZB from noon til 3pm on Saturday and Sunday.