Otago have won the Ranfurly Shield off Canterbury for the first time since 1948. They become the fifth team of the season to have their turn with the Log o' Wood. Photo / Photosport
Otago have won the Ranfurly Shield off Canterbury for the first time since 1948. They become the fifth team of the season to have their turn with the Log o' Wood. Photo / Photosport
Otago have lifted the Ranfurly Shield from southern rivals Canterbury in a nail-biting tryfest in Christchurch after launching a major second-half comeback.
Trailing by as much as 15 points, the challengers scored four tries in the second spell to take the lead in the 66th minute– and managed to hang on for a 38-36 win.
Otago have etched their names in the history books, becoming the fifth team of the season to have their turn with the Shield. It equals the record for the most Shield changes in a single season – dating back to 1950 when Otago, Canterbury, Wairarapa, South Canterbury and North Auckland all took turns holding the Log o’ Wood.
“We knew coming up here it was going to take everything and I think it showed that,” Otago captain Sam Gilbert told Sky Sport after the thriller.
“We just talked about belief. Believing in ourselves, backing ourselves and really just trusting ourselves. We knew if we did what we could do then we could get the result.”
It is the first time Otago has held the Shield since 2020.
A major second-half comeback saw Otago take their lead for the first time in the 66th minute. Photo / Photosport
The opening passage of the game was a sign of things to come, with the first stoppage of the afternoon coming more than two minutes after kickoff.
Canterbury struck first blood in the fourth minute on the back of sharp passing and strong running that put them in a favourable field position. Halfback Louie Chapman produced a long cutout pass to No 8 Torian Barnes, who crashed over just to the left of the posts.
Top-of-the-table Canterbury flexed their muscles, turning down penalty attempts and instead looking to burst out of the gates with a flurry of tries. It was last week’s hero, All Blacks hooker George Bell, who crossed the line for their second try of the afternoon after breaking off the rear of a rolling maul.
An unforced error by Canterbury off the subsequent restart gave Otago a good platform to get themselves on the board and after 19 phases, fullback Samuel Nemec-Vial put on a right-foot step and breezed through a gap in the defence to score. First five-eighth Cameron Millar converted in the difficult, windy Christchurch conditions for a 14-7 scoreline after 20 minutes.
The southern rivals each struck again in quick succession through Canterbury captain Tom Christie and Otago lock Joseva Tamani.
Otago loose forward Lucas Casey was monumental in the second half, scoring a brace of tries for the challengers. Photo / Getty Images
Canterbury added one more try to their tally before halftime through wing Kurtis MacDonald after a string of offloads. The try went unconverted from the sideline and the home side took a 24-14 lead into the sheds.
The second half kicked off in the same fashion as the first – but this time in Otago’s favour. There were multiple changes in possession, before the visitors found themselves on the attack. A deft offload by prop Abraham Pole allowed loose forward Lucas Casey to run 30m and beat Canterbury’s last defender to open the scoring.
In what could only be described as a back-and-forth tryfest, both teams experienced major swings of momentum, adding two more tries apiece.
Otago levelled the scores in the 66th minute after a driving maul following a penalty resulted in reserve hooker Liam Coltman crashing over. Millar converted from the left of the posts to put the visitors ahead for the first time in the match.
North Harbour will contest for the Shield next week - which will be the sixth consecutive round that it has been up for grabs. Photo / Getty Images
All efforts by Canterbury to take back the lead in the dying minutes were thwarted by the challengers, who held on for what will surely become a famous and much-celebrated victory in Christchurch – the first time Otago has taken the Shield off Canterbury since 1948.
The destiny of where the Log o’ Wood will lie over summer is still very much undecided, as North Harbour will challenge Otago for it next week. It will be the sixth consecutive week that the Shield has been up for grabs.
Canterbury 36 (Torian Barnes, George Bell, Tom Christie, Kurtis MacDonald, Chay Fihaki, Andrew Knewstubb tries; James White 2 cons, Fihaki con)
