Story and more photos
Taranaki has locked the Ranfurly Shield away for another couple of weeks after the Bulls convincingly beat Manawatu¯ on Friday night.
A vocal crowd headed to either end of Yarrow Stadium well ahead of the 7.45pm kick-off.
While the majority of the crowd were decked out in the home team’s colours of amber and black there were pockets of Turbos fans sporting the green and white scattered around the terraces.
While the Bulls were impressive preseason against Poverty Bay and Whanganui they were convincingly beaten in their opening match of the Mitre 10 Cup against Bay of Plenty in Rotorua last weekend
30-10 and some were even picking the Turbos to cause an upset on the back of an impressive 24-19 win, at home, against Waikato in the opening round.
The Turbos fans were making themselves heard early on chanting and waving flags but it was the home crowd who went crazy when the Bulls opened the scoring in the seventh minute silencing the bucketheads.
A try to Manawatu¯ in the 14th minute again raised the visitor’s hopes which were only to be dashed again five minutes later when the Bulls ran in their second try taking the score to
14-7.
‘‘It’s going to be a try fest,’’ one Taranaki fan yelled taunting those in green and white.
There was some good hearted banter exchanged between fans before the Bulls extended their lead to 10 with a penalty goal in the 23rd minute.
The Turbos again closed the gap to 17-14 with a try in the 29th minute.
However, the Bulls looked to have broken the Turbos before half time though scoring two more tries and took a 29-14 lead into the break.
The trend continued into the second half with the Bulls charging out to a 41-14 lead.
‘‘There’s a difference between the championship and the premiership isn’t there,’’ heckling Bulls fans yelled.
Turbos fans had fallen silent by the 64th minute knowing their team’s chance to lift the shield for the first time in 40 years had gone.
Like lizards some Turbos fans began shedding their green ponchos and buckets with some skulking off into the shadows while others attempted to blend in with the crowd. A late try to Manawatu¯ wasn’t enough to lift the spirits of their supporters who were already looking for the buses for the long drive south along State Highway Three.