Ranfurly Shield fever continues to build
Those heading to Cambridge and Matamata to watch Waikato defend the Ranfurly Shield could be rubbing shoulders with rugby royalty.
King Country’s the first challenger, at Bedford Park in Matamata on July 30 and if Waikato retain the shield, Wanganui will have a go at lifting it off the mooloo men at Memorial Park in Cambridge, less than a week later on August 6.
All Black legend Sir Colin Meads said he’ll be backing his former King Country provincial side.
Speaking from his home in Te Kuiti, Sir Colin said the town ‘‘would go crazy’’ if King Country managed to lift the shield but he was realistic about the team’s chances against Waikato.
‘‘I think our players will go out there and compete, it will be a good experience for them, they’ll enjoy the occasion.
‘‘But we saw against Thames Valley that Waikato was just too strong. If you go back 30 or 40 years, all of the unions were much stronger, they all had good players who stayed there [in regions].
‘‘Professional rugby has changed that now and the rules around how you challenge for the shield have changed too.’’
Sir Colin said however the Ranfurly Shield was still important to New Zealand rugby and he was happy the holders of the Meads Cup and Lochore Cup in the Heartland Championship had automatic challenging rights.
‘‘It’s great that some of the smaller unions have a chance to challenge but you would have to say against a side like Waikato, it’s hard, however you never know what might happen on the day.
‘‘We [King Country] haven’t got a big forward pack so I think we’d prefer the condition to be pretty fine on the day.’’
Sir Colin said he can close to hold the Ranfurly Shield himself when he was playing in the King Country colours.
‘‘We were beaten by Taranaki, I think it was in 1958, with four minutes to go. It was 9-7, we were winning. They scored a try, which was worth four points in those days, and beat us 11-9 right on fulltime.’’
Sir Colin, who has been ill recently, said he plans to be well enough to see the King Country match and hopes everyone enjoys watching the games against Waikato. He’s glad the shield is touring some of the smaller towns in the region which he said will help keep alive the excitement around the competition for the log of wood.