Stags captain keen to relive Shield fever
When the Southland Stags lifted the Ranfurly Shield in 2009 it inspired Southland’s next generation of rugby players – Flynn Thomas was one of them.
Southland beat Canterbury 9-3 in Christchurch to claim New Zealand domestic rugby’s most prized possession for the first time in 50 years.
Thomas remembers watching from his family’s western Southland home as an 11-year-old when Robbie Robinson kicked Southland to Ranfurly Shield glory and sent the region delirious.
‘‘I remember getting down and watching all the boys march through the streets with the Shield. I got all the memorabilia which was quite cool. You could just see what it did for the province. I also went to all of the Shield defences,’’ he said.
A decade on and Thomas will lead the Stags in its latest Shield challenge when Southland takes on Otago in Dunedin on Saturday.
The class of 2019 will try to repeat the heroics of 2009 that Thomas watched so proudly as a kid.
The 21-year-old hooker knows too well what a Shield win would do for a province that has been starved of rugby success in recent years.
‘‘Hopefully we can do the job on Saturday and we could experience a bit of that [2009 Shield fever].
‘‘It’s going to be quite a good opportunity to get the public back on side,’’ Thomas said, alluding to the 22 straight Mitre 10 Cup losses.
‘‘I know we’ve got a good fan base. In order to do them justice, to be able to win this, it would be amazing to see what it would do for the province.’’
Thomas said there was a sense of excitement within the group given what was at stake.
Despite the 27-17 loss against Northland in round one, Thomas said there were areas where they were able to gain confidence.
‘‘But we just need to play in the right areas of the field . . . We did a lot of unnecessary defending.’’
Ths Stags have made one forced change and one unforced change for the showdown with Otago.
Australian import Seb Wileman, who started on the left wing against Northland, has been dropped to the Southland B team, which will play Otago B before the Shield challenge.
Wileman has been replaced by fellow Australian Lausii Taliauli, who missed the Northland game through injury.
Co-captain Brayden Mitchell has been ruled out of the Shield challenge through injury and he has been replaced on the bench by the experienced Greg Pleasants-Tate.
Saturday’s game kicks off at 4.35pm.
‘‘It’s going to be quite a good opportunity to get the public back on side.’’ Flynn Thomas